astronomy

John Jonston

John Jonston is a astronomy topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand John Jonston rather than just read about it. In short: John Jonston or Johnston (Polish: Jan Jonston; Latin: Joannes or Johannes Jonstonus or Johnstonus; 15 September 1603 – c. 1675) was a Polish scholar and physician, descended from Scottish nobility and closely associated with the Polish magnate Leszczyński family. The standard author abbreviation Jonst. is used to indicate this person as the author when citing a botanical name.

Key takeaways

John Jonston belongs to astronomy; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect John Jonston to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of John Jonston from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

John Jonston or Johnston (Polish: Jan Jonston; Latin: Joannes or Johannes Jonstonus or Johnstonus; 15 September 1603 – c. 1675) was a Polish scholar and physician, descended from Scottish nobility and closely associated with the Polish magnate Leszczyński family. The standard author abbreviation Jonst. is used to indicate this person as the author when citing a botanical name.

Life Jonston was born in Szamotuły, the son of Simon Johnston, who had emigrated to the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth from Scotland. Jonston's early education was sponsored by one of his two paternal uncles who had come to the Commonwealth with his father. From 1611 Jonston attended the school of the Bohemian Brothers in Ostroróg, then the Schoenaichianum in Bytom Odrzański, and from 1619 the gymnasium in Toruń. As a Calvinist, he could not attend the Catholic Jagiellonian University. Consequently, he earned his first degree at the University of St Andrews (1622–25; M.A., 1623), where he studied theology, scholastic philosophy, and Hebrew. His sponsors included the Primate of All Scotland, John Spottiswood.

In 1625 Jonston returned to the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth. Until 1628 he was a private tutor in the household of the Kurtzbach-Zawadski family in Leszno, where he was an active member of the Czech Brethren community. Around 1625-28 he published Enchiridion historiae naturalis, which in 1657 would be translated into English. In 1628 Jonston traveled to the Holy Roman Empire (Wittenberg, Leipzig, Frankfurt, Franeker) to resume his studies. He attended the University of Cambridge, where he studied botany and medicine and the Universities of Frankfurt, Franeker and Leiden, matriculating in 1630. That year he was offered a chair of philosophy at Deventer but declined it, preferring to return to the Commonwealth to become once again a private tutor. This time he took up a post with Rafał Leszczyński, voivode of Bełz, where he tutored his son, Bogusław Leszczyński. In 1632 Jonston travelled abroad with Bogusław and several other Commonwealth magnates' sons. Their first stop was in Franeker (1632), followed by Leiden and Amsterdam all, that same year, where Jonston published his Thaumatographia naturalis. In 1634 they visited England, returning to Leiden, where Jonston received an M.D. degree; soon afterward he would receive a second M.D. degree (ad eundem) from Cambridge. That year he also received a Doctorate from both those universities, for his dissertation De febribus (On Fevers). Bogusław, Jonston and the others toured Europe until 1636, returning to Poland upon news of Bogusław's father's death. Jonston returned to Leszno, remaining a Leszczyński retainer, in whose service he had the title of Archiater et Civitatis Lesnensis Physicus Ordinarius. In Leszno he was employed at the Leszno gymnasium, where he was a friend of Comenius, who was another important member of the school's faculty. In 1642 Jonston once again turned down an offer to chair a department abroad (this time, that of medicine at Frankfurt). That same year, his Idea universae medicinae practicae was published in Amsterdam (it would be translated into English in 1652). Jonston would turn down further offers from Heidelberg and Leiden. In 1652 he purchased (or inherited) an estate at Ziebendorf (now Składowice) near Legnica. In 1665, following the Polish-Swedish War (The Deluge), which worsened public attitudes toward the Commonwealth's Protestants, he retired from Leszno to his newly bought estate. He remained there for the rest of his life. He died at Legnica around 1675.

Works

Historia civilis et ecclesiastica. Ab orbe condito ad annum 1633. Editio postrema emendata (Elsevir, Amsterdam, 1644). Historiae naturalis de quadrupedibus libri, cum aeneis figuris, Johannes Jonstonus,... concinnavit (J. J. Schipperi, Amsterdam, 1657). Historiae naturalis de insectis libri II, de serpentibus et draconibus libri II, cum aeneis figuris, Joh. Jonstonus,... concinnavit (Ad Moenum 1653; reissued J. J. fil. Schipper, Amsterdam, 1657, reissued 1665). Historiae naturalis de insectis libri III, de serpentibus et draconibus libri II, cum aeneis figuris, Joh. Jonstonus,... concinnavit (deux parties en un volume, J. J. fil. Schipper, Amsterdam, 1657, reissued 1667). Historiae naturalis de exanguibus aquaticis libri IV, cum figuris aeneis, Joannes Jonstonus,... concinnavit (J. J. Schipperi, Amsterdam, 1657, reissued 1665). Historiae naturalis de piscibus et cetis libri V, cum aeneis figuris, Johannes Jonstonus,... concinnavit (J. J. Schipperi, Amsterdam, 1657). Historiae naturalis de avibus libri VI cum aeneis figuris Johannes Jonstonus,... concinnavit (J. J. Schipperi, Amsterdam, 1657). De Communione veteris Ecclesiae syntagma, ex bibliotheca Johannis Jonstoni,... (Elsevir, Amsterdam, 1658). Johannis Jonstonii,... de Festis Hebraeorum et Graecorum schediasma (V.J. Trescheri, Bratislava, 1660). Naeukeurige Beschryving Van de Natuur der Vier-voetige dieren, ... en Draken. Dutch translation by M. Grausius of the Historiae naturalis ... libri I-VI (I. I. Schipper, Amsterdam, 1660). Some copies with contemporary hand-coloured engravings exist. Magni Hippocratis,... Coacae praenotiones, graece et latine... cum versione D. Anutii Foesii,... et notis Joh. Jonstoni,... (Elsevir, Amsterdam, 1660). Idea hygieines recensita, libri II. Johannes Jonstonus,... cum cura revidit (V.J. Trescheri, Jena, 1661, reissued 1667). Notitia regni mineralis, seu Subterraneorum catalogus, cum praecipuis differentiis (V.J. Trescheri, Leipzig, 1661). Notitia regni vegetabilis, seu Plantarum a veteribus observatarum... in suas classes redacta series (V.J. Trescheri, Leipzig, 1661). Dendrographias, sive historiae naturalis de arboribus et fructicibus, tam nostri quam peregrini orbis, libri decem, figuris aeneis adornati, Johannes Jonstonus,... concinnavit... (M. Meriani, Frankfurt, 1662). Historiae naturalis de serpentibus, libri II, Joannes Jonstonus,... concinnavit (J. J. Schipperi, Amsterdam, 1667). A Description of the Nature of Four-footed Beasts (London, 1678). An English translation of Historiae naturalis de quadripedibus, with 80 engraved illustrations.[1] Theatrum universale omnium animalium insectorum (in Latin). Heilbronn: Franz Josef Eckebrecht. 1767.

See also Matthäus Merian Illustrator of many of Jonston's books. List of Poles History of philosophy in Poland

Notes

… excerpt ends here. Continue reading the full article.

Illustrations

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with John Jonston

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what John Jonston claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In astronomy, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to John Jonston before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about John Jonston ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of John Jonston

In research: John Jonston appears in astronomy research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses John Jonston in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: John Jonston is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics 1603 births, 1675 deaths, 17th-century Polish botanists, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for John Jonston outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study John Jonston in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what John Jonston means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain John Jonston out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is John Jonston in simple terms?

Why does John Jonston matter?

Because it connects several astronomy ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study John Jonston?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on John Jonston.