John Amos Comenius

1592–1670 

Theologian, philosopher and pedagogue John Amos Comenius (1592–1670) was as part of his pansophic approach (system of universal knowledge) also keenly interested in the natural sciences, especially in the broadly understood physics and astronomy. Comenius`s entire work is punctuated by natural-philosophical insights reflecting the spiritual fermentation of the turn of the 16th and 17th centuries. The aim of his work is holistic knowledge and understanding of nature that concerns both the individual and humanity as a whole. 

 

John Amos Comenius (1592–1670) came from southeast Moravia, probably from Nivnice. After studying theology in Hebron and in Heidelberg he returned to Moravia and worked as teacher and preacher of the Unity of the Bohemian Brethren. Comenius`s attitude to the natural sciences is apparent not only in his cartographical work (his famous detailed map of Moravia in which he tried to correct the mistakes in Fabricius`s Map probably dates from 1624) but also in his pedagogical works. They are often more than textbooks and reflect his tendency to not only explain the order of nature but to connect it harmoniously with the philosophy of nature and theology and so with cosmology. Comenius strives for an encyclopaedical explanation of nature without gaps or ambiguities. An excellent proof of his pansophic approach is his book A Review of Physics Corrected from the Point of View of Divine Light Submitted to the Expertise of Those Who Teach Philosophy and Theology from 1633. Comenius here draws on a number of important Renaissance thinkers, such as Francesco Patrizi or Thomas Campanella and represents the broad context of relating to physics, or fysis, i.e. the whole of nature. He discusses biology, chemistry and psychology as well as physics as we understand it today. In this work of Comenius there is naturally present - in opposition to the Aristotelian-Scholastic approach - also a reflection of the Renaissance hermetic (alchemical-Paracelsian) tradition in order to bring a new interpretation of nature, which is carried by a teleological, i.e. purpose-driven understanding of the world. In addition to the physical themes presented in this work, Comenius also explored the nature of heat and cold, and the theme of physics, broadly understood, is present - alongside astronomy and geocentric cosmology (his relationship to Copernicanism was very complicated) - in his famous 1658 encyclopaedic work Orbis Pictus, in which he presents a sort of anatomy of the universe. Comenius was a close friend of the famous astronomer Jan Hevelius, who lived in Gdansk, and together with him he made astronomical observations. According to Comenius, astronomy cannot be studied without knowledge of geometry, which is why he began to write a textbook, but it was never completed. Comenius`s astronomical measurements and observations are part of his remarkable manuscript On the Rising and Setting of the Foremost Stars of the Eighth Heaven (found in 1931 in Leningrad).

It is interesting to know that John Amos Comenius - in his quest to reform humanity through education - sought to establish an international academy of sciences under the name Collegium lucis (the Circle of Light), which would promote research and the exchange of the latest scientific knowledge. And science in the 17th century was mainly understood as natural science, i.e. astronomy, mathematics and physics, which - as mentioned above - included not only optics and mechanics, but also, for example, biology and chemistry.

 

After the expulsion of all Protestant preachers from Bohemia and Moravia, Comenius left in 1628 for Leszno in Poland, where he remained until 1656. He then took refuge in Amsterdam, the Netherlands, where he died on 15 November 1670.

 

References

Červenka, J.: Komenský a přírodní vědy. In: Pedagogika, 3/1971, s. 415-441.

Floss, P.: Pohledy do Komenského kosmologických a astronomických názorů. In: Floss, P.: Meditace na rozhraní epoch. Brno 2012, s. 21–41. 

Horský, Z.: Komenského tři spisy o fyzice. In: Horský, Z.: Koperník a české země. Soubor studií o renesanční kosmologii a nové vědě. Červený Kostelec 2011, s. 337–346.

Horský, Z.: Kosmologie, astronomie a fyzika v Komenského spise Orbis pictus. In: Horský, Z.: Koperník a české země. Soubor studií o renesanční kosmologii a nové vědě. Červený Kostelec 2011, s. 347–353.

Kraus, I.: Fyzika. In: Kraus, I. a kol.: Věda v českých zemích. Dějiny fyziky, geografie, geologie, chemie a matematiky. Praha 2019, s. 21–113, zde 33–36. 

Internetový zdroj:

Neznámý autor: Komenského mapa Moravy a její deriváty. In: Mollova mapová sbírka, mapy.mzk.cz. URL: https://mapy.mzk.cz/mapy-moravy/komenskeho-mapa-moravy/ [23.9.2021].

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