Albert Curtz (''Curtius'' in

Latin Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...

; 1600,

Munich Munich is the capital and most populous city of Bavaria, Germany. As of 30 November 2024, its population was 1,604,384, making it the third-largest city in Germany after Berlin and Hamburg. Munich is the largest city in Germany that is no ...

– December 19, 1671, Munich), was a German

astronomer An astronomer is a scientist in the field of astronomy who focuses on a specific question or field outside the scope of Earth. Astronomers observe astronomical objects, such as stars, planets, natural satellite, moons, comets and galaxy, galax ...

and member of the

Society of Jesus The Society of Jesus (; abbreviation: S.J. or SJ), also known as the Jesuit Order or the Jesuits ( ; ), is a religious order of clerics regular of pontifical right for men in the Catholic Church headquartered in Rome. It was founded in 1540 ...

. He expanded on the works of

Tycho Brahe Tycho Brahe ( ; ; born Tyge Ottesen Brahe, ; 14 December 154624 October 1601), generally called Tycho for short, was a Danish astronomer of the Renaissance, known for his comprehensive and unprecedentedly accurate astronomical observations. He ...

and used the pseudonym of ''Lucius Barrettus''.

Background

The Latin version of the name Albert Curtz, Albertus Curtius is an anagram of his pseudonym, Lucius Barretus. Together with Johann Deckers,

Kepler Johannes Kepler (27 December 1571 – 15 November 1630) was a German astronomer, mathematician, astrologer, natural philosopher and writer on music. He is a key figure in the 17th-century Scientific Revolution, best known for his laws of p ...

Francesco Maria Grimaldi Francesco Maria Grimaldi (2 April 1618 – 28 December 1663) was an Italian Jesuit priest, mathematician and physicist who taught at the Jesuit college in Bologna. He was born in Bologna to Paride Grimaldi and Anna Cattani. Work Between 164 ...

, and Jean-Baptiste Riccioli, he contributed to our early understanding of the

Moon The Moon is Earth's only natural satellite. It Orbit of the Moon, orbits around Earth at Lunar distance, an average distance of (; about 30 times Earth diameter, Earth's diameter). The Moon rotation, rotates, with a rotation period (lunar ...

. He published ''Historia coelestis x libris commentariis manuscriptis observationum vicennalium viri generosi Tichonis Brahe''and ''Augustae Vindelicorum, Simonem Utzschneiderum'' in 1666. He published his literary works, including his psalm translation Die Harpffen Davids Mit Teutschen Saiten bespannet (Augsburg, 1659), in German, using the Upper German written language that was common in southern Germany, Austria and Switzerland. In doing so, he consciously opposed the East Central German writing language, which was already more prestigious in his time, as propagated by Martin Opitz, for example, and also justifies this decision in his work. The crater Curtius on the Moon was named after him.

Background

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See also