Maximilian Hell ( hu, Hell Miksa) (born Rudolf Maximilian Höll; May 15, 1720 – April 14, 1792) was an

astronomer An astronomer is a scientist in the field of astronomy who focuses their studies on a specific question or field outside the scope of Earth. They observe astronomical objects such as stars, planets, moons, comets and galaxies – in either ...

and an ordained

Jesuit , image = Ihs-logo.svg , image_size = 175px , caption = ChristogramOfficial seal of the Jesuits , abbreviation = SJ , nickname = Jesuits , formation = , founders = ...

priest A priest is a religious leader authorized to perform the sacred rituals of a religion, especially as a mediatory agent between humans and one or more deities. They also have the authority or power to administer religious rites; in partic ...

from the

Kingdom of Hungary The Kingdom of Hungary was a monarchy in Central Europe that existed for nearly a millennium, from the Middle Ages into the 20th century. The Principality of Hungary emerged as a Christian kingdom upon the coronation of the first king Stephen ...

Biography

Born as Rudolf Maximilian Höll in Selmecbánya, Hont County,

(present-day

Banská Štiavnica Banská Štiavnica (; german: Schemnitz; hu, Selmecbánya (Selmec), ) is a town in central Slovakia, in the middle of an immense caldera created by the collapse of an ancient volcano. For its size, the caldera is known as the Štiavnica Mountai ...

Slovakia Slovakia (; sk, Slovensko ), officially the Slovak Republic ( sk, Slovenská republika, links=no ), is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is bordered by Poland to the north, Ukraine to the east, Hungary to the south, Austria to th ...

), but later changed his surname to ''Hell''. He was the third son from the second marriage of his father Matthias Cornelius Hell (Matthäus Kornelius Hell) and his mother Julianna Staindl. The couple had a total of 22 children. Registry entries indicate that the family was of

German descent , native_name_lang = de , region1 = , pop1 = 72,650,269 , region2 = , pop2 = 534,000 , region3 = , pop3 = 157,000 3,322,405 , region4 = , pop4 = ...

, while Maximilian Hell later in life (ca. 1750) is known to declare himself as Hungarian. The place of birth of Maximilian's father is unknown; the settlements Körmöcbánya (today

Kremnica Kremnica (; german: Kremnitz, hu, Körmöcbánya) is a town in central Slovakia. It has around 5,300 inhabitants. The well-preserved medieval town built above important gold mines is the site of the oldest still-working mint in the world. Nam ...

), Schlagenwald, (today Horní Slavkov) or Schlackenwerth (today Ostrov nad Ohří) are most frequently given. Born in a mixed German, Hungarian and Slovak town, he presumably knew Slovak to a certain extent and he probably understood Hungarian, but his mother tongue was German. Even so, Hell considered himself a Hungarian. Hell with another Jesuit priest, János Sajnovics tried to explore the already widely discussed but insufficiently documented

affinity Affinity may refer to: Commerce, finance and law * Affinity (law), kinship by marriage * Affinity analysis, a market research and business management technique * Affinity Credit Union, a Saskatchewan-based credit union * Affinity Equity Pa ...

between the language of the

Sami Acronyms * SAMI, ''Synchronized Accessible Media Interchange'', a closed-captioning format developed by Microsoft * Saudi Arabian Military Industries, a government-owned defence company * South African Malaria Initiative, a virtual expertise ...

Finns Finns or Finnish people ( fi, suomalaiset, ) are a Baltic Finnic ethnic group native to Finland. Finns are traditionally divided into smaller regional groups that span several countries adjacent to Finland, both those who are native to these ...

and the

Hungarians Hungarians, also known as Magyars ( ; hu, magyarok ), are a nation and ethnic group native to Hungary () and historical Hungarian lands who share a common culture, history, ancestry, and language. The Hungarian language belongs to the Uralic ...

during and after their residency in

Vardø ( fi, Vuoreija, fkv, Vuorea, se, Várggát) is a municipality in Troms og Finnmark county in the extreme northeastern part of Norway. Vardø is the easternmost town in Norway, more to the east than Saint Petersburg or Istanbul. The administra ...

. (''Demonstratio idioma Ungarorum et Lapponum idem esse'', 1770 Copenhagen) Ephemerides Astronomicae 1781 Vindobonensem title page

Hell became the director of the

Vienna Observatory The Vienna Observatory (german: Universitätssternwarte Wien) is an astronomical observatory in Vienna, Austria. It is part of the University of Vienna. The first observatory was built in 1753–1754 on the roof of one of the university buildings ...

in 1756. He published the astronomical tables ''Ephemerides astronomicae ad meridianum Vindobonemsem'' ("Ephemerides for the Meridian of Vienna"). He and his assistant János Sajnovics went to

in the far north of

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe, the mainland territory of which comprises the western and northernmost portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and th ...

(then part of Denmark-Norway) to observe the 1769

transit of Venus frameless, upright=0.5 A transit of Venus across the Sun takes place when the planet Venus passes directly between the Sun and a superior planet, becoming visible against (and hence obscuring a small portion of) the solar disk. During a trans ...

. He was elected as a foreign member of the

Royal Danish Academy of Sciences and Letters {{Infobox organization , name = The Royal Danish Academy of Sciences and Letters , full_name = , native_name = Det Kongelige Danske Videnskabernes Selskab , native_name_lang = , logo = Royal ...

on October 13, 1769. This society also funded the publication of his 1770 account of the Venus passage ''Observatio transitus Veneris ante discum Solis die 3. Junii anno 1769'' (Copenhagen, 1770). There was some controversy about Hell's observations of the transit of Venus because he stayed in Norway for eight months, collecting non-astronomical scientific data about the arctic regions for a planned encyclopedia (which never appeared, in part due to the suppression of the

Jesuit order , image = Ihs-logo.svg , image_size = 175px , caption = ChristogramOfficial seal of the Jesuits , abbreviation = SJ , nickname = Jesuits , formation = , founders = ...

). The publication of his results was delayed, and some (notably Joseph Johann Littrow) accused Hell posthumously of falsifying his results. However, Simon Newcomb carefully studied Hell's notebooks and exonerated him a century after his death in

Vienna en, Viennese , iso_code = AT-9 , registration_plate = W , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = , timezone = CET , utc_offset = +1 , timezone_DST ...

. Besides

astronomy Astronomy () is a natural science that studies celestial objects and phenomena. It uses mathematics, physics, and chemistry in order to explain their origin and evolution. Objects of interest include planets, moons, stars, nebulae, gala ...

, Hell also had an interest in

magnet therapy Magnetic therapy is a pseudoscientific alternative medicine practice involving the weak static magnetic field produced by a permanent magnet which is placed on the body. It is similar to the alternative medicine practice of electromagnetic th ...

(the alleged healing power of magnets), although it was

Franz Anton Mesmer Franz Anton Mesmer (; ; 23 May 1734 – 5 March 1815) was a German physician with an interest in astronomy. He theorised the existence of a natural energy transference occurring between all animated and inanimate objects; this he called "anim ...

who went further with this and received most of the credit. In 1771, Hell was elected a foreign member of the

Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences ( sv, Kungliga Vetenskapsakademien) is one of the royal academies of Sweden. Founded on 2 June 1739, it is an independent, non-governmental scientific organization that takes special responsibility for prom ...

. The crater

Hell In religion and folklore, hell is a location in the afterlife in which evil souls are subjected to punitive suffering, most often through torture, as eternal punishment after death. Religions with a linear divine history often depict hells ...

on the

Moon The Moon is Earth's only natural satellite. It is the fifth largest satellite in the Solar System and the largest and most massive relative to its parent planet, with a diameter about one-quarter that of Earth (comparable to the width ...

is named after him.

Works

*''Elementa Algebrae Joannis Crivelli magis illustrata et novis demonstrationibus et problematibus aucta.'' Vindobonae, 1745. (Book of Joannis Crivelli, updated by Maximilian Hell) *''Adiumentum Memoriae manuale chronologico-genealogico-historicum.'' München, 1750 és Ingolstadt, 1763. *''Compendia varia praxesque operationum arithmeticarum, itemque regulae aureae simplicis compositae etc. cumprimis ad usus mercatorum et civiles applicatae.'' Claudiopoli, 1755. *''Elementa mathematica naturali philosophiae ancillantia ad praefixam in scholis normam concinnata. I. Elementa Arithmeticae numericae et litteralis seu Algebrae.'' Claudiopoli, 1755. *''Exercitationum mathematicarum partes tres.'' Vindobonae, 1755. *''Ephemerides astronomicae ad meridianum Vindobonensem.'' Vindobonae 1756-1793. * *''Exercitationum mathematicarum partes tres, una cum Exercitationibus arithmeticis et regula Rabbatae, Anatocismi et iuris civilis de quarta Falcidia.'' Viennae, 1759. *''Elementa Algebrae Authore R. P. Maximiliano Hell e S. J. Posnaniae, typis S. J. 1760. *''Dissertatio complectens calculos accuratissimos transitus Veneris per discum Solis in tertiam Iuni 1769. praedicti, methodosque varias observationem hanc instituendi.'' Viennae, 1760. *''Kurzer Unterricht der Oster-Feyer für den ungelehrten, gemeinen Mann, samt der gründlichen Wiederlegung einer Schrift, welche Herr Christoph Sigismund Schumacher, Calender-Schreiber in Dresden unter den Innschrift: Untersuchung der Oster-Feyer von anno 1700 bis 2500 verfasst u. anno 1760 in Druck gegeben hat.'' Wien, 1760. *''Introductio ad utilem usum Magnetis ex chalybe.'' Viennae, 1762. * *''Transitus Veneris ante discum Solis anni 1761. die Astron. 5. Junii calculis definitus et methodo observandi illustratus a Max. Hell S. J. Vindobonae'', é.n. *''Tabulae Solares ad Meridianum Parisianum, quas novissimis suis observationibus deduxit vir celeberrimus Nicolaus Ludovicus de Caille… Cum supplemento reliquarum tabularum solarium, quas supputavit Maximilianus Hell Astronomus Caesareo-Regius. Editio post primam Parisianam anni 1758 altera et auctior.'' Vindobonae, 1763. *''Tabulae lunares ad meridianum Parisianum, quas supputavit vir Cl. Tobias Mayer. - cum supplemento reliquarum tabularum Lunarium D. Cassini, de la Lande et P. Hell.'' Bécs, 1763. *''Tabulae planetarum Saturni, Jovis, Martis, Veneris et Mercurii ad Meridianum Parisianum, quas supputavit vir cel. D. Ioannes Cassini … correctis typi erroribus et adiectis tabulis perturbationum, aberrationum et nutationum D. de la Lande, D. Euleri, D. Mayer cum earumdem praeceptis concinnatis a P. Max. Hell.'' Viennae, 1763. * *''Dissertatio de satellite Veneris a pluribus Astronomis viso, illusione optica.'' Viennae, 1765. * *''Elogium Rustici Tyrolensis Petri Anich Oberperfuessensis coloni, tornatoris etc.'' Viennae, 1766. *''Observationes astronomicae ab anno 1717. ad annum 1752. a patribus Soc. Jesu Kögler etc. Pekini factae et a P. Augustino Hallerstein S. J. Tribunalis mathematici Praeside 1772 collectae, ac in Europam missae. Ad fidem autographi Manuscripti edidit P. Hell.'' Viennae, 1768. *''Observatio transitus Veneris ante discum Solis die 3. Junii anno 1769.'' Wardoëhusii etc. Hafniae, 1770. *''Dissertatio de parallaxi Solis ex Observationibus Transitus Veneris 1769.'' Viennae, 1772. *''Methodus astronomica sine usu Quadrantis vel Sectoris aut alterius cuiusvis instrumenti in gradus circuli divisi … elevationem cujusvis in continente siti loci accuratissime determinandi.'' Wien, 1775. *''Max Hell's Schreiben über die alhier in Wien entdeckte Magnetenkur, an einen seiner Freunde.'' Wien, 1775. *''Unpartheiischer Bericht der alhier gemachten Entdeckungen der künstlichen Stahlmagneten in verschiedenen Nervenkrankheiten.'' Wien, 1775. *''Erklärung über das zweite Schreiben Herrn D. Mesmers die Magnetenkur betreffend an das Publikum.'' Wien, 1775. *''Von der wahren Grösse, die der Durchmesser des vollen Mondes zu haben scheint, wenn man mit freyem Auge ansieht.'' (Beyträge zu den verschiedenen Wissenschaften, 1775.) *''Monumenta aere perenniora inter astra ponenda etc.'' Wien, 1789. *''Tabula geographica Ungariae veteris ex historia Anonymi Belae regi notarii.'' Pestini, 1801. *''Sacharum praeservativum adversus scorbutum cum Epistola D. Alberitz Med. Doctoris.'' (?)

Namesake

A lunar crater has been named for Fr. Hell.

Literature

References

External links