The Learned Man’s Eye & Lenses: The Hidden Talents of Jan Śniadecki

nicolas_copernicus_among_other_astronomers_of_the_world._pho_wellcome_v0006864.jpg, default, The Learned Man’s Eye & Lenses: The Hidden Talents of Jan Śniadecki, 'Nicholas Copernicus among other astronomers in the world', engraving by Jan Styfi, photo: Public domain (CC BY 4.0), center, #000000

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He loved Copernicus, hated Mickiewicz. He edited the best algebra textbook in Europe, he constructed the first balloon in Poland and a crater on the Moon was named after him. He was faithful to realism and the Polish language; in words, he did not look for ‘sound and wind, but matter’. Here are some facts about one of Poland’s most enlightened minds and a forgotten astronomer.

If one were to compile Jan Śniadecki’s curriculum vitae, his professional experience alone would take up several pages. The same number of pages would have to be devoted to his skills. It would be simpler to describe him in one word – a polyhistor. He was something of a Renaissance man, although Śniadecki was a star of the Enlightenment. Apart from his easily measurable skills, proven by his successive academic titles (he was conferred a doctorate in philosophy at the age of 19, and only a year later, he was teaching algebra as a professor), he was also distinguished by his many talents in other fields, especially in interpersonal relations.

Neither a monk nor an elegant woman

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Portrait of Jan Śniadecki, 1825–50, photo: The National Digital Library Polona

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Śniadecki had a valuable gift for winning people over. In his private life, he reportedly liked to surround himself with women, although he only fell in love twice and never married. In his professional life, he gathered great minds around him – suffice it to mention Hugo Kołłątaj (they were united by their belief in educating society) or Napoleon Bonaparte (they were of similar stature). While still alive, he enjoyed great authority, initially more among foreign than domestic scientists.

He shared a unique intellectual bond with Nicolaus Copernicus, who was several generations older. They both possessed comprehensive knowledge in various fields, were alumni of the same university and brought about a revolution – one in world astronomy, the other in Polish education. It was mainly thanks to Śniadecki that Europe stopped referring to Copernicus as a German and began to look more favourably at his work.

When preparing the two calendars published under the name Prognostyk astrologiczny (Astrological Forecast), Śniadecki probably foretold that the autumn of 1778 would be opportune for his first scientific journey abroad. He set off from Kraków via Leipzig to Göttingen, where he attended lectures on law, history, philosophy, Greek and Latin literature, oriental studies and botany. After classes, he took private lessons in military engineering; at night he sketched diagrams of fortresses, and in the meantime, he polished his English. However, most of his time was occupied with mathematics and astronomy. After more than a year of intensive study, he left briefly for the Netherlands. Then, he went to Paris, where he expanded his knowledge of geometry, chemistry (he called these lectures ‘romances’), physics, mechanics and French literature. As in Göttingen, he regularly went to the astronomical observatory. And it was to Copernicus’s work that Śniadecki devoted his first public lecture after returning to Poland.

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‘Kopernik wykładający astronomię w Rzymie’, photograph of preparatory carton for painting by Wojciech Gerson, pre-1939, photo: The National Digital Library Polona

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Two things cannot be denied to him: professionalism and lack of modesty. In the library of the Kraków Academy, he found the first edition of On the Revolutions of the Heavenly Spheres from 1543 and studied another work by the great astronomer on trigonometry. He reported:

Having then proceeded to read the authors writing about Copernicus and expounding his doctrine, I found my more important observations and remarks touched upon by no one, whence I became convinced that Copernicus had either not been read in the source by the great writers and astronomers or had been read without that attention which fathoming it by great and original thoughts would draw.

Śniadecki fathomed these thoughts, and in 1782, he expounded them to an audience gathered at the inauguration of the College of Physics of the Kraków Academy, of which he was a member and, from 1790, the head. The dissertation, under the telling title of Pochwała Mikołaja Kopernika (Praise of Nicolaus Copernicus), aroused widespread enthusiasm. The author was urged to publish it in print, but aware of the imperfections of his argument, he postponed publication until 1801. At that time, the Society of Friends of the Sciences asked the scholar to resume his work. A year later, the book saw the light of day. Śniadecki focused more on the work than on the life of his master but dealt once and for all with the question of his nationality. Emphasising Copernicus’s contribution to the development of world astronomy, he argued for the independence of his discoveries and findings (‘the system of the world, planted on the course of the Earth, is Copernicus’s own creation and invention’). In doing so, he refrained from a scientific style – he explained the more intricate issues in the endnotes – in order to make the Polish astronomer’s achievements understandable to everyone. Did he succeed?

The first test came in November 1802, when the treatise O Koperniku (On Copernicus) was read out at a public meeting of the Society of Friends of the Sciences. Although Śniadecki did not attend the assembly, he could rely on Tadeusz Czacki’s report:

Dear Friend! Thousands of mouths have repeated your name with reverence and gratitude. Yesterday was one of the nation’s most beautiful days. Four hours the sitting lasted; the monk and the elegant woman, the scholar and the commoner, the jurist and the mathematician, listened alike, exulted alike. [...] A single laugh did not taint the solemnity, and apart from a few people who had to leave because of the immeasurable crowd, when by chance the bench broke, no one moved.

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‘Ostatnie chwile Kopernika’ by F. Cynk, 1927–36, Kraków, photo: The National Digital Library Polona Library

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While Czacki can be accused of subjectivity, the interest of foreign publishers undoubtedly testifies to the value of the work. A French translation was produced almost immediately – unfortunately, it was erroneous. Śniadecki dissociated himself from it, and as he had polished the language during his stay in Paris, he personally undertook the translation. This, in turn, was not appreciated by the Society of Friends of the Sciences, and it was not until 1816 that the French were able to verify the inaccuracies that had appeared in the first edition. Śniadecki’s dream of having his book translated into Latin did not materialise (the Polish publisher preferred to conquer the French market). Similarly, the first attempt at an Italian translation was unsuccessful (this time, an incompetent translator was at fault); it appeared only in 1830. A few years earlier, the dissertation O Koperniku had been made known to English-speaking readers, then to Russian audiences, and there was even a summary of the book published in Persian. Paradoxically, the Polish author’s greatest success came with the German publication – Śniadecki’s argument was so popular with Ideler and later also with Westphal that the gentlemen credited the authorship to themselves (the plagiarism omitted, of course, the issue of Copernicus’s nationality).

With his modest achievements in the study of the heavenly bodies, Śniadecki remains in the shadow of his famous compatriot. However, it is worth noting that, apart from inaugurating lectures on astronomy (a novelty in Poland!), he determined the exact geographical coordinates of Kraków (which took him two years), made numerous observations of the sky (including eclipses of the Sun and the Moon), maintained a lively correspondence with European researchers, wrote textbooks, educated many astronomers (including Piotr Sławiński, Michał Hłuszniewicz, Józef Chodźko). It was on his initiative that the Kraków Astronomical Observatory was opened (more on that later). These achievements were recognised by naming a crater on the Moon and the asteroid 1262 (Sniadeckia) after him.

Treason against King Reason

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‘Portret Jana Śniadeckiego’ by Józef Oziębłowski, Vilnius, 1834, photo: National Museum in Warsaw

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Śniadecki also had a talent for alienating people. At the Kraków Academy, he provoked a protest from the old guard of professors when he dared to deliver the first lecture in Polish instead of Latin in the newly opened Department of Mathematics. As a future reformer of the university (it was said that ‘if Kołłątaj was the heart of the reform of the Kraków Academy, then Jan Śniadecki was its brain’), he often encountered the reluctance of his more conservative superiors and colleagues. Moreover, he openly polemicised with Kant’s philosophy, criticising his theory of cognition and the concept of the categorical imperative. However, the greatest conflict in which he was involved – and which he fuelled – concerned Polish 19th century literature and art. Generally speaking, it was about the worldview and political differences between the Classicists and the Romantics. Specifically – about Mickiewicz.

Let us, however, maintain the chronology of events. In 1818, Kazimierz Brodziński published a thesis titled O klasyczności i romantyczności tudzież o duchu poezji Polskiej (On Classicism and Romanticism and the Spirit of Polish Poetry), in which he praised the emerging revolutionary romantic ideas in literature. Śniadecki could not deny himself a bitter response. As a defender of traditional values – such as rationalism, moderation and harmony – he laid out his reasons in 1819 in the text O pismach klasycznych i romantycznych (On Classical and Romantic Literary Works). This, in turn, angered the young Adam Mickiewicz. He expressed it in ‘Romantyczność’ (‘Romanticism’), a ballad written in January 1821. The poem was a manifesto of Polish Romanticism published a year later in a volume of poetry. The verses: ‘Faith and love are more discerning / than lenses or learning’ (trans. W. H. Auden) are an obvious criticism of Śniadecki’s scientific worldview.

Fotografia obrazu: Jan Śniadecki w pracowni obserwatorium Uniwersytetu Wileńskiego, XX w., fot. Muzeum Narodowe w Warszawie — Photograph of the painting: Jan Śniadecki in the observatory studio of Vilnius University, 20th century, photo: National Museum in Warsaw

The conflict did not end there. The meeting of the two great personalities took place in 1822 at the home of Juliusz Słowacki. The mother of the then thirteen-year-old boy organised an evening of science and poetry, to which Mickiewicz and Śniadecki, among others, had been invited. According to later accounts by the bard’s friends, the scholar (who, incidentally, wrote poetry himself) ignored the presence of the Romantic poet and openly commented on the work of the author of Ballady i romanse (Ballads and Romances) without mincing words. (Słowacki’s stepfather is said to have echoed his malice, making Mickiewicz an enemy of his innocent stepson). The humiliated Mickiewicz remained silent. Until later. One of the negative characters in the third part of Forefathers’ Eve is an allusion to Śniadecki. Years later, Ignacy Chrzanowski commented on their dispute as follows:

Mickiewicz was wrong when, in his youthful enthusiasm and youthful self-confidence, he parodied Śniadecki’s words and denied him knowledge of living truths. Indeed, Słowacki was right when he wrote of him: ‘After the fall and demise of the era of King Stanisław, this man took up the sceptre of its spirit in Poland’.

‘Hit or miss’

Although Śniadecki was not always considerate when it came to the feelings of others, his passions were sincere and deep. Especially his love for mathematics. It was 10 days, 13 hours, 25 minutes and 40 seconds that Śniadecki waited for another love letter from Antonina Chołoniewska of Morskie. The young widow, heiress to vast estates in Galicia, proposed to her beloved, tempting him with the promise of building an astronomical observatory on her lands. However, the scientist, who had fallen madly in love, calculated that family life would take up too much of his time and energy at the expense of his personal development, so he turned down the lucrative offer. Besides, he was already involved in building an observatory in Kraków.

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First seat of Astronomical Observatory, now Śniadecki Collegium, building of Jagiellonian University, Kraków, photo: public domain

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Astronomers from Poland and Europe were privy to his plans to create a renowned scientific institution on Polish land. He made several trips abroad (England, Germany, France) to see how such a place should work. As an eight-year-old boy, he attended open lectures on experimental physics by Father Józef Rogaliński. Influenced by him, Śniadecki nearly became a Jesuit. So, when, two decades later, he heard about the liquidation of the Poznań scientist’s study, he immediately went there in search of valuable instruments. He recalled:

Only Lepaute’s astronomical clock and Canivet’s astronomical quadrant of 3 degrees radius were suitable for the first establishment of the Astronomical Observatory in Kraków. But in this quadrant, the glass of the lens was ordinary, and there was no eyepiece with a micrometre. I [...] went there, and in the rubbish of the granary, I found an eyepiece with a micrometre.

The observatory was set up on the grounds of the Botanical Garden. Officially, this occurred in May 1792, but Śniadecki had already conducted sky observations earlier. In addition, in 1784, the first balloon in Poland, and the second in the world, ascended from the Botanical Garden and flew over Kraków for half an hour. The ‘air sphere’ was constructed by Śniadecki and Jan Jaśkiewicz, a chemist and geologist. As we can surmise, the balloon flight was not recreational but purely scientific.

Śniadecki also contributed to the queen of sciences. In Poland, he was a pioneer of probability calculus, which he called the ‘calculus of fates’ or the ‘calculus of hit or miss’. Many of the names he created are still in use in mathematics today (although some are in a slightly altered form), e.g. differential calculus, integral calculus, mathematical expectation, primary function, derivative function and entangled function. Although the Latin equivalents of the terms he proposed did not catch on (‘wstawa’ is sine, ‘dostawa’ is cosine, ‘styczna’ instead of tangent and ‘dostyczna’ – cotangent), his linguistic talent was recognised by Samuel Bogumił Linde, who invited the scholar to work on the Słownik języka Polskiego (Dictionary of the Polish Language). Despite Śniadecki’s manifold merits, he will remain an old man opposed to Romanticism in the minds of many.

Translated by Agnieszka Mistur, 11 February 2024

Bibliography

'If It Weren’t for Copernicus, You’d Be Reading This in the Paper Press': A Conversation With Wojciech Orliński

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