Technikatörténeti szemle 23. (1997-98)

TANULMÁNYOK - Efmertová, Marcela: Major Anniversaries of Prague’s Czech Technical University and its Support from the Secondary School System in the Past

vourite subjects included mathematics and physics and where he learnt perfect Latin. Thanks to his exceptional dexterity he acquired technical skills in many different crafts (joinery, carpentry, locksmith trade, smithcraft, brick laying, dyeing, soapmaking etc.) He eventually put these practical skills to a good use during his teaching career. In 1772 he began his five-year studies at the Faculty of Philosophy at Prague University, specializing in mathematics and astronomy. In 1778 he started attending Herget's lectures at the Prague Estates' Engineering School. In 1781 Gerstner went to study at the Medical Faculty in Vienna where he also frequently visited the local observatory. He returned to Prague in 1784, having been appointed adjunct to the Prague Observatory. Thanks to this particular job and to his knowledge of several foreign languages he established many contacts abroad. He maintained lively correspondence with French scientists who kept him informed in their letters about the new developments in French technical education. In 1789 Gerstner was appointed professor of mathematics at Prague's Charles-Ferdinand University, and in 1803 he was named Director of the Prague Estates' Engineering School where he had previously taught. Apart from his research and teaching of mathematics and astronomy, Gerstner also applied himself to mechanics, hydraulics and water and railway engineering. He published several major writings in German: in 1789 "An Introduction to Static Civil Engineering", in 1790 "A Comparison of Force and Load in Gearing with a View to Friction", five years later "Theory of Water Forces in Enclosed Flumes with a View to Experiences and Utilization in Mill-wheels", in 1813 "Zwei Abhandlungen über Frachtwagen und Strassen und über die Frage, ob und in welchen Fällen der Bau schiffbarer Canäle, Eisenwegen oder gemachten Strassen vorzuziehen sei" and in 1825 "Notes on the Strength, Flexibility and Use of Iron in the Construction of Chain Bridges". Gerstner's most important book is his Handbuch der Mechanik in three large-format volumes, written at the end of his life and published between 1831-33 thanks to his son Franz Anton (1793-1840), a railway expert. This handbook of mechanics was used widely and for a long time as a textbook at the Polytechnic. Thanks to these writings, Gerstner was introduced to practical problems of everyday life. For instance, working in the iron works in the estates of the Counts of Wrbna (in Central Bohemia)

10 and the Fürstenbergs (in Western Bohemia)

11 Gerstner managed to improve the existing iron-making machinery and designed new tools: the driving horse-gear and blower. In fact, he did such a good job of designing his tools that they were used in other iron works in Bohemia, Moravia, Silesia, and Styria, in Corinthia and in Hungary. Gerstner was also engaged in designing and surveying for the horse-drawn railway line leading from Ceske Budejovice to Linz.

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