Maximilianus Hell (1720-1792) - Munin

Kratzenstein has travelled to Trondheim to observe from there. // 4) Professor
Horbow the Younger, with one assistant, has been sent to Tromsdalen [i.e., the
mainland just opposite the island of Tromsø] in the gouvernement of Trondheim
for the same reason. // 5) Professor Hill [sic], with numerous assistants, has
travelled to Vardøhus in Finnmark. // The first four of these attempts have met
with the same fate as that of the Englishmen situated at Nordkapp, as well as the
Dutchmen, Germans, etc: either the sky has been cloudy or the light of the Sun
has been too feeble for one to expect much from their observations; but, on the
other hand, Professor Hill has had the best sunshine one could have hoped for;
the acknowledged talents of this observer will guarantee the exactitude of his
observations; we expect him to arrive here in two or three weeks, he will not
hesitate to publish his findings and I shall not neglect to send them to You, in
the meantime I have the honour to remain [etc.] // Hielmstierne
This letter of Hielmstierne is interesting not only for the information included, but almost as
much for what is left out. It reveals, in fact, that the circles of Danish-Norwegian learning still
lacked a dynamic co-ordinator to include able amateurs in the project.
Thus, in the newspaper Nordske Jntelligenz-Sedler published in Christiania (now Oslo), we
find in the issues dated 7 and 14 June 1769 that a professor of mathematics and fortification at
the military school in Christiania, Michael Sundt Døderlein (1740-1786) has attempted to
observe the phenomenon from a private house, but has seen nothing, due to cloudy weather.
Døderlein has been careful to ensure a clear view to the north-west (where – good weather
providing – the ingress stage would have been visible) as well as to the meridian in the south
and north. Furthermore, the owner of the house has offered him the opportunity to spend a
whole month adjusting the course of his clock and determining the co-ordinates of the site.
For all his practical skills and theoretical insights, Døderlein acted on his own initiative,
receiving no salary for his efforts. 146
Another amateur of astronomy, who likewise appears to have received no official invitation to
make his observation, or salary, was a teacher of physics and Co-Rector at Roeskilde lærde
skole (an elite school preparing pupils for University), Hans Christian Saxtorph (1726-
1787). 147 On 3 June 1769 he observed the transit of Venus from his garden in Roskilde, only
about 30 kilometres from Copenhagen. One of his pupils, Andreas Christian Hviid (See
Section I.2.4), remembers how Saxtorph “made sure that we in the highest class observed it
[i.e., the transit of Venus] in his garden, with his own telescope, after he had prepared us well
146 Nordske Jntelligenz-Sedler, No. 23., Onsdagen den 7. [scripsi; 6. ed.] Juni 1769, “Følgende er til
Bogtrykkeriet indsendt”, and No. 24., Onsdagen den 14. Juni 1769, “Følgende indrykkes efter Begiering”.
147 According to Hundrup 1854, p. 266, Saxtorph‟s formal education was as a theologian.
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