Abstract
Jesuit professors of mathematics gave first great importance to geometry. They published several commentaries to the Elements of Euclid. Later they moved into algebra and finally to calculus. Among them Saint-Vincent and Saccheri merit especial mention. Astronomical observatories were installed in many Jesuit colleges in Europe. Ecclesiastic condemnation of Copernicus’ system prevented its acceptance by Jesuits until middle eighteenth century. In its place they used Tycho Brahe geo-heliocentric system. Jesuits participated in the observations of the transits of Venus of 1761 and 1769. Mathematical and experimental physics were introduced in the Jesuit colleges by professors of mathematics. Pioneers in optics were Grimaldi and Aguilon and in magnetism Garzoni and Cabeo. They moved away from traditional Aristotelian physics an accepted modern physics. Acceptance of atomic theory created some problems. This work finished with the suppression of the Jesuit order in 1773.
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