John Wilkins

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John Wilkins

John Wilkins (* 1614 in Fawsley , Northamptonshire , † November 19, 1672 in London ) was Bishop of Chester and a founding member, and first secretary of the Royal Society .

Life

Mathematicall magick , 1691

Wilkins father was the Oxford goldsmith and watchmaker Walter Wilkins. John was educated at Magdalen College , Oxford , ordained in Fawsley in 1637, where he was vicar . Soon he gave up the position and became the chaplain of Lord Saye and Sele, then of Lord Berkeley and later of Prince Karl Ludwig, nephew of Charles I of England and later Elector Palatine Karl I Ludwig . He was a supporter of the Republican Party in the English Civil War, but he always kept in touch with leading royalists. In 1648 he was appointed warden (director) of Wadham College , Oxford. He obtained the necessary doctorate in theology at the end of 1648. With a special permit, he married Robina Cromwell in 1656, the sister of the Lord Protector Oliver Cromwell . 1659 appointed him his son and successor as Lord Protector Richard Cromwell to the Master of Trinity College in Cambridge . After the restoration of the kingdom in 1660, he lost this post. To date, he is the only person who has headed a college in both Oxford and Cambridge. In the following years he made his peace with King Charles II and he was appointed Vicar of St. Lawrence Jewry in London in 1662 and Bishop of Chester in 1668.

He was very interested in science and became a founding member and first secretary of the Royal Society . He wanted to popularize the new heliocentric worldview of Copernicus, Kepler, and Galileo. Encouraged by Tommaso Campanella's Apologia pro Galileo , he anonymously published two volumes in 1638/40, which appeared in Germany as defending Copernicus . In one chapter he examines the possibility of taking a trip to what was believed to be an inhabited moon at the time. He also cites suggestions from Domingo Gonsales . This is the novel A Man in the Moone by Francis Godwin . The Copernican views disagreed vehemently Alexander Ross (1591-1654) in The New Planet ... .
Together with Robert Hooke he developed technical-scientific apparatus. His Mathematical Magick is the first comprehensive treatise in the English language.

In 1641 he anonymously published a treatise entitled Mercury, or The Secret and Swift Messenger . It was a small but comprehensive work on cryptography that was eagerly used by both sides in the English Civil War . A work by Francis Godwin could again have served as a suggestion .

Seventeenth-century scientists were concerned that natural language, because of its inaccuracy, hindered scientific progress. In his most important work, Essay towards a Real Character and a Philosophical Language ( London , 1668), he therefore developed a universal philosophical language. He set himself the goal of being able to present the entire knowledge in the universe in detail - more precisely than was possible with English or any other language. He developed a system of tables and graphical signs to represent the desired concepts. Jorge Luis Borges dedicated the essay "The Analytical Language of John Wilkins" to this book, which inspired Michel Foucault to write his book " The Order of Things ".

Works (selection)

Frontispice "An Essay ..."
  • The discovery of a world in the moone, or, a discourse tending to prove that 'tis probable there may be another habitable world in that planet , London 1638 ( e-book in the Gutenberg project )
  • A discourse concerning a new world & another planet ... , London 1640
  • Johannis Wilkins, the excellent English bishop of Chester, defended Copernicus, or curious and thorough proof of the Copernican principles. That the moon is an earth and the earth a planet : composed in two parts ...; Translated from English into German by Joh. Gabr. Doppelmayr, Leipzig, 1713
  • Mercury, or, The secret and swift messenger: shewing how a man may with privacy and speed communicate his thoughts to a friend at any distance , 1641
  • Mathematical Magick , or, The wonders that may by performed by mechanichal [sic] geometry: in two books, concerning mechanical powers [and] motions, being one of the most easie, pleasant, useful, and yet most neglected, parts of mathematicks, not before treated of in this language , London 1648
  • Godly thoughts about the graceful order that is to be felt in all unexpected and evocative coincidences in the care and government of God: All sad hearts / especially at these difficult and gloomy times extremely comforting / useful and edifying , Originally by Mr. Johann Wilkins H. Schrifft Doctorn described in English. Anjetzo translated into Hochteutsche with all diligence by Johann Zollikofer / servants of the churches in Herisau; Basel 1672
  • An essay towards a real character, and a philosophical language , London 1668
  • A discourse concerning the gift of prayer , London 1674
  • Of the principles and duties of natural religion , 1693
  • The mathematical and philosophical works of the Right Rev. John Wilkins, late lord bishop of Chester: to which is prefix'd the author's life, and an account of his works; in two volumes , London, 1802

proof

  • Cliff SL Davies: The Family and Connections of John Wilkins, 1614-72 . In: Oxoniensia . Volume 69, pp. 93-107 ( PDF ).
  • Francis Godwin: The man in the moone or A discourse of a voyage thither. Domingo Gonsales. The speedy messenger , London 1638
  • Francis Godwin: Nuncius inanimatus , London 1629
  • Alexander Ross: The new planet no planet: or, the earth no wandring star: except in the wandring heads of Galileans. Here out of the principles of divinity, philosophy, astronomy, reason and sense, the earth's immobility is asserted; the true sense of scripture in the point, cleared; the Fathers and philosophers vindicated; divers theologicall and philosophicall points handled, and Copernicus his opinion as erroneous, ridiculous and impious, fully refuted by Alexander Rosse. In answer to a discourse, that the earth may be a planet [by J. Wilkins] . London 1646.

Web links

Commons : John Wilkins  - album with pictures, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Michel Foucault: The order of things . 1st edition. Suhrkamp, ​​Frankfurt am Main 1974, p. 17 .
predecessor Office successor
George Hall Bishop of Chester
1668–1672 		John Pearson
personal data
SURNAME Wilkins, John
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Bishop of Chester
DATE OF BIRTH 1614
PLACE OF BIRTH Fawsley
DATE OF DEATH November 19, 1672
Place of death London