Andreas Jaszlinszky (September 1715 – January 1783) was the Slovak-born author of the early physics textbooks Institutiones physicae pars prima, seu physica generalis (Trnava/Nagyszombat, 1756/1761, 471 pp) and Institutiones physicae pars altera, seu physica particularis (Trnava/Nagyszombat, 1756/1761, 341 pp).[1][2][3][4]

Biography

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Physica Generalis (1756).
 
Physica Particularis (1756).

Jaszlinszky was born in September 1715 in Abaújszina (Kingdom of Hungary, modern-day Slovakia). He joined the Jesuits (October 1733 in Trenčín) and published his physics textbooks as a professor at the University of Trnava, where he taught philosophy, metaphysics, history, ethics, physics and theology.[5][6][7] At that time, the University of Trnava was one of the major Jesuit universities in Eastern Europe (and the only university in the Kingdom of Hungary), along with Braunsberg, Lemberg, Vilnius, and Prague.[8] Publication of Physica Generalis and Physica Particularis occurred in response to a 1753 order from Maria Theresa (Habsburg ruler in Vienna) requiring every professor to write textbooks instead of dictating lecture notes, which created a surge of works by Adanyi, Jaszlinszky, Reviczky, Radics, and Horvath.[9][10] Jaszlinszky became rector of the university in 1771, and after the Suppression of the Society of Jesus in 1773, he became canon in Rozsnyó.[11] He was a contemporary of Johann Baptiste Horvath, Leopold Biwald, and Joseph Redlhamer.[12] He died in January 1783 in Rozsnyó.

These Latin physics textbooks each contain eight plates with descriptions and images of a variety of contemporary physics devices including manometers (fluid statics), lenses/prisms (refraction), and various simple machines.[13][14][15] Coverage of electricity is relatively sparse, although many other diverse topics are surveyed, including mechanics, magnetism, celestial mechanics, fluid drag experiments, mineralogy, and human anatomy.[16][17][18] Extensive bibliographical references are provided.[19][20]

These textbooks (1750s) at least somewhat ambiguously reflect incorrect Cartesian vortex mechanics, rather than the correct Newtonian mechanics fully embraced by Johann Baptiste Horvath (1770s).[21][22][23] Indeed, modern Newtonian mechanics (1687) was only widely accepted in Hungary by the 1760s and 1770s.[24] Between 1616 and 1759, three years after first publication of Physica Generalis and Physica Particularis, Jesuit scientists could not publish textbooks overtly favoring Copernican models of the Solar System, although the heliocentric theory was allowed to be presented along with other theories (for example Ptolemaic as shown below in Plate 1 of Physica Particularis). However, since Nagyszombat had an astronomical observatory (1755–1773), historians speculate that local Jesuit professors would have observed phenomena that would have convinced them that heliocentrism was correct.[25] Indeed, Jaszlinszky essentially rejected the Ptolemaic approach.[26]

Jaszlinszky was also the author of Tractatus Theologicus de Angelis, Beatitudine et Actibus Humanis (Trnava, 1762/1769, 574 pp) and possibly Geographica (1761), in addition to Institutiones logicae (Trnava, 1754, 164 pp) and Institutiones metaphysicae (Trnava, 1755, 288 pp), consistent with how the Ratio Studiorum (1599) was applied following Christopher Clavius.[27][28][29][30][31][32][33]

A copy of Physica Generalis is provided by Google Books.[34] Images of the textbook title pages are also available.[35] Each of these textbooks is worth approximately $150 depending on condition.[36][37][38]

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Plates (8) from Physica Generalis (1756)

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The plates shown below are from a copy owned by multiple professors at the Collegio Romano around 1762.

               

Plates (8) from Physica Particularis (1756)

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See also

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References

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  1. ^ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 21 August 2007. Retrieved 4 July 2009.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  2. ^ "Jaszlinszky – Magyar Katolikus Lexikon".
  3. ^ "Hungarikumok a BME OMIKK muzeális gyűjteményében".
  4. ^ Petrik, Geza. Magyarország bibliographiája, 1712-1860. Budapest, 1890, p268.
  5. ^ Hurter, H. Nomenclator Literarius. 1883.
  6. ^ "Digitalizálták a Magyar Tudománytörténeti Intézet munkatársai, Gazda István vezetésével" (PDF). oszk.hu (in Hungarian). Retrieved 11 April 2023.
  7. ^ O'Neill, C.E. & J.M. Dominguez. Diccionario historico de la compania de Jesus. p2140, 2001.
  8. ^ de Ridder-Symoens, H. & W. Ruegg. A History of the University in Europe: Volume 2, Universities in Early Modern Europe (1500 - 1800). Cambridge, 2003.
  9. ^ "A természettudomány a nagyszombati egyetemen".
  10. ^ "Batta István (1882–1926): a magyarországi latin nyelvű Fizikai Irodalom Törtenete" (PDF). niif.hu (in Hungarian). Retrieved 11 April 2023.
  11. ^ Augustin, P. & A. deBacker. Bibliotheque des Ecrivains de la Compagnie de Jesus. Liege, 1859.
  12. ^ "Full text of "Die pflege der philosophie im Jesuitenorden während des 17./18. jahrhunderts [microform]"". 1938.
  13. ^ http://info.fuw.edu.pl/~akw/Fizyka_oswiecenia_cz_2_druk.pdf[permanent dead link]
  14. ^ "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 5 February 2009. Retrieved 4 July 2009.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  15. ^ "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 16 February 2010. Retrieved 15 July 2009.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  16. ^ Morovics, M.T. & A. Sperka.The beginnings of scientific interests in electrical phenomena in Hungarian Kingdom. ICESHS, 2006.
  17. ^ Institutiones physicae (Open Library). Typis Academicis Societatis Jesu. 1756. OL 18487857M.
  18. ^ "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 16 July 2011. Retrieved 15 July 2009.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  19. ^ "Science Citation Index A.D. 1758".
  20. ^ Wroblewski, A.K. The Art of Bibliometrics. Siegen, 2001.
  21. ^ Dobrzycki, Jerzy (ed). The Reception of Copernicus' Heliocentric Theory. Kluwer, 1973, pp349-352.
  22. ^ History of Physics
  23. ^ "M. Zemplen Jolan (1911–1974): a fizika művelése és oktatása a felvidéken a XVIII. Században" (PDF). niif.hu (in Hungarian). Retrieved 11 April 2023.
  24. ^ Berend, I.T. History Derailed: Central and Eastern Europe in the Long Nineteenth Century. University of California Press, 2005, p33.
  25. ^ Casanovas, J. The Teaching of Astronomy in Jesuit Colleges in the 18th Century. PADEU, 16, 57, 2006.
  26. ^ "Recepció És Kreativítás - Nyitott magyar kultúra". Archived from the original on 21 July 2011. Retrieved 20 July 2009.
  27. ^ Jaszlinszki, Andreas (1756). "Institutiones metaphysicae, in usum Discipulorum concinnatae".
  28. ^ Jaszlinszki, Andreas (1761). "Institutiones Logicae".
  29. ^ http://www.ilab.org/db/detail.php?lang=es&booknr=354779362[permanent dead link]
  30. ^ "Titles list". Archived from the original on 31 May 2011. Retrieved 4 July 2009.
  31. ^ "Titles list". 80.250.173.141. Archived from the original on 31 May 2011. Retrieved 22 May 2022.
  32. ^ "Full text of "Catalogue of a collection of books on logic presented to the library by John Venn .."". Cambridge [Printed at the University Press]. 1889.
  33. ^ Jaszlinszky Andrea. "Institutiones Logicae, in Usum Discipulorum Concinnatae. Together with: Institutiones Metaphysicae ..." Archived from the original on 6 July 2011. Retrieved 4 July 2009.
  34. ^ "Institutiones physicae ... a r.p. Andrea Jaszlinszky ..." 1971.
  35. ^ "Jaszlinszky[András], Andreas: Institutiones physicae".
  36. ^ International League of Antiquarian Booksellers @ "Antiquarian Books :: ILAB-LILA :: International League of Antiquarian Booksellers". Archived from the original on 9 May 2008. Retrieved 18 July 2009.
  37. ^ "Book Search".
  38. ^ Antiquarian Booksellers' Association of America @ "ABAA Antiquarian Booksellers Association of America". Archived from the original on 1 July 2009. Retrieved 18 July 2009.