Maximilianus Hell (1720-1792) - Munin

works or not are equally problematic. In Swedish astronomy, for example, the leading
astronomer Wargentin had to rely on a wealthy wife for most of his career, and none of the
other leading Swedish astronomers of the same century enjoyed fully financed professorships,
be it in astronomy, physics or mathematics. 85 I have chosen nonetheless to characterise
Wargentin, Hell and their peers as ‘professionals’ because the positions they kept were, if not
well paid, then at least associated with sufficient authority to set them apart from other
contemporaries, who lacked a formal position at a University, Academy, Observatory or other
institution of higher learning. Again, astronomy appears to form a special case. Whereas other
branches of science were still ill-defined, lacking designated professorships and relying
entirely upon amateurs and ‘spare-time interest’ of professors from neighbouring disciplines,
astronomy was not in the same state of flux. In a recent contribution on the history of the
sciences in eighteenth-century Europe, Irène Passeron has argued that astronomy was a sort of
“discipline avant la lettre” because of the foundation of numerous observatories and
dedicated professorships for astronomy during this century. 86 That said, the professionalised
nature of astronomy did not imply that amateurs were excluded from the scientific discourse,
only that their contributions in astronomy were likely to be attributed with a different level of
authority.
In sum, breaking down national barriers, highlighting the role of Latin versus vernaculars and
investigating the impact of dilettantism to eighteenth-century astronomy will be the three
main theoretical perspectives of the present work.
I.1.2.2 SELECTION OF SOURCES
The sources investigated in this study are texts, both printed works and manuscripts.
Maximilianus Hell was a productive author and editor of scientific texts, and his works were
frequently commented upon by others. A fair amount of letters and unpublished manuscripts
that shed further light on his career are also extant.
As an astronomer, Hell’s main work was the Ephemerides (Astronomicae) ad Meridianum
Vindobonensem. This large-format ephemeris, or almanac, also served as a scientific journal,
85 Widmalm 1990a, pp. 172-175; Aspaas 2011a.
86 See Passeron’s introduction to the special issue of Dix-huitième siècle Numéro 40, La République des
Sciences, in which several interesting investigations of the ‘quasi-disciplinarity’ of various branches of
eighteenth-century science are found (Passeron 2008, here p. 20).
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