Giovanni Bianchini (in

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through ...

, Johannes Blanchinus) (1410 – c. 1469) was a professor of mathematics and

astronomy Astronomy () is a natural science that studies celestial objects and phenomena. It uses mathematics, physics, and chemistry in order to explain their origin and evolution. Objects of interest include planets, moons, stars, nebulae, gala ...

at the

University of Ferrara The University of Ferrara ( it, Università degli Studi di Ferrara) is the main university of the city of Ferrara in the Emilia-Romagna region of northern Italy. In the years prior to the First World War the University of Ferrara, with more than 5 ...

and court astrologer of

Leonello d'Este Leonello d'Este (also spelled Lionello; 21 September 1407 – 1 October 1450) was Marquess of Ferrara, Modena, and Reggio Emilia from 1441 to 1450. Despite the presence of legitimate children, Leonello was favoured by his father as his successo ...

. He was an associate of

Georg Purbach Georg von Peuerbach (also Purbach, Peurbach; la, Purbachius; born May 30, 1423 – April 8, 1461) was an Austrian astronomer, poet, mathematician and instrument maker, best known for his streamlined presentation of Ptolemaic astronomy in the ''Th ...

and

Regiomontanus Johannes Müller von Königsberg (6 June 1436 – 6 July 1476), better known as Regiomontanus (), was a mathematician, astrologer and astronomer of the German Renaissance, active in Vienna, Buda and Nuremberg. His contributions were instrumenta ...

. The letters exchanged with Regiomontanus in 1463–1464 mention works by Bianchini entitled: ''Primum mobile'' ( astronomical tables included), ''Flores almagesti'', ''Compositio instrumenti''. Bianchini was the first mathematician in Europe to use decimal positional

fractions A fraction (from la, fractus, "broken") represents a part of a whole or, more generally, any number of equal parts. When spoken in everyday English, a fraction describes how many parts of a certain size there are, for example, one-half, eight ...

for his

trigonometric table In mathematics, tables of trigonometric functions are useful in a number of areas. Before the existence of pocket calculators, trigonometric tables were essential for navigation, science and engineering. The calculation of mathematical tables ...

s, at the same time as

Al-Kashi Ghiyāth al-Dīn Jamshīd Masʿūd al-Kāshī (or al-Kāshānī) ( fa, غیاث الدین جمشید کاشانی ''Ghiyās-ud-dīn Jamshīd Kāshānī'') (c. 1380 Kashan, Iran – 22 June 1429 Samarkand, Transoxania) was a Persian astronomer ...

Samarkand fa, سمرقند , native_name_lang = , settlement_type = City , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from the top: Registan square, Shah-i-Zinda necropolis, Bibi-Khanym Mosque, view inside Shah-i-Zi ...

. In ''De arithmetica'', part of the ''Flores almagesti'', he uses operations with negative numbers and expresses the ''Law of Signs''. He was probably the father of the instrument maker Antonio Bianchino. The crater Blanchinus on the

Moon The Moon is Earth's only natural satellite. It is the fifth largest satellite in the Solar System and the largest and most massive relative to its parent planet, with a diameter about one-quarter that of Earth (comparable to the width ...

is named after him.

Works

Bianchini, Giovanni – Luminarium atque planetarum motuum tabulae, 1553 – BEIC 55237

* * Silvio Magrini (ed.), ''Joannes de Blanchinis ferrariensis e il suo carteggio scientifico col Regiomontano (1463-64)'', Zuffi, 1916 — Scientific letters exchanged by Bianchini and Regiomontanus

External links

* * Vescovini, Graziella Federici
« Bianchini, Giovanni »
In: ''

Dizionario Biografico degli Italiani The ''Dizionario Biografico degli Italiani'' ( en, Biographical Dictionary of the Italians) is a biographical dictionary published by the Istituto dell'Enciclopedia Italiana, started in 1925 and completed in 2020. It includes about 40,000 biogra ...

''
Institute and History of the Museum of Science

Antonio Bianchini
15th-century Italian astronomers 15th-century Italian mathematicians 1410 births 1460s deaths {{Italy-astronomer-stub

Works

See also

External links