Leopold Gottlieb Biwald (February 26, 1731 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 ...

– September 8, 1805 in Graz) was a professor at the

University of Graz The University of Graz (german: link=no, Karl-Franzens-Universität Graz, ), located in Graz, Austria, is the largest and oldest university in Styria, as well as the second-largest and second-oldest university in Austria. History The univers ...

. At the age of sixteen Biwald joined the Jesuits. He became teacher of rhetoric at a secondary school in

Laibach Laibach () is a Slovenian avant-garde music group associated with the industrial, martial, and neo-classical genres. Formed in the mining town of Trbovlje (at the time in Yugoslavia) in 1980, Laibach represents the musical wing of the Neue ...

and graduated as Dr. theol. in 1761. He became professor of

logic Logic is the study of correct reasoning. It includes both formal and informal logic. Formal logic is the science of deductively valid inferences or of logical truths. It is a formal science investigating how conclusions follow from premise ...

and soon afterwards of

physics Physics is the natural science that studies matter, its fundamental constituents, its motion and behavior through space and time, and the related entities of energy and force. "Physical science is that department of knowledge which r ...

at the University of Graz. In 1786-1787 and again 1798-1799 he was rector of the University of Graz. His

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...

physics textbooks included ''Physica Generalis'' (1760s, 460pp), dealing with

mechanics Mechanics (from Ancient Greek: μηχανική, ''mēkhanikḗ'', "of machines") is the area of mathematics and physics concerned with the relationships between force, matter, and motion among physical objects. Forces applied to object ...

including

celestial mechanics Celestial mechanics is the branch of astronomy that deals with the motions of objects in outer space. Historically, celestial mechanics applies principles of physics (classical mechanics) to astronomical objects, such as stars and planets, to ...

, and ''Physica Particularis'' (1760s, 403pp), dealing with diverse topics including

optics Optics is the branch of physics that studies the behaviour and properties of light, including its interactions with matter and the construction of instruments that use or detect it. Optics usually describes the behaviour of visible, ultrav ...

. ''Physica Particularis'' was also widely distributed throughout

Austria-Hungary Austria-Hungary, often referred to as the Austro-Hungarian Empire,, the Dual Monarchy, or Austria, was a constitutional monarchy and great power in Central Europe between 1867 and 1918. It was formed with the Austro-Hungarian Compromise of ...

(in modified form) as ''Institutiones Physicae'' (1779, 349pp). He was a contemporary of Johann Baptiste Horvath, Andreas Jaszlinszky and Joseph Redlhamer. His bust, made in 1807 by Johann Martin Fischer, is now displayed in the main reading room of the University Library of Graz.

Works

*''Theoria philosophiae naturalis, redacta ad unam legem virium in natura existentium auctore J. R. Boscovich S. J. ab ipso perpolita et aucta. Ex prima Editione Veneta com Catalogo operum ejus ad annum 1763''. Graz 1765 *''De objectivi Micrometri usu in Planetarum diametris metiendis. Exercitatio optico-astronomica habita in Coll. P. P. S. J.'' Rome 1765; Graz 1768. *''Physica generalis et particularis quam auditorium philosophiae usibus accomodavit Leopoldus Biwald etc. etc.'' Graz 1766; 2nd ed. 1769; 3rd ed. 1774. (At that time a very popular textbook of physics) *''Selectae ex amoenitatibus academicis Caroli Linnaei dissertationes ad universam naturalem historiam pertinentes, quas edidit et additamentis auxit L. B. e. S. J.'' Graz 1764 *''Disseratatio de studii physici perpetuis mediis et cum scientiis reliquis nexu''. 1767

Literature

*''Biographisches Lexikon des Kaiserthums Oesterreich'' Vol. I. 1856.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Biwald 1731 births 1805 deaths 18th-century writers in Latin 18th-century male writers 18th-century Austrian physicists 18th-century Austrian Jesuits Academic staff of the University of Graz