Dénes Dienes: History of the Reformed Church Collég in Sárospatak (Sárospatak, 2013)
János Ugrai: „THE PERIOD OF NATIONAL ADVANCEMENT” 1777-1849 - The last Renaissance man of Patak? - Isván Nyíry
103 concepts for better advancing general education, for establishing a chair of Hungarian language and for the method of selecting “humaniorum” professors (that is, secondary school teachers). For several terms he held the office of rector- professor. But, apart from teaching, decidedly, his most important task was the directing and supervising of the planning and the construction of the large new college building, coordinating the whole process on a daily basis. In contrast to Sándor Kövy, Nyiry submerged himself in scientific research and publication. Simple presentation of this is made difficult not only because of the peerless fertility of the author but also because of his manifold interests and his knowledge. His work in the scientific domain can be ordered into three categories: the geographical (geological, astronomical), statistical-demographic and philosophical (linguistic, legal, historical) realms. He took delight in examining and analyzing problems in all of these. As befitting a noteworthy polyhistor, his writings, be they shorter or longer, all bear evidence of his striving to meld the contemporary disciplines. This approach, to which today we refer as “interdisciplinary”, is readily discernible in István Nyiri’s most significant work, the three-volumed handbook entitled The Entirety of Science. In this handbook he collected the essential principles and most important threads of knowledge of each given discipline and then strived to establish a measure of cohesion between the individual disciplines with the purpose of constructing an overarching and uniform scientific system. The author admittedly would have liked to have advanced the tradition of a particular genre, that of the encyclopedia, which had, from the 17th century onwards, steadily gained in popularity. In this respect, he not only refers to the English, French, German and even Apáczai-type forebears but also presents them in relatively great detail. This ultimately unfinished, yet prodigious work was compiled according to a perspective of principled development and, as such, was to nurture the intellectual heritage ofthe Enlightenment. The decidedly significant achievement of this work was that it enriched the scientific technical language of the nation in practically all existing disciplines, with new words or with precise, definitionlike descriptions of expressions already in use. It, of course, appears natural that certain reflexions - already outdated and obsolete at the time - and surprising omissions occasionally slipped into this work, the compilation of which required of its single author an inordinate degree of preparedness. The name of István Nyiry was well-known not only in Sárospatak but in much wider circles, also, even within the upper echelons of the national science scene. Proof of this is that, upon Kövy’s death, he became the professor in Patak of first rank in the eyes of the nation. Shortly after, near the beginning of 1831, he was selected to be a correspondent member of the Academy and, in the spring of 1832, he became a regular member as a rural delegate. His work as a discipline- specific author, however, was not especially well-received. Consequently, his work entitled The Entirety of Science remained likewise virtually unknown.
