ZOCH, Ivan Branislav
* 24. 6. 1843, Jasenová, Slovakia
† 27. 12. 1921, Modra, Slovakia
Physicist, mathematician
Z. attended grammar school in Český Těšín, then from 1862 studied at the Polytechnic Institute in Vienna, and later Mathematics and Physics at the University of Erlangen. He also attended lectures on chemistry, geology and medicine. In 1886 he wrote a dissertation on acoustics. He then worked as a teacher at Slovakia grammar school in Veľká Revúca, teaching mathematics, physics and physical education. He published the first Slovak terminological dictionary of mathematics and physics, which was published in parts in the yearbook "Matica Slovenská". He also wrote textbooks on geometry and physics (1869). After the violent closure of grammar school in Veľka Revúca in 1974, Z. briefly taught at grammar school in Osijek. In 1878 he established a grammar school in Sarajevo but returned to Osijek in 1881. From 1888 until his retirement in 1908 he held the post of Director of grammar school in Petrinje. As a scientist he experimented in the field of acoustics. His device for measuring the speed of sound was put on display at the World Exhibition in Paris in 1867. He published over 80 works, among them 26 with the mathematical-physical content.
