Page - 355 - in Maximilian Hell (1720–92) - And the Ends of Jesuit Science in Enlightenment Europe

355Coping with Enlightenments a discussion of the phenomenon that is nowadays known as double stars.35 Hell asserted—in response to inquiries from “partly learned, partly curious men”—first, that while on the basis of observations of “satellites around fixed stars” earlier in 1777, Mayer claimed to have discovered a new phenomenon, it had in fact been known at least since the times of Tycho Brahe, as Hell himself had mentioned in a report to the Parisian academy in 1759. What is more, he disagreed with Mayer in his interpretation of the phenomena as “satellites” (Fixsterntrabanten, Nebenplaneten) and claimed that they were in fact small stars themselves, only seeming to be planets because of their vicinity to larger ones.36 An anonymously published response in the Mannheimer Zeitung called Hell an “unashamed liar” unable to prove his points, and the court astronomer replied in kind: as the author “has revealed his unbearable ignorance, I must deal with him as a teacher with a pupil, and first refer him to a book that every student of astronomy must have in his hand”—namely Lalande’s 1771 text- book.37 Mayer continued publishing (and debating) on the phenomenon in both German and Latin, whereas Hell appears to have withdrawn from the public debate. In the same year as the controversy over double stars, Hell even had a short spell as an outright popularizer of science in the vernacular, in contributions to the Viennese Realzeitung.38 In the third issue of 1777, the editors announced that from then on, the famous court astronomer would give regular accounts of celestial occurrences, meteorological observations, and other “astronomical news” for those interested in the subject. Hell himself went on to explain that as our annual Ephemerides are only accessible to those lovers of astrono- my who are proficient in Latin, and there are still many lovers of astronomy among our learned German nation who spend their spare time pleasantly and usefully with astronomical observations: so we flat- ter ourselves that we render a welcome service by the monthly publica- tion of a very brief excerpt [on the above topics].39 35 For an excellent analysis of the polemics surrounding Mayer’s work on double stars, see Moutchnik, Forschung und Lehre, 273–314. For minor corrections, see, however, Aspaas, “Review of Moutchnik.” Hell already gave notice to the public about Mayer’s observations in the summer of 1777, publishing excerpts from a letter to him by the Berlin astronomer Bode, in which they are mentioned. Realzeitung, no. 18 (July 29, 1777): 284–85. 36 WD, no. 90 (November 8, 1777): 4–5. 37 Mannheimer Zeitung, nos. 93 and 94 (November 20 and 24, 1777); WD, no. 99 (December 10, 1777): 9–10. 38 Cf. Haberzettl, Stellung der Exjesuiten, 31–32. 39 “Astronomische Nachrichten,” Realzeitung, no. 3 (January 14, 1777): 44–45.