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Biography of RegiomontanusName: RegiomontanusBirth Date: June 6, 1436 Death Date: July 6, 1476 Place of Birth: Königsberg, Germany Nationality: German Gender: Male Occupations: astronomer, mathematician Regiomontanus The German astronomer and mathematician Regiomontanus (1436-1476) constructed the first European observatory and established trigonometry as a separate area of study in mathematics.Regiomontanus, called after the Latinized form of his birthplace, Königsberg, in the duchy of Coburg, was born Johann Müller on June 6, 1436, the son of a miller. At the age of 12 he began the study of classical languages and mathematics at the University of Leipzig. In 1452 he moved to Vienna and became the favorite pupil of Georg Peurbach, astronomer and mathematician, who interested Regiomontanus in securing a truly reliable version of Ptolemy's Almagest.A year after Peurbach's death in 1461, Regiomontanus went to Italy and established close contacts with Cardinal Bessarion, the leading Greek scholar of the time. Regiomontanus made quick progress in Greek and studied various Greek mathematical and astronomical texts in addition to Ptolemy's Almagest. The study of this latter work enabled him to …showed first 150 words…
…showed last 150 words…up a printing press and published Regiomontanus's calendars and pamphlets. Regiomontanus published Peurbach's planetary theory, Theoricae novae planetarum, and his own ephemerides for 1474-1506, which contained a method of calculating longitudes at sea on the basis of the motion of the moon. The book was used by the leading navigators of the times.At the summons of Pope Sixtus IV, Regiomontanus, a newly appointed titular bishop of Ratisbon, journeyed to Italy in the fall of 1475 to undertake the reform of the calendar. He died on July 6, 1476, probably the victim of an epidemic. Further Reading There is a chapter on Regiomontanus in Lynn Thorndike, Science and Thought in the Fifteenth Century (1929). Also useful are J. L. E. Dreyer, A History of Astronomy from Thales to Kepler (1905; rev. ed. 1953); Lynn Thorndike, A History of Magic and Experimental Science vols. 5 and 6 (1941); and A. C. Crombie, Augustine to Galileo: The History of Science A.D. 400-1650 (1953). |