Caspar Schott

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Caspar Schott (also Gaspar Schott or Kaspar Schott ; * February 5, 1608 in Königshofen , † May 22, 1666 in Würzburg ) was a Jesuit , academic author and educator of the Baroque period .

Live and act

Caspar Schott attended the Jesuit grammar school in Würzburg and joined the order in 1627. During his studies in Würzburg he met Athanasius Kircher . In 1631 the Jesuits fled from the approaching Swedish troops. Schott was sent to Palermo by the Order to complete his studies. He stayed in Sicily for 20 years as a teacher of mathematics, philosophy and moral theology at the Jesuit school in Palermo. In 1652 the order sent him to Rome to support Kircher's scientific work. He decided to publish Kircher's work. In 1655 he returned to the Würzburg grammar school as a professor, where he taught mathematics and physics all his life. He was court mathematician and confessor of Elector Johann Philipp von Schönborn . Albert von Koelliker and Ignaz Döllinger testified that his research in Würzburg also made him a pioneer of experimental physiology.

Calculation box Cistula

As a constant admirer and collaborator of the polymath Athanasius Kircher, he published numerous works, z. T. rely directly on the material of his teacher. His exclusively Latin writings are not based on his own knowledge, but always refer to his great example. The close collaboration with Kircher is reflected in the reuse of illustrations from his works.

Schott entered into correspondence with leading scientists, including Otto von Guericke , Christiaan Huygens , and Robert Boyle . In 1655 he received from Elector Johann Philipp von Schönborn, who was Archbishop of Mainz and Prince-Bishop of Würzburg, the air pumps presented by Guericke at the Reichstag in Regensburg in 1654, which Schönborn had bought after the demonstration. Schott presented them to the world of scholars in the Appendix Experimentum Novum Magdeburgicum for his first publication of Kircher's Mechanica hydraulico-pneumatica in 1657. Guericke himself contributed to a second publication, Technica curiosa, and new experiments with the air pump were made known. In the preface to this work Schott wrote: “I have no hesitation in confessing it honestly and confidently that I have never seen, heard, read, imagined or thought anything more admirable of this kind, and I believe that never seen anything like it under the sun, let alone more wonderful things from the beginning of the world. This is also the judgment of the great princes and the most learned men, whom I have made familiar with it. ”Guericke's own work Experimenta Nova Magdeburgica de Vacuo Spatio did not appear until 1672. Schott's contemporaries valued his books very much. For example, the Technica Curiosa , published in 1664, inspired Robert Boyle to conduct his experiments on the elasticity of air, the results of which Schott published. The term "technology", which appears for the first time in the above-mentioned title, was probably invented by Schott himself, by adapting the word to "physics".

In the posthumously published work Organum mathematicum , he describes the Cistula calculation box that he invented , with which one can multiply and divide.

Caspar Schott and his mentor Athanasius Kircher are the role models for the Jesuit father Caspar Wanderdrossel in Umberto Eco's The Island of the previous day .

Works (selection)

  • Mechanica hydraulico-pneumatica. Fair weather, Frankfurt am Main 1657 [1658].
  • Magia universalis naturae et artis. 4 volumes (Optica; Acoustica; Thaumaturgus Mathematicus; Thaumaturgus Physicus) Schönwetter, Frankfurt 1657–59 [1658/59]. German Bamberg 1671.
  • Cursus mathematicus. Nice weather, Würzburg [Herbipoli] 1661.
  • Physica curiosa, sive mirabilia naturae et artis libris XII. Endterus, Nuremberg 1662.
  • Anatomia physico-hydrostatica fontium ac fluminum. Nice weather, Frankfurt 1663.
  • Arithmetica practica generalis ac specialis. Nice weather, Frankfurt 1663.
  • Joco-seriorum naturae et artis, sive magiae naturalis centuriae tres. Nuremberg 1664.
  • Technica curiosa, sive mirabilia artis. Endterus, Nuremberg 1664
  • Organum mathematicum libris IX. explicatum. Würzburg 1668. Digitized: Organum Mathematicum . Herbipolis [Würzburg] 1668, online edition of the Saxon State, State and University Library Dresden
  • Magia optica, that is secret but natural face and eye teaching . Franckfurt am Mayn 1677, online edition of the Saxon State Library - Dresden State and University Library
  • Magia optica, This is secret but natural face and eye teaching , 1671, e-book of the University Library Vienna ( e-books on demand )

List of works and references

literature

Web links

Commons : Caspar Schott  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Albert von Kölliker: On the history of the medical faculty at the University of Würzburg. Speech to celebrate the foundation day of the Julius Maximilians University on January 2, 1871. In: Würzburger Universitätsreden. Volume 1, 1782-1820, p. 12.
  2. ↑ Martin Sperling: Specialization in medicine as reflected in the history of Würzburg. In: Würzburg medical history reports. Volume 3, 1985, pp. 153-184, here: p. 156.
  3. ↑ Ralf Kern: Scientific instruments in their time . Volume 2. Cologne, 2010, p. 268.
personal data
SURNAME Schott, Caspar
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Schott, Gaspar
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German scientific author and educator, collaborator of the polymath Athanasius Kircher
DATE OF BIRTH February 5, 1608
PLACE OF BIRTH Bad Koenigshofen in Grabfeld , Germany
DATE OF DEATH May 22, 1666
Place of death Wurzburg , Germany