Prokop Diviš & 5103 Diviš Asteroid - Helvikovice, Czech Republic
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ToRo61
N 50° 05.684 E 016° 26.762
33U E 603427 N 5550164
Prokop Diviš (26 March 1698 – 21 December 1765) was a Czech canon regular, theologian and natural scientist, who built one of the first grounded lightning rods.
Waymark Code: WMT87V
Location: Pardubický kraj, Czechia
Date Posted: 10/13/2016
Views: 21
He was born Václav Divíšek on 26 March 1698 in Helvíkovice, Bohemia (now Ústí nad Orlicí District, Czech Republic). As a child, he began his studies at the Jesuit gymnasium in the town. In 1716, at the age of 18, he entered a gymnasium run at the Premonstratensian abbey located in the village of , where he completed his basic studies in 1719.
Divíšek then entered the novitiate of the abbey, taking the name Prokop (or Procopius). From 1729-1735 he taught philosophy at the abbey gymnasium. During this period, he was sent by his abbot to the Paris Lodron University in Salzburg (now the University of Salzburg) to pursue advanced studies in theology.
Back at the parish, Diviš became responsible for the management of farmland belonging to it. He undertook the construction of water conduits on the property. As a result, he became interested in a popular new interest in the scientific community of his day, electricity.
On 15 June 1754, he erected a forty metres high, free-standing pole in Prímetice, on which he mounted his "weather-machine", consisting of several tin boxes and more than 400 metal spikes. A well-established theory in that time was that more pointed spikes would conduct electricity better. The pole was secured by heavy metal chains that inadvertently also grounded his construction, making it actually one of the first grounded lightning rods.
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The plaque is located on Prokop Diviš' childhood home.
5103 Divis Asteroid is a main-belt asteroid.
Discovered by: A. Mrkos
Date of discovery: September 4, 1986
Place of discovery: Klet Observatory