Maximilian Hell

Honors and awards In 1771, Hell was elected a foreign member of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences. However, it is believed that he did not accept the offer, as his name is not on the official Fellows list.

Legacy

There was some controversy about Hell's observations of the transit of Venus because he stayed in Norway for eight months, collecting non-astronomical scientific data about the arctic regions for a planned encyclopedia (which never appeared, in part due to the suppression of the Jesuit order). The publication of his results was delayed, and some (notably Joseph Johann Littrow) accused Hell posthumously of falsifying his results. However, Simon Newcomb carefully studied Hell's notebooks and exonerated him a century after his death in Vienna.

The crater Hell on the Moon is named after him.

Works

Elementa Algebrae Joannis Crivelli magis illustrata et novis demonstrationibus et problematibus aucta. Vindobonae, 1745. (Book of Joannis Crivelli, updated by Maximilian Hell) Adiumentum Memoriae manuale chronologico-genealogico-historicum. München, 1750 és Ingolstadt, 1763. Compendia varia praxesque operationum arithmeticarum, itemque regulae aureae simplicis compositae etc. cumprimis ad usus mercatorum et civiles applicatae. Claudiopoli, 1755. Elementa mathematica naturali philosophiae ancillantia ad praefixam in scholis normam concinnata. I. Elementa Arithmeticae numericae et litteralis seu Algebrae. Claudiopoli, 1755. Exercitationum mathematicarum partes tres. Vindobonae, 1755. Ephemerides astronomicae ad meridianum Vindobonensem. Vindobonae 1756-1793.

Exercitationum mathematicarum partes tres, una cum Exercitationibus arithmeticis et regula Rabbatae, Anatocismi et iuris civilis de quarta Falcidia. Viennae, 1759. Elementa Algebrae Authore R. P. Maximiliano Hell e S. J. Posnaniae, typis S. J. 1760. Dissertatio complectens calculos accuratissimos transitus Veneris per discum Solis in tertiam Iuni 1769. praedicti, methodosque varias observationem hanc instituendi. Viennae, 1760. Kurzer Unterricht der Oster-Feyer für den ungelehrten, gemeinen Mann, samt der gründlichen Wiederlegung einer Schrift, welche Herr Christoph Sigismund Schumacher, Calender-Schreiber in Dresden unter den Innschrift: Untersuchung der Oster-Feyer von anno 1700 bis 2500 verfasst u. anno 1760 in Druck gegeben hat. Wien, 1760. Introductio ad utilem usum Magnetis ex chalybe. Viennae, 1762.

Transitus Veneris ante discum Solis anni 1761. die Astron. 5. Junii calculis definitus et methodo observandi illustratus a Max. Hell S. J. Vindobonae, é.n. Tabulae Solares ad Meridianum Parisianum, quas novissimis suis observationibus deduxit vir celeberrimus Nicolaus Ludovicus de Caille… Cum supplemento reliquarum tabularum solarium, quas supputavit Maximilianus Hell Astronomus Caesareo-Regius. Editio post primam Parisianam anni 1758 altera et auctior. Vindobonae, 1763. Tabulae lunares ad meridianum Parisianum, quas supputavit vir Cl. Tobias Mayer. - cum supplemento reliquarum tabularum Lunarium D. Cassini, de la Lande et P. Hell. Bécs, 1763. Tabulae planetarum Saturni, Jovis, Martis, Veneris et Mercurii ad Meridianum Parisianum, quas supputavit vir cel. D. Ioannes Cassini … correctis typi erroribus et adiectis tabulis perturbationum, aberrationum et nutationum D. de la Lande, D. Euleri, D. Mayer cum earumdem praeceptis concinnatis a P. Max. Hell. Viennae, 1763.

Dissertatio de satellite Veneris a pluribus Astronomis viso, illusione optica. Viennae, 1765.

Elogium Rustici Tyrolensis Petri Anich Oberperfuessensis coloni, tornatoris etc. Viennae, 1766. Observationes astronomicae ab anno 1717. ad annum 1752. a patribus Soc. Jesu Kögler etc. Pekini factae et a P. Augustino Hallerstein S. J. Tribunalis mathematici Praeside 1772 collectae, ac in Europam missae. Ad fidem autographi Manuscripti edidit P. Hell. Viennae, 1768. Observatio transitus Veneris ante discum Solis die 3. Junii anno 1769. Wardoëhusii etc. Hafniae, 1770. Dissertatio de parallaxi Solis ex Observationibus Transitus Veneris 1769. Viennae, 1772. Methodus astronomica sine usu Quadrantis vel Sectoris aut alterius cuiusvis instrumenti in gradus circuli divisi … elevationem cujusvis in continente siti loci accuratissime determinandi. Wien, 1775. Max Hell's Schreiben über die alhier in Wien entdeckte Magnetenkur, an einen seiner Freunde. Wien, 1775. Unpartheiischer Bericht der alhier gemachten Entdeckungen der künstlichen Stahlmagneten in verschiedenen Nervenkrankheiten. Wien, 1775. Erklärung über das zweite Schreiben Herrn D. Mesmers die Magnetenkur betreffend an das Publikum. Wien, 1775. Von der wahren Grösse, die der Durchmesser des vollen Mondes zu haben scheint, wenn man mit freyem Auge ansieht. (Beyträge zu den verschiedenen Wissenschaften, 1775.) Monumenta aere perenniora inter astra ponenda etc. Wien, 1789. Tabula geographica Ungariae veteris ex historia Anonymi Belae regi notarii. Pestini, 1801. Sacharum praeservativum adversus scorbutum cum Epistola D. Alberitz Med. Doctoris. (?)