Emmanuel Maignan was a French physicist and theologian. He was a member of the Order of Minims.
Background
Emmanuel Maignan was born on July 17, 1601, in Toulouse, France to a prominent Armagnac family. Maignan came from a prominent Armagnac family. His father was an advisor to the king and a senior member of the Chancelry and his mother's father was a professor of medicine at the University of Toulouse. He spent his boyhood in Toulouse.
Education
Emmanuel Maignan was educated in humanities at the Maison des Pensionnaires by the Jesuits. He entered the order of Minims at an early age, taking his vows in 1619. He first studied philosophy with a renowned Aristotelian P. Ruffat but soon rebelled against the Peripatetic system, showing a strong interest and aptitude for mathematical studies. He preferred Plato to Aristotle. He mastered the mathematics of the day, practically without aid from anyone. From his career, it appears he must have had the equivalent of a Bachelor of Arts.
In 1636 Emmanuel Maignan was called to Rome by the general of the order to teach mathematics, philosophy, and theology at the Minim convent of the Trinità dei Monti which he did up to 1650. He was elected Corrector of Santa Trinita shortly after his arrival. His time in Italy was devoted mostly to teaching and experiments rather than to administrative duties. During this time he became interested in the experimental approach to knowledge, coming into contact with Gasparo Berti, Raffaello Magiotti, and Athanasius Kircher. In this group, he participated in the important experiments which helped to establish the possibility of artificially creating a void space in nature and which influenced the work of Torricelli and others. Maignan and Berti constructed an apparatus to demonstrate that a bell ringing in a Torricellian tube becomes inaudible when the air is removed. His Cursus philosophicus (1653), of which more than four-fifths is devoted to natural philosophy, provides one of the fullest accounts of these researches.
In 1650 he returned to Toulouse, where he spent most of the remainder of his time, devoting much of his energy to the administrative and religious work of his order. After his return to Toulouse, his superiors elected him provincial of Aquitaine. When his three years were up, he was glad to devote himself entirely to his studies. When Louis XIV, having seen his machines and curiosities at Toulouse, invited him to Paris, in 1669, through Cardinal Mazarin, he begged to be allowed to pass his life in the seclusion of the convent.
Maignan's Cursus philosophicus (1653) provides one of the fullest accounts of these researches. His Perspective horaria (1648) is an extremely detailed and almost exhaustive discussion of sundials, giving a clear and full account of how to make the instruments for constructing dials and buffing instruments and the necessary steps in polishing lenses. After Maignan’s death, a systematic textbook of his teachings meant for use in the schools was prepared by his follower and biographer, Jean Saguens.
Emmanuel Maignan entered the order of Minims in 1619 and devoted much of his energy to the administrative and religious work of his order as well as to the education of the youths of Toulouse.
Views
Maignan is responsible for introducing a strongly experimental emphasis into the scholastic textbook, turning aside from the bookish Aristotelian tradition, while at the same time remaining critical of Descartes and other contemporary authors. His work, perhaps as well as any of the seventeenth century, shows the marked influence of experimentalism on scholastic thought.
Membership
Order of Minims
Personality
Just as most of the scientists of his time Emmanuel Maignan searched for fundings for his experiments from wealthy patrons. In 1648, Maignan dedicated his Perspective horaria to Spada, the "protecteur" of his order. Berthier, de Feubert, and Donneville, all three presidents of the Parlement of Toulouse were "protecteurs" of Maignan.
Later in his life, Maignan was visited by King Louis XIV. The king was so impressed with the work Maignan carried out in his cell, which was a cross between a workshop and a lab, that the following day he sent Mazarin with an offer of a court post. Maignan was content with his simple life in Toulouse and wanted to avoid "crainte d'etre attachés". Perhaps Maignan was afraid his work would be compromised if he set up residence at court. Maignan did get to Paris, but not for a court appointment, rather to visit the salon of Montmor.
Interests
Philosophers & Thinkers
Plato
Connections
As a member of the Order of Minims Emmanuel Maignan was never married and had no children.