John Horvath Keresztély

* Kőszeg, 13 July 1732 – † Buda, 20 October 1799 / Jesuit monk, physicist, university professor in Nagyszombat and Buda ; ; He studied theology at the University of Nagyszombat, then became the director of the convictus. From 1769 to 1791, until his retirement, he taught philosophy at the University of Nagyszombat, and then, after the institution was moved to Buda, he taught physics at the Engineering Institute (Institutum Geometricum) of the University of Buda. In 1784–1785, he was the rector of the university. The most significant Hungarian physics textbook writer of his time. His work Declaratio infirmitatis fundamentorum operis Kantiani, published in 1797, was the first Hungarian reflection on the philosophy of Immanuel Kant. He was one of the most prolific textbook writers of his time. In his works, he relied on the textbooks of Pál Makó, who lived in Vienna, and other distinguished works, but he also went beyond them in several points. In Buda, from 1784, József Nemetz and János Pasquich were his colleagues in the department. Pasquich – later a professor himself and then director of the observatory – translated into German some of the works of János Keresztély Horváth published in Latin. His textbooks and specialist books were published not only in Hungary, but many of his works were also published in Augsburg and Venice. ; Among the latter, we mention his textbook on logic, metaphysics and general physics, as well as the foundations of mathematics. Goethe also referred to his physics published in 1767. In this book, in addition to physics and electricity in a narrower sense, he also dealt with the causes of mountain formation, volcanism and earthquakes, and summarized basic knowledge about the atmosphere and hydrography. He was among the first to write textbooks on statics, hydrostatics, hydraulics, mechanical engineering, mechanics, aerostatics and pneumatics in Hungary, the latter primarily for the students of the Engineering Training Institute. His work on the statics and mechanics of solids was published in 1782, followed by hydrostatics and hydraulics the following year, and electrostatics in 1784. ; ; His main works: ; Physica generalis, 1767, ; Institutiones metaphysicae, 1767, ; Institutiones physicae, 1770, ; Elementa matheseos I–II., ; 1772–1773, ; Praeelectionum mechanicarum partes III., 1782–1784, ; Mechanische Abhandlung von der Statik und Mechanik, 1785, ; Elementa physicae, 1790.