According to thePolish Academy of Sciences (1975) the origin of the name goes back to thesurname Hawke, a historical alternative spelling for the English wordhawk, which changed intoHawelke orHawelecke.[4]In Poland he is known asJan Heweliusz.[5] Other versions of the name include Hewel,[6] Hevel, Hevelke[7] or Hoefel,[8] Höwelcke, Höfelcke.[9]According toFeliks Bentkowski (1814), during his early years he also signed as Hoefelius.[10] Along with the Latinized version of his name, Ludwig Günther-Fürstenwalde (1903) also reports Hevelius's signature asJohannes Höffelius Dantiscanus in 1631 andHans Höwelcke in 1639.[11]
Hevelius's father was Abraham Hewelke (1576–1649), his mother Kordula Hecker (1576–1655). They were German-speakingLutherans,[12] wealthybrewingmerchants ofBohemian origin. As a young boy, Hevelius was sent toGądecz (Gondecz) where he studied thePolish language.[13]
Hevelius brewed the famousJopen beer, which also gave its name to the "Jopengasse"/"Jopejska" Street,[14][15] after 1945 renamed as Piwna Street (Beer Street),[16] whereSt. Mary's Church is located.
Aftergymnasium (secondary school), where he was taught byPeter Crüger, Hevelius in 1630 studiedjurisprudence atLeiden, then travelled in England and France, meetingPierre Gassendi,Marin Mersenne andAthanasius Kircher. In 1634 he settled in his native town, and on 21 March 1635 married Katharine Rebeschke, a neighbour two years younger who owned two adjacent houses. The following year, Hevelius became a member of thebeer-brewingguild, which he led from 1643 onwards.[citation needed]
Throughout his life, Hevelius took a leading part inmunicipaladministration, becomingtown councillor in 1651; but from 1639 on, his chief interest wasastronomy. In 1641 he built anobservatory on the roofs of his three connected houses, equipping it with splendid instruments, ultimately including a largeKeplerian telescope of 46 m (150 ft)focal length,[1] with a wood and wire tube he constructed himself. This may have been the longest "tubed" telescope before the advent of the tubelessaerial telescope.[17]
Engraving of Hevelius'stelescopes on his rooftop observatorium.
The observatory was known by the nameSternenburg[7][18] (Latin:Stellaeburgum;Polish:Gwiezdny Zamek) or "Star Castle".[19]Polish QueenMarie Louise Gonzaga visited this private observatory on 29 January 1660.As a subject of the Polish kings, Hevelius enjoyed the patronage of four consecutive kings of Poland,[20] and his family was raised to the position of nobility by the King of PolandJohn II Casimir in 1660, who previously visited his observatory in 1659.[21] While the noble status was not ratified by the PolishSejm Hevelius's coat of arms includes the distinctive Polish royal crown.[22]ThePolish KingJohn III Sobieski who regularly visited Hevelius numerous times in years 1677–1683 released him from paying taxes connected to brewing and allowed his beer to be sold freely outside the city limits.[23] In May 1679 the young EnglishmanEdmond Halley visited him as emissary of theRoyal Society, whose fellow Hevelius had been since 1664. The Royal Society considers him one of the first German fellows.[24] Małgorzata Czerniakowska (2005) writes that "Jan Heweliusz was the first Pole to be inducted into the Royal Society in London. This important event took place on 19th March 1664".[25] Hevelius considered himself as being citizen of the Polish world (civis Orbis Poloniae)[26] and stated in a letter dated from 9 January 1681 that he wasCivis orbis Poloni, qui in honorem patriae suae rei Literariae bono tot labores molestiasque, absit gloria, cum maximo facultatum suarum dispendio perduravit, i.e. "citizen of Polish world who, for glory of his country and for the good of science, worked so much, and while not boasting much, executed his work with most effort per his abilities".[27][28]
Certificate conferring fellow of the Royal Society of Natural Sciences in London upon the Danzig astronomer Johannes Hevelius
Halley had been instructed byRobert Hooke andJohn Flamsteed to persuade Hevelius to usetelescopes for his measurements, yet Hevelius demonstrated that he could do well with onlyquadrant andalidade. He is thus considered the last astronomer to do major work without the use of a telescope.[29]
Hevelius made observations ofsunspots, 1642–1645, devoted four years to charting the lunar surface, discovered theMoon'slibration in longitude, and published his results inSelenographia, sive Lunae descriptio (1647), a work which entitles him to be called "the founder of lunartopography".[1]
He discovered fourcomets, in 1652, 1661 (probablyIkeya-Zhang), 1672 and 1677. These discoveries led to his thesis that such bodies revolve around theSun in parabolic paths.
A complexhalo phenomenon was observed by many in the cityon 20 February 1661, and was described by Hevelius in hisMercurius in Sole visus Gedani the following year.
Katharine, his first wife, died in 1662, and a year later Hevelius marriedElisabeth Koopmann, the young daughter of a merchant family. The couple had four children. Elisabeth supported him, published two of his works after his death, and is considered the first female astronomer.
Hevelius and second wifeElisabeth observing the sky with a brass sextant (1673)
His observatory, instruments and books were destroyed by fire on 26 September 1679. The catastrophe is described in the preface to hisAnnus climactericus (1685). He promptly repaired the damage enough to enable him to observe the great comet of December 1680.[1] He named the constellationSextans in memory of this lost instrument.
In late 1683, in commemoration of the victory of Christian forces led by Polish King John III Sobieski at theBattle of Vienna, he invented and named the constellationScutum Sobiescianum (Sobieski's Shield), now calledScutum. This constellation first occurred publicly in his star atlasFirmamentum Sobiescianum, which wasprinted in his own house at lavish expense, and he himself engraved many of theprinting plates.[1]
His health had suffered from the shock of the 1679 fire and he died on his 76th birthday, 28 January 1687.[1] Hevelius was buried in St. Catherine's Church in his hometown.
Descendants of Hevelius live inUrzędów in Poland where they support local astronomy enthusiasts.[30]
Machina coelestis (first part, 1673), containing a description of his instruments; the second part (1679) is extremely rare, nearly the whole issue having perished in the conflagration of 1679.[1] Hevelius's description of his "naked eye" observation method in the first part of this work led to a dispute with Robert Hooke who claimed observations without telescopic sights were of little value.[31]
Catalogus Stellarum Fixarum (dated 1687), catalog of 1564 stars
Firmamentum Sobiescianum sive Uranographia (dated 1687), anatlas ofconstellations, 56 sheets, corresponding to his catalog,[1] contains seven new constellations delineated by him which are still in use (plus some now considered obsolete):
^Robert Bideleux, Ian Jeffries,A History of Eastern Europe: Crisis and Change, Routledge, 1998, p. 124,ISBN0-415-16112-6Google Books
^Ian Ridpath."Star Tales". Retrieved24 January 2009.
^Historia astronomii w Polsce: vol. 1 1975. Jerzy Dobrzycki, Eugeniusz Rybka, Polska Akademia Nauk. (Pracownia Historii Nauk ścisłych), page 256.OCLC2776864
^Older spellings include also Jan Hewelijusz and Jan Hefel, according to Samuel Orgelbrand. ed. 1884.Encyklopedyja powszechna S. Orgelbranda:nowe stereotypowe odbicie, vols 5-6 page 243.OCLC17568522
^Libri Gedanenses, Tomy 23-24, Polska Akademia Naukowa Biblioteka Gdańska Państwowe Wydawnictwo Naukowe, page 127, 2005.
^Stanisław Kutrzeba,Gdańsk przeszlość i teraźniejszość, Wydawnictwo Zakladu Narodowego im. Osslińskich, page 366, 1928: "jedna strona zamyka ulicę Jopejską".OCLC14021052
^Jan Kilarski,Gdańsk, Wydawnictwo Polskie, page 46, 1937.OCLC26021672
^Hippolit Skimborowicz:Żywot i prace Jana Hewelinsza gdańszczanina żyjacego pod panowaniem czterech królów polskich, Warszawa 1860.OCLC253951432
^Kwartalnik historii kultury materialnej, Tom 39, Instytut Historii Kultury Materialnej 1991 (Polska Akademia Nauk), page 159.
^On the 300th anniversary of the death of Johannes Hevelius: book of The International Scientific Session, Robert Glȩbocki, Andrzej Zbierski, International Scientific Session, Ossolineum, The Polish Academy of Sciences, page 56, 1992.
^Międzynarodowy Rok Heweliusza 1987: dokumentacja obchodów trzechsetnej rocznicy śmierci Jana Heweliusza (1687-1987), page 10, 1990 Zakład Narodowy im Ossolińskich.
