On the occasion of the Cultural Heritage Days, our mini exhibition presents the major turning points in the history of Eötvös Loránd University, with the help of memorabilia from the University Library and Archives. Through symbols, our guests can follow the development of the Jesuit-founded institution serving Catholic education, from its transformation into a state and royal university to the 300th anniversary of its foundation. After the university reform in 1949, many traditions were ceased to be practised and the related representative objects were transferred to museums. The fate of these objects in the 20th and 21st centuries is explored in the virtual space of the exhibition.

For a detailed programme, please, visit our homepage or the official website of the Cultural Heritage Days. All visitors are welcome!

Venue:

University Library and Archives, Eötvös Loránd University, Boardroom

1053 Budapest, Ferenciek tere 6.

Opening ceremony:

17/09/2022    15.00

As part of our book presentations, you can gain insight into the special publications of our library, during which the secrets of our old prints are revealed.

Our museum collection, which is part of the national cultural heritage, is also significant in Europe. The valuable collection preserved in the library (185 codices, including 14 corvina, 1,200 ancient prints, 11,000 16th-century antiques, 15,000 Baroque, and 75,000 18th-century works) was searched internationally. The main tasks of the library also include the care, preservation and presentation of our unique historical treasures. For a detailed programme, please, visit our homepage or the official website of the Cultural Heritage Days. All visitors are welcome!

If you want to contribute to the preservation of our cultural values, adopt a book yourself! You can find out more about our book adoption program here.

Venue for presentations of our old books:

University Library and Archives, Eötvös Loránd University

1053 Budapest, Ferenciek tere 6.

17/09/2022, Saturday  – 12:30–13:00

17/09/2022, Saturday – 13:30–14:00

17/09/2022, Saturday – 14:30–15:00

17/09/2022, Saturday – 15:30–16:00

Within the framework of the Cultural Heritage Days, on the 17th of September 2022 from 16.00, we are glad to offer you a selection of songs from the jazz divas performed by Hedda Gál (vocals) and Zsolt Horváth (guitar). 

More details about our programs are available here. All visitors are welcome!

Venue:

University Library and Archives, Eötvös Loránd University (Hall)

1053 Budapest, Ferenciek tere 6.

Date:

17/09/2022   16.00

In the framework of the Cultural Heritage Days we adumbrate in our restoration workshop, in which you can gain an insight into the techniques of paper casting and book restoration. Behind the scenes you can learn about preserving our valuable documents and experience how a sewing frame can be used in bookbinding.

Venue for Guided Tours in the Restoration Workshop:

University Library and Archives, Eötvös Loránd University

1053 Budapest, Ferenciek tere 6.

17/09/2022, Saturday  – 12:30–13:00

17/09/2022, Saturday – 13:30–14:00

17/09/2022, Saturday – 14:30–15:00

17/09/2022, Saturday – 15:30–16:00

Get to know the university, its library and take a commemorative photo of your first day! 

Now that you have become a university student, visit the faculty library on your enrollment day! Look around! Flip through the new books of your future instructors!

And take a photo with our unique photo frame so you can keep it as a memory and/or share the experience of the big event with your friends!

We are waiting for you between the 1st and the 8th of September 2022. (Mon-Thurs: 8.00-16.00 and Fri: 8.00-13.00)

The Librarians of PPK

Object of the month – Spectroscope

Gothard’s spectroscope of No. 10 (1886); the spectroscope was built by Jenő Gothard for chemical experiments and for photographing the spectra of the Sun

Jenő Gothard was born as the first child of a wealthy landowning noble family in the village of Herény, near Szombathely, on the 31st of May 1857. Owing to his grandfather’s, Ferenc Gothard’s enthusiasm for electrical experiments, the love and cultivation of natural sciences was part of family traditions. The Gothard brothers completed their secondary education at the Premontrian High School in Szombathely. Their love for nature, which they brought from the family, was perfected by Adolf Kunc (1841–1905), a young teacher and scholar from the Order of Prémontré. The brothers had their own physics and chemistry laboratory in their student years, along with a workshop in one of the wings of the Gothard Castle where they conducted their experiments and produced the necessary tools. After leaving secondary school, Jenő went to study at the Technische Hochschule in Vienna. He nonetheless remained in touch with the Grammar School of the Prémontré Order.

He conducted his experiments of national significance (1878: telephone, 1880: experiment with the Fou­­cault pendulum, 1896: X-ray photographs) with his teachers at the Grammar School. Jenő founded the Herény Astrophysical Osbervatory with his brother Sándor in 1881. The observatory was designed by university professor Alajos Hauszmann. The interior of the dome was designed and equipped by Gothard himself. The first observation – a notable event for astronomical instruments and observations, the “first light” – took place on the 20th of October 1881.

Gothard took meticulous care to select the appropriate telescope for his purposes. His verdict came upon a 26 cm Newtonian telescope by Browning offered for purchase by Konkoly. He mounted a camera for solar photography as well as spectroscopes, spectrographs and astrographs on the telescope. Initially he transformed instruments purchased from Konkoly, but shortly afterwards he used selfmade photo cameras and devices for spectroscopic observations. The aim set as early as the foundation of the observatory was the spectroscopic analysis of comets and stars. From 1885 Gothard abandoned his visual observations almost entirely and turned his attention to the novel techniques of the age, spectroscopy and astrophotography. From 1886 he focused on spectrophotomet­ric analyses of star clusters, comets and gas clouds. He was the first one to photographically detect the central star of Lyra Ring Nebula (M57) observable in the constellation of Lyra. In 1892, he analysed the spectra of planetary ne­­bulae with photographic methods. By measuring the spectrum of Nova Aurigae, he discovered a fundamental  connection between novae and ring (planetary) nebulae. This discovery was the most outstanding result of Gothard’s astrophysical work.

A major part of Jenő Gothard's astronomical work and achievements is related to the spectroscopic analysis of comets, stars and gas nebulae, so we will summarise the essence of this very briefly. From the mid-19th century onwards, one of the most important tools for understanding the properties of celestial objects (comets, stars, nebulae, galaxies) has been the study of their spectra.

Stars emit light at all wavelengths, but with different intensities. For most stars, the wavelength distribution of the emitted energy can be well modelled by the Planck distribution describing the so-called blackbody radiation. According to this model, for each star there is a wavelength at which the star emits at its highest intensity. The colour of stars can be used to infer, for example, their temperature. The higher the temperature of a star, the shorter the wavelength at which it shines brightest. For the Sun, which has a surface temperature of about 6000 K, this wavelength is around 550 nm, somewhere in the middle of the visible range, so we see our Sun as yellowish. Cooler stars appear red, hotter ones white or blue (see the brightest stars of the constellation Orion). The coldest stars emit most of their radiation in the infrared and the hottest in the ultraviolet.

The light that comes to us from stars can be split by wavelength using a suitable instrument – a spectrograph, in the simplest case a prism or a properly scratched glass plate (optical grating) – to produce the stellar spectra. In most cases, dark absorption lines can be observed at specific wavelengths in front of a background called the continuum. Sometimes, especially in very hot stars, bright emission lines are superimposed on the continuum. The atoms and molecules in the outer, sparser layers of stars absorb the continuous electromagnetic radiation, i.e. radiation of all wavelengths, from the hot and denser inner part of the star at their characteristic wavelength. Since each chemical element or molecule leaves a specific “fingerprint” in the spectrum as an absorption or emission line (sometimes an absorption band or bands) at a number of wavelengths precisely measured in the laboratory, the identification and study of these lines and bands can reveal the chemical composition of the outer layers of the stars.

Analysing the spectra requires very careful work and interpretation, but they provide a wealth of information about the stellar temperature, chemical composition, density, rotation rate, magnetic field and possible companions.

Written by József Kovács, Ph.D.

The international project NI4OS-Europe (National Initiatives for Open Science in Europe) is organising a conference between the 28th and 29 th of September 2022 in Budapest.

The conference focuses on the achievements and role of the NI4OS-Europe project in successfully advancing the region in the field of European Open Science Cooperation (EOSC). The event will highlight the 20th anniversary of the Budapest Open Access Initiative, as well as the 20th anniversary of regional infrastructural cooperation in South East Europe.

The event is free, but registration is required. Registration

Location: BME K building (Díszterem and Pécsi Eszter halls).

More information: Website of the Conference, Facebook event

The Hungarian Association of Higher Education Archives held its annual meeting in Szeged between the 24th and the 26th of August 2022. On the first day of the event, a round-table discussion on archival news and changes took place with the participation of the Ministry, the Archives Supervison and the archival associations. Afterwards, the leaders of the university archives gave a brief report on the annual operation and results of their institutions. At the end of the day, professional presentations were given about changes in archival legislation and upcoming accredited training courses. On the second day of the event, the attendees could take part in an academic conference, where historians, archivists and heads of institutions discussed theoretical and practical issues related to the research of university history. Some recent publications on university history were also presented. On the closing day of the conference, the participants had the opportunity to visit the archives and exhibitions in Szeged. At the event, the University Library and Archives was represented by Krisztina Tóth.

Object of the month – Portrait of Géza Bartoniek

Gyula Tury (1866–1932): Portrait of Géza Bartoniek, 1928; Oil, canvas, 63.5 × 50 cm; Marked lower left: Tury Gyula 1928; Eötvös József Collegium, Board of Directors

Géza Bartoniek, physicist, was the organizer and acting head (1895–1897), and later director (1897–1927) of the Collegium founded by Loránd Eötvös in 1895 on the French model, formerly known as József Báró Eötvös Collegium. As a former student of Loránd Eötvös, Bartoniek was chosen by Eötvös himself to lead the institution.

Written by: Attila Boda