Johann Faulhaber (5 May 1580 – 10 September 1635) was a 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, mathematical structure, structure, space, Mathematica ...

, specifically, a calculator ('' Rechenmeister'').

Biography

Born in

Ulm Ulm () is the sixth-largest city of the southwestern German state of Baden-Württemberg, and with around 129,000 inhabitants, it is Germany's 60th-largest city. Ulm is located on the eastern edges of the Swabian Jura mountain range, on the up ...

, Faulhaber was a trained weaver who later took the role of a surveyor of the city of Ulm. He collaborated with

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

and

Ludolph van Ceulen Ludolph van Ceulen (, ; 28 January 1540 – 31 December 1610) was a German- Dutch mathematician from Hildesheim. He emigrated to the Netherlands. Biography Van Ceulen moved to Delft most likely in 1576 to teach fencing and mathematics and in 1 ...

. In 1620, while in Ulm, Descartes probably corresponded with Faulhaber to discuss algebraic solutions of polynomial equations. He worked as fortification engineer in various cities (notably

Basel Basel ( ; ), also known as Basle ( ), ; ; ; . is a city in northwestern Switzerland on the river Rhine (at the transition from the High Rhine, High to the Upper Rhine). Basel is Switzerland's List of cities in Switzerland, third-most-populo ...

, where he was fortification engineer from 1622 to 1624, and

Frankfurt Frankfurt am Main () is the most populous city in the States of Germany, German state of Hesse. Its 773,068 inhabitants as of 2022 make it the List of cities in Germany by population, fifth-most populous city in Germany. Located in the forela ...

), and also worked under

Maurice, Prince of Orange Maurice of Orange (; 14 November 1567 – 23 April 1625) was ''stadtholder'' of all the provinces of the Dutch Republic except for Lordship of Frisia, Friesland from 1585 at the earliest until his death on 23 April 1625. Before he became P ...

in the Netherlands. He also built

water wheel A water wheel is a machine for converting the kinetic energy of flowing or falling water into useful forms of power, often in a watermill. A water wheel consists of a large wheel (usually constructed from wood or metal), with numerous b ...

s in his home town and geometrical instruments for the military. Faulhaber made the first publication of Henry Briggs's

Logarithm In mathematics, the logarithm of a number is the exponent by which another fixed value, the base, must be raised to produce that number. For example, the logarithm of to base is , because is to the rd power: . More generally, if , the ...

in Germany. He is also credited with the first printed solution of

equal temperament An equal temperament is a musical temperament or Musical tuning#Tuning systems, tuning system that approximates Just intonation, just intervals by dividing an octave (or other interval) into steps such that the ratio of the frequency, frequencie ...

. He died in Ulm. Faulhaber's major contribution was in calculating the sums of powers of integers.

Jacob Bernoulli Jacob Bernoulli (also known as James in English or Jacques in French; – 16 August 1705) was a Swiss mathematician. He sided with Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz during the Leibniz–Newton calculus controversy and was an early proponent of Leibniz ...

makes references to Faulhaber in his ''Ars Conjectandi''. Other than his mathematical work, he also worked on various mystical matters, such as alchemy, astrology and numerology. He was a member of the

Rosicrucians Rosicrucianism () is a spirituality, spiritual and cultural movement that arose in early modern Europe in the early 17th century after the publication of several texts announcing to the world a new Western esotericism, esoteric order. Rosicruc ...

. In 1619, after his involvement in the Ulm comet dispute, he published his work ''Fama Syderea Nova'', containing prophecies in connection with the

Great Comet of 1618 C/1618 W1 is a comet that was visible to the naked eye in 1618 and 1619. It is classified as a "Great Comet" due to its extraordinary brightness and its long tail, measuring up to 90° long. It was the first comet to be observed with telescopes ...

and the beginning of the

Thirty Years' War The Thirty Years' War, fought primarily in Central Europe between 1618 and 1648, was one of the most destructive conflicts in History of Europe, European history. An estimated 4.5 to 8 million soldiers and civilians died from battle, famine ...

. The Ulm comet dispute concerned whether the comets appearing during 1618 were signs sent by God, or just natural phenomena. Schneider, Ivo. "Between Rosicrucians and Cabbala-Johannes Faulhaber's Mathematics of Biblical Numbers." ''Mathematics and the divine: a historical study'' (2005): 311-330.

Works

* * ''Arithmetischer Cubicossischer Lustgarten'', Tübingen: Erhard Cellius 1604 * * ''Himlische gehaime Magia Oder Newe Cabalistische Kunst/vnd Wunderrechnung'', Nürnberg 1613 (lateinische Ausgabe ''Magia arcana coelestis'' Nürnberg 1613) * ''Andeutung/ Einer vnerhorten newen Wunderkunst. Welche der Geist Gottes/ in etlichen Prophetischen/ vnd Biblischen Geheimnuß Zahlen/ biß auff die letzte Zeit hat wollen versigelt und verborgen halten.'' Nürnberg 1613 * ''Neuer Arithmetischer Wegweyßer'', Ulm 1614 * ''Wunderliche Erfindung auß Albrecht Dürers seeligen Alten Invention. Vom Gläßern Perspectiv Tisch/ mit einem Proportional Instrument verbessert.'' Ulm: Johannes Meder 1617 * ''Fama siderea nova'', Nürnberg 1619 * ''Miracula Arithmetica'', Augsburg 1622 * ''Mechanische Verbesserung einer alten Roßmühlen'', Ulm 1625 * ''Geheime Kunstkammer. Darinnen hundert allerhand Kriegs Stratagemata, auch andere Vnerhorte Secreta, vnd Machinae mirabiles zusehen/ dergleichen in Europa (respective) wenig zu finden'', Ulm 1628 * ''Academia Algebrae'', Augsburg 1631 * ''Mathematische Andeutung der Ewigkeit'', Ulm 1631 * ''Vernünftiger Creaturen Weissagungen'', Augsburg 1632 * ''Magdenburgischer Phoenix'', Augsburg 1632 * ''Ingenieurs-Schul'', 4 Teile, Frankfurt 1630 (Teil 1), Ulm 1633 (Teil 2 bis 4)

References

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SLUB Dresden
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External links

Johann Faulhaber
in VD17 * {{DEFAULTSORT:Faulhaber, Johann 1580 births 1635 deaths People from Ulm 16th-century German mathematicians 17th-century German mathematicians Rosicrucians 17th-century German writers 17th-century German male writers

Biography

Works

See also

References

External links