Mathematicians 16th century
Johann Hartmann Beyer was a German physician, mathematician and statesman.
He earned a master's degree in liberal arts at the University of Strasbourg, and then graduated from the University of Tübingen with a doctorate in medicine. In 1588 Beyer returned to his native Frankfurt and began working as a physician; a year later he was appointed Physicus ordinarius - his duties included overseeing the city's health care and pharmacy system.
In 1614 Beyer took up the position of senior burgomaster of Frankfurt, but during the Fetmilch Rebellion he became involved in conflict, was forced to resign and returned to science.
He had the richest library of scientific books, numbering about 2500 volumes, wrote scientific works on astronomy and mathematics, engaged in medical activity, having invented the famous Frankfurt pills. Beyer carried on a lively correspondence with scientists, including mathematician Johannes Kepler, dealing with decimal fractions. Beyer bequeathed his rich inheritance to the city and to charity.
Tycho Brahe, born Tyge Ottesen Brahe, more commonly called Tycho, was a prominent Danish astronomer, astrologer, and alchemist of the Renaissance.
As a young man he traveled extensively throughout Europe, studying in Wittenberg, Rostock, Basel, and Augsburg and acquiring mathematical and astronomical instruments. In 1572 Tycho unexpectedly even for himself discovered a new star in Cassiopeia, and the publication of this turned the young Dane into an astronomer of European reputation. For further astronomical research he established an observatory and gathered around him modern progressive scientists.
Besides practicing astronomy, Tycho was an artist, scientist, and craftsman, and everything he undertook or surrounded himself with had to be innovative and beautiful. He even founded a printing house to produce and bind his manuscripts in his own way, and he perfected sanitary ware for convenience. His development of astronomical instruments and his work in measuring and fixing the positions of the stars laid a solid foundation for future discoveries.
Tycho's observations - the most accurate possible before the invention of the telescope - included a comprehensive study of the solar system and the precise positions of more than 777 fixed stars. What Tycho accomplished using only his simple instruments and intellect remains a remarkable achievement of the Renaissance.
Georg Brentel the Younger was a German draftsman, engraver, and author of works on sundials and instrumentation.
He was the son of the cartographer Hans Brentel (1532-1614) and nephew of the armorial artist Georg Brentel the Elder (1525-1610). He always showed an interest in mathematics and astronomy, writing papers on these subjects and making instruments.
Brentel was particularly fond of designing sundials, and wrote several instructions for assembling various types of sundials - round and cubic, cross-shaped and heart-shaped.
Nicolaus Copernicus (Polish: Mikołaj Kopernik) was a Polish and German scientist, astronomer, mathematician, mechanic, economist, and Renaissance canonist. He was the author of the heliocentric system of the world, which initiated the first scientific revolution.
Copernicus studied the humanities, including astronomy and astrology, at the University of Krakow and at the University of Bologna in Italy. Together with other astronomers, including Domenico Maria de Novara (1454-1504), he was engaged in observing the stars and planets, recording their movements and eclipses. At the time, medicine was closely related to astrology, as the stars were believed to influence the human body, and Copernicus also studied medicine at the University of Padua between 1501 and 1503.
Nicolaus Copernicus, based on his knowledge and observations, was the first to suggest that the Earth is a planet that not only revolves around the sun every year, but also rotates once a day on its axis. This was in the early 16th century when people believed the Earth to be the center of the universe. The scientist also suggested that the Earth's rotation explained the rising and setting of the Sun, the movement of the stars, and that the cycle of the seasons was caused by the Earth's rotation around itself. Finally, he correctly concluded that the Earth's motion in space causes the planets to move backwards across the night sky, the so-called retrograde direction.
Although Copernicus' model was not completely correct, it laid a solid foundation for future scientists, such as Galileo, who developed and improved mankind's understanding of the motion of celestial bodies. Copernicus completed the first manuscript of his book De Revolutionibus Orbium Coelestium (On the Rotation of the Celestial Spheres) in 1532. In it, the astronomer outlined his model of the solar system and the paths of the planets. However, he published the book only in 1543, just two months before his death, and dedicated it to Pope Paul III. Perhaps for this reason, and also because the subject matter was too difficult to understand, but the church did not finally ban the book until 1616.
Estienne de la Roche, also known as Estienne de Villefranche, was a French mathematician.
He is known for having taught mathematics in Lyon for 25 years as a professor of mathematics. In 1520 he published the Arismatics, considered at the time the best reference book on algebra.
Johann Dryander, born Johann Eichmann, was a German medical anatomist, mathematician and astrologer.
He studied anatomy and medicine at the University of Paris and the University of Erfurt, and in 1535 became professor of medicine at the University of Marburg. A year later, Dryander performed two public autopsies, making the first illustrated description of the dissection of the human brain. Dryander titled his book Anatomiae, hoc est, corporis humani dissectionis pars prior ("Anatomy, that is, the dissection of the human body, part one," suggesting a sequel, which, however, did not follow.
His work made a significant contribution to the development of modern anatomy. Toward the end of his life, Dryander also dabbled in astrology and mathematics.
Jacobus Faber Stapulensis or Jacques Lefèvre d'Étaples was a French humanist, Catholic theologian, philosopher, music theorist and mathematician. He taught at the University of Paris. He is best known as the first translator into French of the complete text of the Bible.
Gemma Frisius, born Jemme Reinerszoon Frisius, was a Dutch mathematician, physician, cartographer, philosopher, engraver, and master of astronomical instruments.
He taught mathematics and medicine at the University of Leuven and applied his mathematical knowledge to astronomy, geography, and map-making. Frisius participated in the creation of the latest globes and used mathematics in geodesy and navigation in new ways and invented or improved many instruments, including the cross staff, the astrolabe, and the astronomical rings (also known as "Gemma rings"). He ran a workshop for making such instruments.
Frisius is credited with being one of the founders of the Dutch school of cartography.
Georg Galgemair was a German mathematician and astrologer.
He was born into the family of the burgomaster of Donauwörth, was a pupil of Philip Apian, and then a master of mathematics at the University of Tübingen in 1585. After completing his studies, Galgemair began teaching at Lauingen in 1588.
His work on proportional circles led to the development of gnomonics. In the history of science, Galgemair is known for his works on mathematical instruments. As a calendar maker, he succeeded in 1606 in obtaining an imperial privilege for his calendars.
Galileo Galilei was an Italian naturalist, physicist, mechanic, astronomer, philosopher, and mathematician.
Using his own improved telescopes, Galileo Galilei observed the movements of the Moon, Earth's satellites, and the stars, making several breakthrough discoveries in astronomy. He was the first to see craters on the Moon, discovered sunspots and the rings of Saturn, and traced the phases of Venus. Galileo was a consistent and convinced supporter of the teachings of Copernicus and the heliocentric system of the world, for which he was subjected to the trial of the Inquisition.
Galileo is considered the founder of experimental and theoretical physics. He is also one of the founders of the principle of relativity in classical mechanics. Overall, the scientist had such a significant impact on the science of his time that he cannot be overemphasized.
Johannes Kepler was a German mathematician and astronomer who discovered that the Earth and planets move around the Sun in elliptical orbits.
Kepler created the three fundamental laws of planetary motion. He also did seminal work in optics and geometry, calculated the most accurate astronomical tables, and made many inventions and discoveries in physics on which further scientific discoveries by advanced scientists were based.
Agostino Ramelli was an Italian military engineer and mechanic who worked in the fields of fortification and practical mechanics.
Ramelli studied mathematics, mechanics, and engineering under Giacomo di Marignano, who is considered a disciple of Leonardo da Vinci. He first showed his talents as a mechanic during Louis XIII's military campaign by constructing a mine under a bastion.
Ramelli invented many mechanisms that impressed his contemporaries, including their special aesthetic appeal. His most popular creation is the so-called Ramelli Book Wheel, a rotating reading table. Agostino Ramelli positioned his invention as a sleek design that allowed access to several books without having to get up from his seat.
Ramelli wrote and illustrated a book of engineering projects, Le various et artificiose machine ("Various and Artificial Machines"). The book contains 195 designs, over 100 of which are water-lifting machines, such as water pumps or wells, as well as bridges, mills, and so on. This very interesting book for our contemporaries is still published and is still in demand.
Paolo Ricci (Italian: Paolo Ricci, Latin: Paulus Ricius, German: Paul Ritz), also known as Ritz, Riccio, or Paulus Israelita, was a humanist convert from Judaism, a writer-theologian, Kabbalist, and physician.
After his baptism in 1505 he published his first work, Sol Federis, in which he affirmed his new faith and sought through Kabbalah to refute modern Judaism. In 1506 he moved to Pavia, Italy, where he became a lecturer in philosophy and medicine at the university and met Erasmus of Rotterdam. Ricci was also a learned astrologer, a professor of Hebrew, philosophy, theology, and Kabbalah, a profound connoisseur and translator of sacred texts into Latin and Hebrew, and the author of philosophical and theological works.
Paolo Ricci was a very prolific writer. His Latin translations, especially the translation of the Kabalistic work Shaare Orach, formed the basis of the Christian Kabbalah of the early 16th century.
