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History of the Jesuits |
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Gaspar Schott (5 February 1608 – 22 May 1666) was a German Jesuit and scientist, specializing in the fields of physics, mathematics and natural philosophy, and known for his piety.
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He was born at Königshofen and died at Augsburg (or Würzburg, sources vary). In 1627 Schott entered the Society of Jesus. He studied first at the University of Würzburg but due to the Thirty Years' War he left the Holy Roman Empire, eventually finishing his studies at the University of Palermo. He studied under Athanasius Kircher, who was his mentor for many years. Around 1638 he returned to his native Augsburg, where he would live the remainder of his years. He corresponded with many researchers and inventors, like Otto von Guericke, Christiaan Huygens and Robert Boyle.
Schott was the author of numerous works from the fields of mathematics, physics, and magic. However, those works were mostly a compilations of reports, articles or books he read and his own repeated experiments; he has done little, if any, original research.
Schott is most widely known for his works on hydraulic and mechanical instruments. His treatise on "chronometric marvels" is the first work describing a universal joint and providing the classification of gear teeth.
Among his most famous works is the book Magia universalis naturæ et artis (4 vols., Würtzburg, 1657–1659), filled with many mathematical problems and physical experiments, mostly from the areas of optics and acoustics. His Mechanicahydraulica-pneumatica (Würtzburg, 1657) contains the first description of von Guericke's air pump. He also published Pantometricum Kircherianum (Würtzburg, 1660); Physica curiosa (Würtzburg, 1662), a supplement to the Magia universalis; Anatomia physico-hydrostatica fontium et fluminum (Würtzburg, 1663), and several editions of a Cursus mathematicus. He was also the editor of the Itinerarium extacticum of Athanasius Kircher and the Amussis Ferdidindea of Albert Curtz.