ERBER(G), Anton
* 21. 10. 1695, Dol near Ljubljana, Slovenia
† 3. 10. 1746, Ljubljana, Slovenia
Physicist
E. originates from a noble family, which lived in Carniola since the middle Ages. His father Janez Danijel, who received the baronial title, bought the manor Dol near Ljubljana, where Anton was born on 21st October, 1695. In 1713, E. entered the Jesuit order. He studied in Vienna, Leoben and Graz, where he concluded his study in 1724. He donated his fortune worth about 20,000 guilders to the Jesuit order in Ljubljana and thus became his co-founder. He was a university professor in Graz and Vienna. In 1744 he became rector of a Jesuit college in Ljubljana. Most of his theological and philosophical work was published posthumously. This also applies to his main work titled »Cursus philosophicus…« which can be described as a textbook for physics and philosophy. It consists of three parts: Part 1 - General logic system; Part 2 - System of general physics and Part 3 - Specific physics system. E. is a representative of the late-scholastic and early humanist philosophy. The main authority for him was Aristotle, while he rejected Descartes. His essays dealt with the calculations of distance based on stellar parallax, speed of stars and their size, comets and meteors, high and low tide, earthquakes, as well as magnetism, electricity, lightning and thunder. He was engaged in a theory of bodies and the issue of extreme points and infinite distance. His methods were still scholastic. He singled out the problem, explained the concepts, set theory and then discussed it.
