Joseph Stepling

Joseph Stepling (29 June 1716 – 11 July 1778) was a Bohemian Jesuit priest, astronomer, physicist, and mathematician.

Stepling founded the Clementinum Observatory in Prague in 1751 fitted with the best instruments available in that period, some made by Jan Klein.

Stepling was born in Regensburg and after the death of his father who came from Westphalia and worked at the Imperial Embassy at Ratisbon, his mother moved to her home in Prague.

In 1753 he taught mathematics and physics at the Charles-Ferdinand University, following the ideas of Isaac Newton, Christian Wolff, and Euler rather than Aristotle.

He founded a study group along the lines of the Royal Society of London and conducted monthly meetings presiding over them until his death and influencing numerous young scientists including Johann Wendlingen, Jakob Heinisch, Antonin Strnad,[2] Johannes von Herberstein, Kaspar Sagner, Stephan Schmidt, Johann Körber, and Joseph Bergmann.