Astronomy at the Royal Academy of Turku
The Academy of Turku was founded in 1670. Originally, astronomy was not a subject in its own right, but was practised under the chair of physics and mathematics. Carl Fredrik Mennander (1712-1786) was professor of physics at the Turku Academy from 1746. He is known to have owned a telescope, which is mentioned in the inventory of the university’s instruments. However, no records of his astronomical observations have survived.
Jacob Gadolin (1719-1802) was professor of physics after Mennander. Before that, he was appointed Associate Professor of Astronomy in 1748. He supervised several doctoral theses, some of which dealt with astronomy.
Knut Lundmark’s collection includes a volume of dissertations on astronomy from the 18th century from the Academy of Turku, Lund and Uppsala Universities.
Dissertations from the Academy of Turku can be found online, digitised by the National Library of Finland.
A selection of doctoral theses on astronomy: