Jan Brożek (''Ioannes Broscius'', ''Joannes Broscius'' or ''Johannes Broscius''; 1 November 1585 – 21 November 1652) was a Polish

polymath A polymath ( el, πολυμαθής, , "having learned much"; la, homo universalis, "universal human") is an individual whose knowledge spans a substantial number of subjects, known to draw on complex bodies of knowledge to solve specific pro ...

: a

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, mathematical structure, structure, space, Mathematica ...

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 o ...

, physician, poet, writer, musician and rector of the

Kraków Academy The Jagiellonian University ( Polish: ''Uniwersytet Jagielloński'', UJ) is a public research university in Kraków, Poland. Founded in 1364 by King Casimir III the Great, it is the oldest university in Poland and the 13th oldest university i ...

Life

Brożek was born in Kurzelów, Sandomierz Province, and lived in

Kraków Kraków (), or Cracow, is the second-largest and one of the oldest cities in Poland. Situated on the Vistula River in Lesser Poland Voivodeship, the city dates back to the seventh century. Kraków was the official capital of Poland until 159 ...

Staszów Staszów is a town in southeastern Poland, in Świętokrzyskie Voivodeship (historic province of Lesser Poland), about southeast of Kielce, and northeast of Kraków. It is the capital of Staszów County. The population is 15,108 (2010), whi ...

, and

Międzyrzec Podlaski Międzyrzec Podlaski ( la, Meserici, german: Meseritz) is a city in Biała Podlaska County, Lublin Voivodeship, Poland, with the population of 17,162 inhabitants . The total area of the city is . Międzyrzec is located near the Krzna river, not ...

. He received his primary education in Kurzelow, then continued education in Krakow. In 1604, he enrolled in the Faculty of Liberal Art at the

(now Jagiellonian University), where he received his baccalaureate on 30 March 1605. In January 1614, he became the head of the Astronomy and Astrology Faculty. From 1620 to 1624, he stayed in Padua, where he studied medicine at the

University of Padua The University of Padua ( it, Università degli Studi di Padova, UNIPD) is an Italian university located in the city of Padua, region of Veneto, northern Italy. The University of Padua was founded in 1222 by a group of students and teachers from ...

and received his doctorate in medicine on 11 August 1623. He served as

rector Rector (Latin for the member of a vessel's crew who steers) may refer to: Style or title *Rector (ecclesiastical), a cleric who functions as an administrative leader in some Christian denominations *Rector (academia), a senior official in an edu ...

of Jagiellonian University. He was the most prominent Polish mathematician of the 17th century, working on the theory of numbers (particularly perfect numbers) and

geometry Geometry (; ) is, with arithmetic, one of the oldest branches of mathematics. It is concerned with properties of space such as the distance, shape, size, and relative position of figures. A mathematician who works in the field of geometry is c ...

. He also studied medicine,

theology Theology is the systematic study of the nature of the divine and, more broadly, of religious belief. It is taught as an academic discipline, typically in universities and seminaries. It occupies itself with the unique content of analyzing th ...

and

geodesy Geodesy ( ) is the Earth science of accurately measuring and understanding Earth's figure (geometric shape and size), Earth rotation, orientation in space, and Earth's gravity, gravity. The field also incorporates studies of how these properti ...

. Among the problems he addressed was why

bee Bees are winged insects closely related to wasps and ants, known for their roles in pollination and, in the case of the best-known bee species, the western honey bee, for producing honey. Bees are a monophyly, monophyletic lineage within the ...

s create

hexagonal In geometry, a hexagon (from Greek , , meaning "six", and , , meaning "corner, angle") is a six-sided polygon. The total of the internal angles of any simple (non-self-intersecting) hexagon is 720°. Regular hexagon A ''regular hexagon'' has ...

honeycomb A honeycomb is a mass of hexagonal prismatic wax cells built by honey bees in their nests to contain their larvae and stores of honey and pollen. Beekeepers may remove the entire honeycomb to harvest honey. Honey bees consume about of honey t ...

s; he demonstrated that this is the most efficient way of using wax and storing honey. He contributed to a greater knowledge of

Nicolaus 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 formulat ...

' theories and was his ardent supporter and early prospective biographer. Around 1612 he visited the chapter at

Warmia Warmia ( pl, Warmia; Latin: ''Varmia'', ''Warmia''; ; Warmian: ''Warńija''; lt, Varmė; Old Prussian: ''Wārmi'') is both a historical and an ethnographic region in northern Poland, forming part of historical Prussia. Its historic capital ...

and with the knowledge of Prince-Bishop Simon Rudnicki took from there a number of letters and documents in order to publish them, which he never did. He contributed to a better version of a short biography of

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 formula ...

Simon Starowolski Szymon Starowolski (1588 – 1656; Simon Starovolscius) was a writer, scholar and historian in the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth. He was probably born near Pruzhany, and died near Kraków. He was a very prolific writer, and left behind over 70 ...

. "Following his death, his entire collection was lost"; thus "Copernicus' unpublished work probably suffered the greatest damage at the hands of Johannes Broscius.""Copernicus's unpublished work probably suffered the greatest damage at the hands of Johannes Broscius (1581–1652), professor of mathematics and astronomy at the University of Kraków. Around 1612, Broscius visited Ermland to collect documents for a biography on Copernicus. He took a number of letters and documents with him to Kraków, to utilize them merely for succinct notes and marginalia. Following his death, his entire Copernicus collection was lost." Andreas Kühne, "Copernicanism", ''Reader's Guide to the History of Science'', Taylor & Francis, 2000, , 9781884964299, p. 152

/ref>The date of Brożek's trip to Warmia rmlandcited above is incorrect. It has been established that it took place in the summer of 1618 (p. 56 ff in H. Barycz, cf ''References''). Brożek died at Bronowice, now a district of

. One of the Jagiellonian University's buildings, the

Collegium Broscianum A (plural ), or college, was any association in ancient Rome In modern historiography, ancient Rome refers to Roman civilisation from the founding of the city of Rome in the 8th century BC to the collapse of the Western Roman Empire i ...

, is named for him.

Works

* "Geodesia distantiarum" (1610); * "Dissertatio astronomica" (1616); * "Dissersatio de cometa Astrophili" (1619); * "De dierum inaequalitate" (1619); * "Arithmetica integrorum" (1620); * "Apologja pierwsza kalendarza rzymskiego powszechnego" (1641); * "Apologia pro Aristotele et Euclide" (1652); * "De numeris perfectis disceptatio" (1637); * "Epistolae ad naturam ordinatarum figurarum plenius intelligendam pertinentes" (1615); * "Peripatheticus Cracoviensis" (1647); * "Sermo in synodo Luceornensi" (1641); *''Discurs Ziemianina z Plebanem'' (Discourse between the Squire and the Vicar, 1625); **''Gratis, albo Discurs I Ziemianina z Plebanem'' (Gratis, or Discourse I between the Squire and the Vicar); **''Przywiley, albo Discurs II Ziemianina z Plebanem'' (Privilege, or Discourse II between the Squire and the Vicar); **''Consens, albo Discurs III Ziemianina z Plebanem'' (Consensus, or Discourse III between the Squire and the Vicar).

Notes

References

Inline

Other

* Jan Nepomucen Franke, "Jan Brożek (J. Broscius) Akademik Krakowski..." Jagiellonian University Press, Kraków, 1884; *"Jan Brożek, Wybór Pism"

an Brożek, Selected Writings An, AN, aN, or an may refer to: Businesses and organizations * Airlinair (IATA airline code AN) * Alleanza Nazionale, a former political party in Italy * AnimeNEXT, an annual anime convention located in New Jersey * Anime North, a Canadia ...

Vol. 1, Edit. Henryk Barycz, Vol. 2, Edit. Jadwiga Dianni. P.W.N., Warszawa, 1956; *Jan Chroboczek
Jan Brożek: Mathematician, Astronomer and Biographer of Copernicus (1585–1652)
''

The Polish Review ''The Polish Review'' is an English-language academic journal published quarterly in New York City by the Polish Institute of Arts and Sciences of America. ''The Polish Review'' was established in 1956. Editors-in-chief The following persons hav ...

'', vol. LV, no. 2, 2010, pp. 169–93. and "Three letters on Copernicus published by Joannes Broscius in 1618", pp 1–20 in Sudhoffs Archiv, 97-1, Stuttgart 2013; *Krzysztof Tatarkiewicz "Brzozek czy Brożek, materiały do rozważań w 350 rocznicę..." 2nd Edit. Manuscript available at the RCIN Web page of the Inst. Mat. Pol. Acad. Sci. (IMPAN), Warsaw, deposited by the author in 2003.

External links

Jan Brożek / Joannes Broscius Mathematician, Historian of Science, University Professor and Benefactor

Works by Jan Brożek
in digital library

Polona Polona is a Polish digital library, which provides digitized books, magazines, graphics, maps, music, fliers and manuscripts from collections of the National Library of Poland and co-operating institutions. It began its operation in 2006. Colle ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Brozek, Jan 1585 births 1652 deaths Jagiellonian University alumni 17th-century Polish astronomers 17th-century Polish physicians Catholic clergy scientists 17th-century Polish–Lithuanian Roman Catholic priests University of Padua alumni Jagiellonian University faculty Rectors of the Jagiellonian University 17th-century Polish mathematicians