in Vienna before he returned to Pressburg (Pozsony, present-day Bratislava). In Nuremberg, Mikoviny showed that he was a good engraver and a gifted artist. His series of engravings, views of Altdorf and Nuremberg was published in a booklet of Altdorf in 1723. The publication also included a map of the district. His work was significantly influenced by another renowned scholar of the 18th century living in the multi-ethnic Kingdom of Hungary, Matthias Bel. Earlier Mikoviny engraved a map of Demänová Ice Cave and several illustrations for Bel's book Hungariae antiquae et novae prodromus (Messenger of Old and New Hungary), published in 1723 in Nuremberg. After studies, he returned home to the Kingdom of Hungary. From 1725, he was county engineer in Pressburg. He devoted most of his attention to improvement works, especially anti-flood works on the banks of the river Danube and Váh (Vág), work to secure their navigability, and regulation work near Tata. He also concerned himself with astronomy at an observatory which he had established at his home, probably the first at the territory of present-day Slovakia. His astronomical observations served map-making. In 1731, Charles III delegated him to construct maps for Bel's great work, Notitia Hungariae Novae Historico-Geographica. Mikoviny then made a significant contribution to the making of a new map of the Kingdom of Hungary. He relied on his own measurements and used a scientific method, based on four basic principles: astronomical, geometrical, magnetic, and hydrographic. Mikoviny created the first topographical maps of individual counties of the Kingdom of Hungary. He also contributed to the work with illustrations, especially views of towns and castles. Mikoviny used his own prime meridian for the Kingdom of Hungary, the meridianus Posoniensis, which passed through the northeast tower of Bratislava Castle (Hungarian: Pozsonyi Vár, German: Pressburger Schloss). In 1735, he became a main royal engineer of mining towns (now located in present-day Central Slovakia) and was instructed to found a mining school in Banská Štiavnica (Selmecbánya) which later became the (Mining Academy). Mikoviny became the director and the first professor. He lectured on mathematics, mechanics, hydraulics, and surveying methods and supervised practical work in land and mine surveying. From 1935, he was also a member of the Prussian Academy of Sciences in Berlin. He made a significant contribution to the development of mining in Lower Hungary (today in central Slovakia) helping it to achieve a place among the most technically