Blanchinus Lunar Crater Map
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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 spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...
, Johannes Blanchinus) (1410 – c. 1469) was a professor of
mathematics Mathematics is a field of study that discovers and organizes methods, Mathematical theory, theories and theorems that are developed and Mathematical proof, proved for the needs of empirical sciences and mathematics itself. There are many ar ...
and
astronomy Astronomy is a natural science that studies celestial objects and the phenomena that occur in the cosmos. It uses mathematics, physics, and chemistry in order to explain their origin and their overall evolution. Objects of interest includ ...
at the
University of Ferrara The University of 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 500 students, was the best attended of ...
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; ; 30 May 1423 – 8 April 1461) was an Austrian astronomer, poet, mathematician and instrument maker, best known for his streamlined presentation of Ptolemaic astronomy in the ''Theoricae Novae Planetar ...
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 instrument ...
. The letters exchanged with Regiomontanus in 1463–1464 mention works by Bianchini entitled: ''Primum mobile'' (
astronomical table In astronomy and celestial navigation, an ephemeris (; ; , ) is a book with tables that gives the trajectory of naturally occurring astronomical objects and artificial satellites in the sky, i.e., the position (and possibly velocity) over time. ...
s included), ''Flores almagesti'', ''Compositio instrumenti''. Bianchini was the first mathematician in Europe to use decimal
positional Positional notation, also known as place-value notation, positional numeral system, or simply place value, usually denotes the extension to any base of the Hindu–Arabic numeral system (or decimal system). More generally, a positional system i ...
fractions A fraction (from , "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-fifths, thre ...
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 wa ...
s, at the same time as
Al-Kashi Ghiyāth al-Dīn Jamshīd Masʿūd al-Kāshī (or al-Kāshānī) ( ''Ghiyās-ud-dīn Jamshīd Kāshānī'') (c. 1380 Kashan, Iran – 22 June 1429 Samarkand, Transoxiana) was a Persian astronomer and mathematician during the reign of Tamerlane. ...
in
Samarkand Samarkand ( ; Uzbek language, Uzbek and Tajik language, Tajik: Самарқанд / Samarqand, ) is a city in southeastern Uzbekistan and among the List of oldest continuously inhabited cities, oldest continuously inhabited cities in Central As ...
. He was also probably the first to use the
decimal point FIle:Decimal separators.svg, alt=Four types of separating decimals: a) 1,234.56. b) 1.234,56. c) 1'234,56. d) ١٬٢٣٤٫٥٦., Both a comma and a full stop (or period) are generally accepted decimal separators for international use. The apost ...
. 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 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 ...
is named after him.


Works

* * 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


See also

Giovanni Bianchini should not be confused with two similarly-named Italians with their own lunar craters:
Francesco Bianchini Francesco Bianchini (13 December 16622 March 1729) was an Italian philosopher and scientist. He worked for the curia of three popes, including being ''camiere d'honore'' of Clement XI, and secretary of the commission for the reform of the cale ...
(1662–1729) (and the
Bianchini Bianchini is an Italian surname. Notable people with the surname include: * Adhemar Bianchini (1940–2005), Brazilian footballer * Alfredo Bianchini (1940–2025), Italian politician * Angela Bianchini (1921–2018), Italian fiction writer and ...
crater), and
Giuseppe Biancani Giuseppe Biancani (; 8 March 1566 – 7 June 1624) was an Italian Jesuit astronomer, mathematician, and selenographer, after whom the crater Blancanus on the Moon is named. Biancani was one of the most able and respected Catholic astronomers ...
(1566–1624) (and the Blancanus crater).


References


External links

* * Vescovini, Graziella Federici
« Bianchini, Giovanni »
In: ''
Dizionario Biografico degli Italiani The ''Dizionario Biografico degli Italiani'' () is a biographical dictionary published in 100 volumes by the Istituto dell'Enciclopedia Italiana, started in 1960 and completed in 2020. It includes about 40,000 biographies of distinguished Italia ...
''
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