Zolt6n Szokefalvi-Nagy Pedagogical High school Eger, Hungary Translated by Ralph E. Oesperl University of Cincinnati Cincinnati, Ohio
lgnatius Martinovics 78th century chemist a n d agifafor
Lavoisier was guillotined a t Paris on May 8, 1794. Less than two weeks later a chemist was taken into custody in Hungary, tried, convicted, and in 1795 beheaded a t Budapest. Although both chemists met like fates for political reasons, the grounds for their sentences were of opposite character. Lavoisier was convicted for alleged crimes against the French Republic, whereas the Emperor of Austria, who was also King of Hungary, had the Hungarian chemist delivered to the headsman for trying to spread the fundamental tenets of the French Revolution. It is also interesting to note that for a time Lavoisier enjoyed the favor of the National Assembly and was entrusted with important public offices; his Hungarian counterpart likewise was in the employ of his ruler for a number of years. Ignatius Martinovics was horn a t Budapest in 1755. His father was an army officerbut the son chose to wear 1 The original text in Hungarian was put into German by Professor Ferenc Sesbadv6ry of the Technical University of Budapest; the English version was made from this German translation.
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a c m c k rather than a uniform. He entered the Franciscan order and was permitted to study a t the University of Vienna where he earned two doctorates, one in philosophy (science) the other in theology. From a n early age, he led a tempestuous life and his scientific career was equally agitated. He had little ability to confine himself to a single field; besides his favorite subject, chemistry, he also pursued physics, mathematics, and philosophy. I n addition, he was keenly interested in technical inventions and advances, for example travel by balloons. On the other hand, he once sought appointment to a chair in church history. He did not take kindly to the strict dkciplie imposed by the order and as soon as he could, without waiting for the permission of his superior, he left to take a post as military chaplain. He went to a garrison in Galicia where he met a Polish nobleman, Count Potoczki, who later was prominent in the freedom movement. Martinovics made such a favorable impression on the Count that the latter took him as a companion on an extensive tour of Western Europe.
This trip had a lasting effect on the young man, particularly in broadening his outlook on the world. He met many eminent men including Lalande (astronomer), Condorcet (mathematician), Guyton de Morveau and Priestley (chemists). He may even have met Lavoisier. It is no longer possible to determine whether the scientific spirit of these personalities or the revolutionary views held by many of them had the greater impact on Martinovics. But it is certain that after this journey to the cultural and political centers of England and France, his life was largely dominated by the urge to conduct scientific studies and to ,disseminate new political ideas.
On his return he was appointed to the chair of physics at the University of Lemberg (now Lwow, USSR). He held this post from 1783 to 1791. At that time there was no separate chair of chemistry in the philosophical (natural science) faculty a t Lemberg. The professor of physics was expected to provide the necessary instruction in the sister branch. His greater liking for chemistry is revealed in the content of the course given by Martinovics. KO less than a third of his lectures, and primarily the introductory material, dealt with chemistry, it was his belief that only those who were a t hoine in chemistry could really understand physics. I n addition to the principles of general chemistry then current, he spent much time discussing special branches of the subject. His textbook, for instance, devotes 100 pages to organic chemistry, which a t that time still played a relatively minor role. Chemical Experiments
I n all likelihood, Martinovics was able to build up a fairly well-equipped laboratory for his own use a t the University since during these years he published many papers in Lorenz Crell's "Chemische Annalen und Beytragen." Of course, these papers contributed little if anything to the development of chemistry as a whole, but they merit attention since a t that time not more than a very few professors in East Europe carried out experimental studies. Martinovics' work came at the period of the great cheinical revolution: even participation in the great international debate between the old and the new theory of combustion contributed in some
degree to scientific and chemical progress. The new chemical views advanced by Lavoisier were dubbed "French chemistry" in Austria-I-Iungary, and there was no tendency to accept the new doctrines without critical review. Martinovics was among the chemists who opposed the Lavoisierian ideas with vigor, not because he mas uot well informed about the antiphlogistic theory but rather because his own experiinents had led him to conclusions that appeared to speak against Lavoisier. His experiments centered around fulminating gold. He fastened a small amount on a wooden rod which extended into a flask that could then be closed. He ignited the material from the outside by focusing sunlight on it by means of a mirror or burning glass. He found that the explosion was the same no matter if the flask mere filled n-ith air, oxygen, or carbon dioxide. Moreover, the amount and compositiou of the resulting gases were always the same and, in fact, no difference mas observed when the explosion took place in a vacuum. Since he regarded the explosion of fulminating gold as a combustion, he rejected the view of Lavoisier that con~bustion denoted union with oxygen. But he mas uot able to explain his findings on the basis of the classic phlogistic hypothesis either, since metallic gold resulted instead of the metal calx demanded by the Stahlian doctrine. He proposed a completely new theory of combustion based on his findings, but it was not found acceptable by either of the opposing schools. He coustructed a special vacuum pump so that he could observe the phenomenon even under reduced pressure, and he believed that this device could produce an absolute vacuum. However, it served to lead him into another series of experiments. He ohserved how gases escape from liquids during the reduction of pressure and correctly found that the solubility of gases is related to the gas pressure and that the solubility is related to the temperature of the liquid in which the gas is dissolved. Furthermore, he was correct in his belief that the dissolving of gases in liquids should not be regarded as a purely physical process. Martinovics observed that not as much gas is evolved when the pressure is lowered over distilled water as compared with well waters, but he theu drew the false conclusion that the gases are not dissolved dircctly by the water but rather through the intermediary action of the dissolved salts. He stated that carbon dioxide is the only gas that dissolves in pure water, i.e., water free from salts. He was interested in discovering the materials respousible for the alkaline characteristics of certaiu matcrials. He correctly demonstrated that all materials that yield salt,swith acids should be included among the alkalis and heme concluded that metal calces as well as the real alkalis belong in this category. Rut he made the serious error when he declared that he had found an "alkali gas" in all alkalis and concluded that caustic alkalis consist of this material cuinbined with an intermediary salt. His experiments on Galician petroleum are noteworthy in that they were directed to the discovery of good methods for making practical use of this natural product. His doctrines dealing with the fundamental concepts of chemistry were not his own but were a mixtnre or Volume 41, Number 8, August 1964
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fusion of various teachings. He intertwined the latest findings with Aristotelian doctrines. Even though he was aware of the newer discoveries of chemical analysis, he nonetheless persisted in his belief that "primordial earth" was one of the fundamental elements and that all of the other elements had arisen from it by some "unexplainable manner." Though he here was holding fast in part to the ancient scholastic teachings, he held completely materialistic beliefs in other areas. For instance, in a paper, that for obvious reasons was published anonymously, he boldly declared that all living things owe their being to the affinity of the atoms; he went so far as to state that the assumption of a "Supreme Architect" is unnecessary. Martinovics was not popular among the faculty a t Lemherg and his atheistic views brought h i into acrimonious debates with his colleagues. In addition, he persuaded himself that the air in Lemberg was undermining his health. Accordingly he resigned his professorship with the firm expectation that he could receive an appointment to a chair in Vienna or Budapest that would provide better laboratory facilities for hi experimental studies. Unfortunately his efforts met with disappointment and only after a long period of solicitation did he finally receive an offer from the Emperor to enter the imperial laboratory as "chemicus aulicus" (court chemist). However, this proved to be little more than an empty title. Emperor Leopold I1 (1747-92) had a real interest in chemistry, but after his early death the entire imperial laboratory was done away with by his son and successor Francis 11. This marked the end of Martinovic's hopes of resuming his experimental studies.
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Political Activities
Furthermore, the restless chemist was becoming increasingly involved in political matters. Hungarian historians have made a thorough investigation of his activities during the period 1792-94 but their conclusions are by no means unanimous. However, it has been established that in the beginning Martinovics also worked for the imperial secret service and furnished the monarch with information about underground activities. But later he himself actually organized a conspiracy inspired by the ideas of the French Revolution. Several secret societies in which he played an initiatory role were being organized in Hungary a t that time. Their basic tenets, resting on Jacobin doctrines, were set down in catechisms written by Martinovics. By the time the authorities learned of these activities, many prominent progressive-minded persons were already involved, including some of the nobility. Numerous arrests were made and after lengthy detention and judicial hearings, sentences were imposed. Heavy prison terms were decreed for some, hut the four leaders of the so-called Hungarian Jacobinic Plot were condemned to death. Martinovics was one of the four. Martinovics and his three companions were led to the block on May 20, 1795. The place in Budapest where they were beheaded is still known as the "Bloody Field." Thus ended the troubled life of this interesting chemical personality, whose entire religious, scientific, and political career gives evidence of a personality that might well be the subject of a modern psychological and psychiatric study.
