right|thumb|Plaque of Prokop Diviš by Jan Tomáš Fischer (1912–1957) at the former Jesuit [[gymnasium (school)|gymnasium on Jezuitské Square in Znojmo.]]

150px|left|thumb|The "machina meteorologica" invented by Prokop Diviš worked like a [[lightning rod.]]

150px|right|thumb|Bust of Prokop Diviš by Jan Tomáš Fischer in front of the former Jesuit gymnasium on Divišovo Square in Znojmo.

thumb|left|Family home of Prokop Diviš, "machina meteorologica" on the right.

right|thumb|Plaque on Prokop Diviš' family home.

thumb|left|Prokop Diviš Theatre in [[Žamberk with "machina meteorologica" on the top.]]

Prokop Diviš O.Praem. (; 26 March 1698 – 21 December 1765) was a Czech canon regular, theologian, and natural scientist. In an effort to prevent thunderstorms, he inadvertently developed one of the earliest grounded lightning rods.

Early life

Václav Divíšek was born on 26 March 1698 in Helvíkovice, Bohemia (now in the Ústí nad Orlicí District, Czech Republic). As a child, he began his education at the Jesuit gymnasium in his hometown. In 1716, at the age of 18, he entered a gymnasium operated by the Premonstratensian abbey in the village of Louka, where he completed his basic studies in 1719.

Following this, Divíšek entered the novitiate of the abbey and took the religious name Prokop (or Procopius). He completed his novitiate the following year and professed his vows in the Premonstratensian Order. He then studied philosophy and theology in preparation for ordination to the Catholic priesthood, which took place in 1726. From 1729 to 1735, he taught philosophy at the abbey's gymnasium. During this period, he was sent by his abbot to the Paris Lodron University in Salzburg (now the University of Salzburg) for advanced theological studies. In 1733, he completed his doctoral dissertation and was awarded the degree of Doctor of Theology.

Upon returning to the abbey, Diviš resumed his duties as a canon regular and was appointed sub-prior. In 1736, he was assigned as pastor of the parish in Přímětice (now part of Znojmo), which was under the care of the abbey. He served in this role for five years before being recalled to the abbey in April 1741, where he was appointed prior.

In the spring of the following year, during the First Silesian War, the abbot, Antonín Nolbek, was arrested by forces of the Kingdom of Prussia and imprisoned. Diviš arranged for his release by paying a substantial ransom. However, this action displeased the abbot, who subsequently reassigned Diviš to the parish in Přímětice.

The 1753 death of Georg Wilhelm Richmann, a professor in St. Petersburg who was fatally struck by lightning while attempting to measure atmospheric electric fields, prompted Diviš to explore the nature of atmospheric electricity.

On 15 June 1754, he erected a forty-metre-high free-standing pole in Přímětice, on which he installed his "weather machine," consisting of multiple tin boxes and more than 400 metal spikes. The design was based on the then-prevalent belief that pointed spikes could efficiently conduct electricity. The pole was grounded by heavy metal chains, inadvertently making the structure one of the earliest grounded lightning rods. Diviš claimed the device was effective in dispersing storms: clouds allegedly formed when the machine was dismantled and dissipated when reinstalled. He interpreted these observations as evidence that the spikes were extracting latent electricity from the atmosphere, thereby preventing lightning formation. His experiments were reported in several local and regional newspapers in southern Germany.

See also

  • List of Roman Catholic scientist-clerics

References

Notes

Citations

Sources

  • Reinhard Breymayer Bibliographie zu Prokop Diviš. In: Friedrich Christoph Oetinger: Die Lehrtafel der Prinzessin Antonia. Hrsg. von Reinhard Breymayer und Friedrich Häußermann; Teil 2. Anmerkungen. Berlin, New York: Walter de Gruyter & Co. 1977, pp. 431–453
  • Luboš Nový (Ed.): Dějiny exaktních věd v českých zemích do konce 19. století. Prague 1961
  • Wolfgang Grassl: Culture of Place: An Intellectual Profile of the Premonstratensian Order. Nordhausen: Bautz 2012.
  • "Procopius Divisch" in Catholic Encyclopedia (Divis died 25 December, not 21 December as claimed there)
  • .