Jakub Kresa
Encyclopedia
Jakub Kresa, , was one of the most important Czech mathematicians of the Baroque
era.
, not far from Prostějov
. He studied at the Jesuit gymnasium (school)
in Brno
. There he proved to be an extraordinary student. He not only displayed rare skills in mathematics, but he also became a polyglot
, able to speak fluently Hebrew
, German
, Latin, Italian
, Spanish
, French
and Portuguese
, in addition to his Czech
mother-tongue.
In 1669–70 he taught at the gymnasium (school)
in Litoměřice
. Then he went to Prague
, where he studied at the Faculty of Philosophy of Charles University between 1670 and 1673. After spending a short time back in Litoměřice, he returned to Prague in 1675 and continued his studies in mathematics and theology. Kresa was ordained a priest in 1680. After this he spent a short time in Telč
.
and between 1682 and 1684 taught mathematics. In Olomouc Kresa's other high points included presiding at the academic dissertation of the mathematician and astronomer Jan Taletius, who devised a model to predict eclipses of the sun and of the moon.
Jakub Kresa was also often entrusted with diplomatic tasks. During the peasants' uprising in northern Bohemia
in 1680, he served as mediator between the cavalry regiment of general Vilém Harant z Polžic and the peasant leaders.
In 1684 Kresa left Olomouc to become head of the Departments of Mathematics and of Hebreistics at the Charles University. He was also preaching at the St. Salvador church in Prague. By this time he was already well-known for his extraordinary skills regarding mathematics, languages and diplomacy, and he was offered the position of head of Department of Mathematics at the Colegio Imperial de Madrid
. He relocated to Spain in 1686 and stayed there for fifteen years.
into Spanish
. This brought him recognition and he soon became renowned in the whole country, being dubbed the Euclid of the West. At that time it became a custom in Spain to let Kresa assess mathematical treatises ahead of publication. Apart from the Collegio Imperial De Madrid, Kresa was also giving lectures at the Naval academy of Cadiz
.
in 1700 Kresa went back to Prague. He obtained a doctorate in theology at Charles University and also started to teach theology there. At the same time he was privately teaching mathematics and was acquiring mathematical apparatus for the Department of Mathematics. He was engaged in arithmetic, fractions and logarithms, trigonometry, astronomy, algebra, but also in military architecture. One of his private students, Count Ferdinand Herbert, published Kresa's ideas in magazine Acta Eruditorum in 1711.
appointed Kresa as confessor of his second son, the Archduke Charles
. He remained in this position after Charles took over Spanish throne, and therefore returned to Spain with him (1704–13). After nine years in Spain, Kresa went back to the Czech Crown lands, working with the help of Karel Slavíček
on mathematical theories in Brno, where he died in 1715.
, who both later taught at Olomouc.
The lectures Kresa gave at Charles University were recorded by student called Kryštof John, who published them under the title Mathematica in universitate Pragensi tradica a P. Jacobo Kreysa ... excerpta anno 1685. The manuscript is today stored at the library of Strahov Monastery
.
In Kresa's era the Trigonometric functions were derived using geometry. Kresa was the first to introduce algebraic number
to trigonometry
.
Kresa's death was followed by a decline in mathematics and science in the Czech Crown lands due to the dogmatic application of Catholic Church doctrines. With Slavíček
having gone to China, scientific work largely disappeared from the Czech lands for two decades. Although the theories of Isaac Newton
, Jacques Cassini
and Edmond Halley
were well known, local scientists (such as Josef Player or Jan Slezina) were continued to work with the obsolete theories of Ptolemaios and Aristoteles. It was only a quarter of a century later, that scientific work was resumed by peoples such as Jan Antonín Scrinci (1697–1773) and Joseph Stepling (1716–1778).
Baroque
The Baroque is a period and the style that used exaggerated motion and clear, easily interpreted detail to produce drama, tension, exuberance, and grandeur in sculpture, painting, literature, dance, and music...
era.
Early life
Jakub Kresa was born into a smallholder's family at SmržiceSmržice
Smržice is a village and municipality in Prostějov District in the Olomouc Region of the Czech Republic.The municipality covers an area of , and has a population of 1,583 ....
, not far from Prostějov
Prostejov
Prostějov is a city in the Olomouc Region of the Czech Republic. Today the city is known for its fashion industry and special military forces based there....
. He studied at the Jesuit gymnasium (school)
Gymnasium (school)
A gymnasium is a type of school providing secondary education in some parts of Europe, comparable to English grammar schools or sixth form colleges and U.S. college preparatory high schools. The word γυμνάσιον was used in Ancient Greece, meaning a locality for both physical and intellectual...
in Brno
Brno
Brno by population and area is the second largest city in the Czech Republic, the largest Moravian city, and the historical capital city of the Margraviate of Moravia. Brno is the administrative centre of the South Moravian Region where it forms a separate district Brno-City District...
. There he proved to be an extraordinary student. He not only displayed rare skills in mathematics, but he also became a polyglot
Polyglot (person)
A polyglot is someone with a high degree of proficiency in several languages. A bilingual person can speak two languages fluently, whereas a trilingual three; above that the term multilingual may be used.-Hyperpolyglot:...
, able to speak fluently Hebrew
Hebrew language
Hebrew is a Semitic language of the Afroasiatic language family. Culturally, is it considered by Jews and other religious groups as the language of the Jewish people, though other Jewish languages had originated among diaspora Jews, and the Hebrew language is also used by non-Jewish groups, such...
, German
German language
German is a West Germanic language, related to and classified alongside English and Dutch. With an estimated 90 – 98 million native speakers, German is one of the world's major languages and is the most widely-spoken first language in the European Union....
, Latin, Italian
Italian language
Italian is a Romance language spoken mainly in Europe: Italy, Switzerland, San Marino, Vatican City, by minorities in Malta, Monaco, Croatia, Slovenia, France, Libya, Eritrea, and Somalia, and by immigrant communities in the Americas and Australia...
, Spanish
Spanish language
Spanish , also known as Castilian , is a Romance language in the Ibero-Romance group that evolved from several languages and dialects in central-northern Iberia around the 9th century and gradually spread with the expansion of the Kingdom of Castile into central and southern Iberia during the...
, French
French language
French is a Romance language spoken as a first language in France, the Romandy region in Switzerland, Wallonia and Brussels in Belgium, Monaco, the regions of Quebec and Acadia in Canada, and by various communities elsewhere. Second-language speakers of French are distributed throughout many parts...
and Portuguese
Portuguese language
Portuguese is a Romance language that arose in the medieval Kingdom of Galicia, nowadays Galicia and Northern Portugal. The southern part of the Kingdom of Galicia became independent as the County of Portugal in 1095...
, in addition to his Czech
Czech language
Czech is a West Slavic language with about 12 million native speakers; it is the majority language in the Czech Republic and spoken by Czechs worldwide. The language was known as Bohemian in English until the late 19th century...
mother-tongue.
In 1669–70 he taught at the gymnasium (school)
Gymnasium (school)
A gymnasium is a type of school providing secondary education in some parts of Europe, comparable to English grammar schools or sixth form colleges and U.S. college preparatory high schools. The word γυμνάσιον was used in Ancient Greece, meaning a locality for both physical and intellectual...
in Litoměřice
Litomerice
Litoměřice is a town at the junction of the rivers Elbe and Ohře in the north part of the Czech Republic, approximately 64 km northwest of Prague....
. Then he went to Prague
Prague
Prague is the capital and largest city of the Czech Republic. Situated in the north-west of the country on the Vltava river, the city is home to about 1.3 million people, while its metropolitan area is estimated to have a population of over 2.3 million...
, where he studied at the Faculty of Philosophy of Charles University between 1670 and 1673. After spending a short time back in Litoměřice, he returned to Prague in 1675 and continued his studies in mathematics and theology. Kresa was ordained a priest in 1680. After this he spent a short time in Telč
Telc
Telč is a town in southern Moravia, near Jihlava, in the Czech Republic. The town was founded in 13th century as a royal water fort on the crossroads of busy merchant routes between Bohemia, Moravia and Austria....
.
In the Czech crown lands
In 1681 Jakub Kresa started to teach Hebrew at the University of Olomouc. There he obtained his first doctoratePHD
PHD may refer to:*Ph.D., a doctorate of philosophy*Ph.D. , a 1980s British group*PHD finger, a protein sequence*PHD Mountain Software, an outdoor clothing and equipment company*PhD Docbook renderer, an XML renderer...
and between 1682 and 1684 taught mathematics. In Olomouc Kresa's other high points included presiding at the academic dissertation of the mathematician and astronomer Jan Taletius, who devised a model to predict eclipses of the sun and of the moon.
Jakub Kresa was also often entrusted with diplomatic tasks. During the peasants' uprising in northern Bohemia
Bohemia
Bohemia is a historical region in central Europe, occupying the western two-thirds of the traditional Czech Lands. It is located in the contemporary Czech Republic with its capital in Prague...
in 1680, he served as mediator between the cavalry regiment of general Vilém Harant z Polžic and the peasant leaders.
In 1684 Kresa left Olomouc to become head of the Departments of Mathematics and of Hebreistics at the Charles University. He was also preaching at the St. Salvador church in Prague. By this time he was already well-known for his extraordinary skills regarding mathematics, languages and diplomacy, and he was offered the position of head of Department of Mathematics at the Colegio Imperial de Madrid
Colegio Imperial de Madrid
Colegio Imperial de Madrid was the name of a Jesuit teaching institution in Madrid....
. He relocated to Spain in 1686 and stayed there for fifteen years.
In Spain
In order to make the study of mathematics easier for the Spanish students, Kresa translated the 8 books of Euclid's ElementsEuclid's Elements
Euclid's Elements is a mathematical and geometric treatise consisting of 13 books written by the Greek mathematician Euclid in Alexandria c. 300 BC. It is a collection of definitions, postulates , propositions , and mathematical proofs of the propositions...
into Spanish
Spanish language
Spanish , also known as Castilian , is a Romance language in the Ibero-Romance group that evolved from several languages and dialects in central-northern Iberia around the 9th century and gradually spread with the expansion of the Kingdom of Castile into central and southern Iberia during the...
. This brought him recognition and he soon became renowned in the whole country, being dubbed the Euclid of the West. At that time it became a custom in Spain to let Kresa assess mathematical treatises ahead of publication. Apart from the Collegio Imperial De Madrid, Kresa was also giving lectures at the Naval academy of Cadiz
Cádiz
Cadiz is a city and port in southwestern Spain. It is the capital of the homonymous province, one of eight which make up the autonomous community of Andalusia....
.
Back in the Czech Crown lands
Following the death of spanish king Charles IICharles II of Spain
Charles II was the last Habsburg King of Spain and the ruler of large parts of Italy, the Spanish territories in the Southern Low Countries, and Spain's overseas Empire, stretching from the Americas to the Spanish East Indies...
in 1700 Kresa went back to Prague. He obtained a doctorate in theology at Charles University and also started to teach theology there. At the same time he was privately teaching mathematics and was acquiring mathematical apparatus for the Department of Mathematics. He was engaged in arithmetic, fractions and logarithms, trigonometry, astronomy, algebra, but also in military architecture. One of his private students, Count Ferdinand Herbert, published Kresa's ideas in magazine Acta Eruditorum in 1711.
Late life
The Emperor Leopold ILeopold I
Leopold I may refer to:*Leopold I, Margrave of Austria , first Margrave of Austria*Leopold I, Duke of Austria , co-Duke of Austria and Styria with Frederick I...
appointed Kresa as confessor of his second son, the Archduke Charles
Charles VI, Holy Roman Emperor
Charles VI was the penultimate Habsburg sovereign of the Habsburg Empire. He succeeded his elder brother, Joseph I, as Holy Roman Emperor, King of Bohemia , Hungary and Croatia , Archduke of Austria, etc., in 1711...
. He remained in this position after Charles took over Spanish throne, and therefore returned to Spain with him (1704–13). After nine years in Spain, Kresa went back to the Czech Crown lands, working with the help of Karel Slavíček
Karel Slavíček
Karel Slavíček, , was a Jesuit missionary and scientist, the first Czech sinologist and author of the first precise map of Beijing.-Early life and studies in the Czech lands:...
on mathematical theories in Brno, where he died in 1715.
Legacy
Kresa's manuscripts were transcribed for printing by his students František Tillisch and Karel SlavíčekKarel Slavíček
Karel Slavíček, , was a Jesuit missionary and scientist, the first Czech sinologist and author of the first precise map of Beijing.-Early life and studies in the Czech lands:...
, who both later taught at Olomouc.
The lectures Kresa gave at Charles University were recorded by student called Kryštof John, who published them under the title Mathematica in universitate Pragensi tradica a P. Jacobo Kreysa ... excerpta anno 1685. The manuscript is today stored at the library of Strahov Monastery
Strahov Monastery
Strahov Monastery is a Premonstratensian abbey founded in 1149 by Bishop Jindřich Zdík, Bishop John of Prague, and Prince Vladislav II. It is located in Strahov, Prague, Czech Republic.-The founding of a monastery:...
.
In Kresa's era the Trigonometric functions were derived using geometry. Kresa was the first to introduce algebraic number
Algebraic number
In mathematics, an algebraic number is a number that is a root of a non-zero polynomial in one variable with rational coefficients. Numbers such as π that are not algebraic are said to be transcendental; almost all real numbers are transcendental...
to trigonometry
Trigonometry
Trigonometry is a branch of mathematics that studies triangles and the relationships between their sides and the angles between these sides. Trigonometry defines the trigonometric functions, which describe those relationships and have applicability to cyclical phenomena, such as waves...
.
Kresa's death was followed by a decline in mathematics and science in the Czech Crown lands due to the dogmatic application of Catholic Church doctrines. With Slavíček
Karel Slavíček
Karel Slavíček, , was a Jesuit missionary and scientist, the first Czech sinologist and author of the first precise map of Beijing.-Early life and studies in the Czech lands:...
having gone to China, scientific work largely disappeared from the Czech lands for two decades. Although the theories of Isaac Newton
Isaac Newton
Sir Isaac Newton PRS was an English physicist, mathematician, astronomer, natural philosopher, alchemist, and theologian, who has been "considered by many to be the greatest and most influential scientist who ever lived."...
, Jacques Cassini
Jacques Cassini
Jacques Cassini was a French astronomer, son of the famous Italian astronomer Giovanni Domenico Cassini.Cassini was born at the Paris Observatory. Admitted at the age of seventeen to membership of the French Academy of Sciences, he was elected in 1696 a fellow of the Royal Society of London, and...
and Edmond Halley
Edmond Halley
Edmond Halley FRS was an English astronomer, geophysicist, mathematician, meteorologist, and physicist who is best known for computing the orbit of the eponymous Halley's Comet. He was the second Astronomer Royal in Britain, following in the footsteps of John Flamsteed.-Biography and career:Halley...
were well known, local scientists (such as Josef Player or Jan Slezina) were continued to work with the obsolete theories of Ptolemaios and Aristoteles. It was only a quarter of a century later, that scientific work was resumed by peoples such as Jan Antonín Scrinci (1697–1773) and Joseph Stepling (1716–1778).
Major works
- Theses mathematicae defendidas por el Ex. mo Seňor Don Innigo de la Cruz ... en colegio de la Compaňia de Jesus de Ciudad de Cadiz, 1688
- Elementes geometricos de Euclides, los seis primeros Libros de los planos, etc., Brussels 1689
- Arithmetica Tyro-Brunensis curiosa varietate et observatione communi quidem omnium fructui, sed praeprimis Tyronibus Mathemetum utilis, Prague 1715
- Analysis speciosa trigonometriae sphericae, etc. Prague 1720