AMBSCHELL, Anton
* 10. 12. 1749, Cerknica, Slovenia
† 14. 7. 1821, Bratislava, Slovakia
Mathematician, physicist
By the age of nineteen, A. entered the Jesuit order and between 1773 and 1783 worked as professor of physics at the Ljubljana Lyceum. Because of internal discord he finally had to resign from the position of Chancellor. He was also a member of the Academy of Arts and Sciences Operosorum Labacensium and of Carniolan Agricultural Society. In 1803/04 he taught mathematics, physics and mechanics at the University of Vienna and spent his last years (he died in 1821) as a canon in Bratislava.
He published several mathematical, physical and theological publications. His main work in the field of science is written in German and it consists of six parts covering all areas of classical physics known at that time: 1. On the general characteristics of the bodies, 2. On the movement, 3. On the balance of bodies, 4.On the fire and electricity, 5. On the air and water and 6. About the visible world.
A. is the first Slovenian physicist who would break away from the scholastic tradition and did not allow any metaphysical explanations. In the spirit of philosophy of Descartes, Leibnitz and Wolf he rather relied on research and inquisitive human mind. For him physics was a science based subject. While analyzing the fundamental properties of matter, he was not confined to a qualitative description, but attempted to reach quantitative results through measurements and calculations. He set the following ground rules for the study of nature: 1. if the cause explains the consequences, no further explanations are needed, 2. similar causes have similar consequences and 3. characteristics of the matter that cannot be either strengthened or weakened and are experimentally confirmed in all substances are considered general. With these rules A. had a major impact on his contemporaries and paved the way for the development of the Slovenian enlightenment.
