Johannes Praetorius or Johann Richter (1537 – 27 October 1616) was a Bohemian German

mathematician A mathematician is someone who uses an extensive knowledge of mathematics in their work, typically to solve mathematical problems. Mathematicians are concerned with numbers, data, quantity, structure, space, models, and change. History On ...

and

astronomer An astronomer is a scientist in the field of astronomy who focuses their studies on a specific question or field outside the scope of Earth. They observe astronomical objects such as stars, planets, moons, comets and galaxies – in either ...

Life

Gregor Reisch, Margarita Philosophica, Astronomia

Praetorius was born in

Jáchymov Jáchymov (); german: Sankt Joachimsthal or ''Joachimsthal'') is a spa town in Karlovy Vary District in the Karlovy Vary Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 2,300 inhabitants. The historical core of the town from the 16th century is we ...

, Bohemia. From 1557 he studied at the

University of Wittenberg Martin Luther University of Halle-Wittenberg (german: Martin-Luther-Universität Halle-Wittenberg), also referred to as MLU, is a public, research-oriented university in the cities of Halle and Wittenberg and the largest and oldest university in ...

, and from 1562 to 1569 he lived in

Nuremberg Nuremberg ( ; german: link=no, Nürnberg ; in the local East Franconian dialect: ''Nämberch'' ) is the second-largest city of the German state of Bavaria after its capital Munich, and its 518,370 (2019) inhabitants make it the 14th-largest ...

. His astronomical and mathematical instruments are kept at

Germanisches Nationalmuseum The Germanisches National Museum is a museum in Nuremberg, Germany. Founded in 1852, it houses a large collection of items relating to German culture and art extending from prehistoric times through to the present day. The Germanisches National ...

in Nuremberg. In 1571 he became Professor of mathematics (astronomy) at

Wittenberg Wittenberg ( , ; Low Saxon: ''Wittenbarg''; meaning ''White Mountain''; officially Lutherstadt Wittenberg (''Luther City Wittenberg'')), is the fourth largest town in Saxony-Anhalt, Germany. Wittenberg is situated on the River Elbe, north o ...

where he met Valentinus Otho and Joachim Rheticus. He died in

Altdorf bei Nürnberg Altdorf bei Nürnberg (, ) is a town in south-eastern Germany. It is situated 25 km east of Nuremberg, in the district Nürnberger Land. Its name literally means “Altdorf near Nuremberg”, to distinguish it from other Altdorfs. History A ...

, aged about 79. He taught

Copernicus Nicolaus Copernicus (; pl, Mikołaj Kopernik; gml, Niklas Koppernigk, german: Nikolaus Kopernikus; 19 February 1473 – 24 May 1543) was a Renaissance polymath, active as a mathematician, astronomer, and Catholic canon, who formulated ...

' theory of astronomy initially as a means of eliminating the

equant Equant (or punctum aequans) is a mathematical concept developed by Claudius Ptolemy in the 2nd century AD to account for the observed motion of the planets. The equant is used to explain the observed speed change in different stages of the plane ...

from

Ptolemy Claudius Ptolemy (; grc-gre, Πτολεμαῖος, ; la, Claudius Ptolemaeus; AD) was a mathematician, astronomer, astrologer, geographer, and music theorist, who wrote about a dozen scientific treatises, three of which were of importance ...

's account, and later moving to a proto-

Tychonic system The Tychonic system (or Tychonian system) is a model of the Universe published by Tycho Brahe in the late 16th century, which combines what he saw as the mathematical benefits of the Copernican system with the philosophical and "physical" bene ...

Works

* De cometis, qui antea visi sunt, et de eo qui novissime mense Novembri apparuit, narratio 1578 * Problema, quod iubet ex quatuor rectis lineis datis quadrilaterum fieri, quod sit in circulo 1598

References

Sources

* * Gerhard Bott (Hrsg.): ''Focus Behaim Globus.'' 2 Bde. Nürnberg: Verlag des Germanischen Nationalmuseums 1992 * Johann Gabriel Doppelmayr: ''Historische Nachricht von den Nürnbergischen Mathematicis und Künstlern.'' Nürnberg: Peter Conrad Monath 1730, S. 83-92 * * * Klaus Matthäus: Zur Geschichte des Nürnberger Kalenderwesens. Frankfurt a.M.: Buchhändler-Vereinigung 1969, Sp. 1044-1047 * Uwe Müller (Hrsg.): ''450 Jahre Copernicus „De revolutionibus“.'' Astronomische und mathematische Bücher aus Schweinfurter Bibliotheken. Schweinfurt: Stadtarchiv 1993 * Zofia Wardeska: ''Die Universität Altdorf als Zentrum der Copernicus-Rezeption um die Wende vom 16. zum 17. Jahrhundert.'' Sudhoffs Archiv 61/2, 1977, S. 156-164 * Georg Andreas Will: ''Nürnbergisches Gelehrtenlexikon Bd. 3.'' Nürnberg: Lorenz Schüpfel 1757, S. 225-231 * Helmar Junghans: ''Verzeichnis der Rektoren, Prorektoren, Dekane, Professoren und Schloßkirchenprediger der Leucorea vom Sommersemester 1536 bis zum Wintersemester 1574/75.'' In Irene Dingel, Günther Wartenberg: ''Georg Major (1502-1574) - Ein Theologe der Wittenberger Reformation.''

Evangelische Verlagsanstalt The Evangelische Verlagsanstalt (EVA) is a denominational media company founded in Berlin in 1946. Its shareholders are the and the Evangelical-Lutheran Church of Saxony. The managing director is Sebastian Knöfel. Book publisher The range inc ...

, Leipzig, 2005,

External links

*
Astronomie in Nürnberg

{{DEFAULTSORT:Praetorius, Johannes 1537 births 1616 deaths People from Jáchymov German Bohemian people University of Wittenberg alumni University of Wittenberg faculty 16th-century German astronomers 16th-century German mathematicians 17th-century German mathematicians