|
Early Jesuit scientific investigations were for the most
part conservatively grounded in Aristotelian natural philosophy
and the "classical" sciences of geometry, astronomy,
optics, statics and mechanics. Jesuit science during the
period 1580-1620 is characterized by commentaries on Aristotle,
Euclid and other ancient writers, and by the mathematical
and astronomical works of scientists such as Christoph
Clavius. Works by Jesuits against magic, demonology, alchemy
and astrology are also common at this period, some reflecting
a belief in these practices, others written in an attempt
by members of the Society to differentiate superstition
and pseudo-science from true scientific investigation.
Christoph Clavius, 1538-1612
A professor at the Roman College, German-born mathematician
Christoph Clavius was known for his writings on arithmetic
and algebra, and for his work on Gregorian calendar reform.
He was a friend of Galileo, but in this commentary on medieval
mathematician and astronomer Joannes de Sacro Bosco Clavius
condemns the Copernican theory of a sun-centered solar
system as both physcially impossible and as contrary to
the Scripture.
Christophori Clavii Bambergensis ex Societate Iesu,
In sphaeram loannis de Sacro Bosco commentarius ... (Lyon,
1593)
Fabrica et vsus instrumenti ad horologiorum descriptionem
peropportuni... (Rome, 1586)
Works on measurement and instrumentation were another
common feature of early Jesuit science. Textbooks like
this one
by Clavius on sundials were particularly popular, since
the use of sundials and astrolabs was taught as part of
the science curriculum in many Jesuit colleges.
Giovanni Battista Mascolo, 1582 or 3-1656
Ioannis Baptistae Masculi Neapolitani e Societate
Iesu De incendio Vesuuij excitato xvij. kal. lanuar.
anno trigesimo
primo saeculi decimisptimi libri X ... (Naples, 1633)
In this work Neapolitan Jesuit G. B. Mascolo records his
observations of the eruption of Mount Vesuvio in 1631.
The illustrations record the appearance of the volcano
and the surrounding area before and after the eruption.
Before...  ...and
after.
Martin Antoinem Del Rio, 1551-1608
In the early seventeenth century the modern distinction
between science and pseudo-science was not always made,
even among the educated. Condemnations of magic and astrology
by Jesuit writers such as Del Rio and Nieremberg, although
generally written from a theological rather than a scientific
point of view, were instrumental in discrediting these
practices.
Disquisitionum magicarum libri sex, quibus continetur
accurata curiosarum artium, & vanarum superstitionum
confutatio, vtilis theologis, iurisconsultis, medicis,
philologis . . . (Mainz, 1612)
Jesuit college at Coimbra, Portugal
The science curriculum in Jesuit colleges was based primarily
on the works of Aristotle, Euclid, and the medieval mathematician
Joannes de Sacro Bosco, and the Jesuit professors often
composed their own textbooks on these authors. This handbook
on Aristotle's and Parva naturalia is part of a massive
commentary on the works of Aristotle (known as the Cursus
Conimbricensus) published by the faculty of the Jesuit
college at Coimbra, Portugal during the last quarter of
the sixteenth century.
Commentari Collegii Conimbricencis Societatis Iesu,
in quatuor libros De coelo, Meteorologicos & Parua
naturalia, Aristotelis Stagiritae... (Cologne, 1596)
Home Page || Introduction: Jesuits and the Sciences
1540-1619 || 1620-1659 || 1660-1719 || 1720-1773 || 1814-1900 ||
1901-1995 ||
Bibliography
|
