Leopold Gottlieb Biwald was a professor at the University of Graz

University of Graz

The University of Graz , a university located in Graz, Austria, is the second-largest and second-oldest university in Austria....

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At the age of sixteen Biwald joined the Jesuits. He became teacher of rhetoric

Rhetoric

Rhetoric is the art of discourse, an art that aims to improve the facility of speakers or writers who attempt to inform, persuade, or motivate particular audiences in specific situations. As a subject of formal study and a productive civic practice, rhetoric has played a central role in the Western...

 at a secondary school in Laibach

Ljubljana

Ljubljana is the capital of Slovenia and its largest city. It is the centre of the City Municipality of Ljubljana. It is located in the centre of the country in the Ljubljana Basin, and is a mid-sized city of some 270,000 inhabitants...

 and graduated as Dr. theol. in 1761. He became professor of logic

Logic

In philosophy, Logic is the formal systematic study of the principles of valid inference and correct reasoning. Logic is used in most intellectual activities, but is studied primarily in the disciplines of philosophy, mathematics, semantics, and computer science...

 and soon afterwards of physics

Physics

Physics is a natural science that involves the study of matter and its motion through spacetime, along with related concepts such as energy and force. More broadly, it is the general analysis of nature, conducted in order to understand how the universe behaves.Physics is one of the oldest academic...

 at the University of Graz. In 1786-1787 and again 1798-1799 he was rector of the University of Graz.

His Latin

Latin

Latin is an Italic language originally spoken in Latium and Ancient Rome. It, along with most European languages, is a descendant of the ancient Proto-Indo-European language. Although it is considered a dead language, a number of scholars and members of the Christian clergy speak it fluently, and...

 physics textbooks included Physica Generalis (1760s, 460pp), dealing with mechanics

Classical mechanics

In physics, classical mechanics is one of the two major sub-fields of mechanics, which is concerned with the set of physical laws describing the motion of bodies under the action of a system of forces...

 including celestial mechanics

Celestial mechanics

Celestial mechanics is the branch of astronomy that deals with the motions of celestial objects. The field applies principles of physics, historically classical mechanics, to astronomical objects such as stars and planets to produce ephemeris data. Orbital mechanics is a subfield which focuses on...

, and Physica Particularis (1760s, 403pp), dealing with diverse topics including optics

Optics

Optics is the branch of physics which involves the behavior and properties of light, including its interactions with matter and the construction of instruments that use or detect it. Optics usually describes the behavior of visible, ultraviolet, and infrared light...

. Physica Particularis was also widely distributed throughout Austria-Hungary

Austria-Hungary

Austria-Hungary , more formally known as the Kingdoms and Lands Represented in the Imperial Council and the Lands of the Holy Hungarian Crown of Saint Stephen, was a constitutional monarchic union between the crowns of the Austrian Empire and the Kingdom of Hungary in...

 (in modified form) as Institutiones Physicae (1779, 349pp). He was a contemporary of Johann Baptiste Horvath

Johann Baptiste Horvath

Johann Baptiste Horvath was a Hungarian-born Jesuit Professor of Physics and Philosophy at the University of Trnava in modern-day Slovakia, which was then part of the Kingdom of Hungary...

, Andreas Jaszlinszky

Andreas Jaszlinszky

Andreas Jaszlinszky was the Slovakian-born author of the early physics textbooks Institutiones physicae pars prima, seu physica generalis and Institutiones physicae pars altera, seu physica particularis .- Biography :Jaszlinszky...

 and Joseph Redlhamer

Joseph Redlhamer

Joseph Redlhamer was a professor at the University of Vienna.He joined the Jesuits at age 18 and earned a doctorate in philosophy and theology, after which he taught ethics, philosophy and theology in Linz, Graz and Vienna...

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His bust, made in 1807 by Johann Martin Fischer, is now displayed in the main reading room of the University Library of Graz

University Library of Graz

The University Library of Graz is the largest scientific and public library in Styria and the third largest in Austria. It holds the right of legal deposit...

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Works

• Theoria philosophiae naturalis, redacta ad unam legem virium in natura existentium auctore J. R. Boscovich S. J. ab ipo perpolita et aucta. Ex prima Editione Veneta com Catalogo operum ejus ad annum 1763. Graz 1765
• De objectivi Micrometri usu in Planetarum diametris metiendis. Exercitatio optico-astronomica habita in Coll. P. P. S. J. Rome 1765; Graz 1768.
• Physica generalis et particularis quam auditorium philosophiae usibus accomodavit Leopoldus Biwald etc. etc. Graz 1766; 2nd ed. 1769; 3rd ed. 1774. (At that time a very popular textbook of physics)
• Selectae ex amoenitatibus academicis Caroli Linnaei dissertationes ad universam naturalem historiam pertinentes, quas edidit et additamentis auxit L. B. e. S. J. Graz 1764
• Disseratatio de studii physici perpetuis mediis et cum scientiis reliquis nexu. 1767