Commemorative Plaque to J. M. Marci in Lanškroun

20th century 

The memorial plaque near the J. M. Marků Square in Lanškroun commemorates one of the most important Czech physicists of the 17th century and physician to the emperors, Jan Marcus Marci.

 

The memorial plaque was installed in the place where J. M. Marci`s birthplace originally stood between today`s houses no. 111 and 112 near the square. The physicist and physician was born in 1595. He came from the family of the castle clerk Marek of Lanškroun. Jan Marek Marci studied at the Jesuit grammar school in Jindřichův Hradec and then philosophy and theology at the Jesuit college in Olomouc. He went on to study medicine, which he completed in 1625. He became physician to Ferdinand III and Leopold I and was engaged in physical experiments in optics. Today he is considered the founder of spectroscopy. He studied the decomposition of light, refraction and reflection, studied the colour of soap bubbles and tried to explain the nature of phenomena related to the behaviour of light at the interface.

 

References

Štoll, I. Jan Marek Marci z Lanškrouna. Vesmír 75/1996, č. 6

Štoll, I. Jan Marek Marci – první český fyzik. Pokroky matematiky, fyziky a astronomie, 41/1996, č. 6, s. 285─291.

PH

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