Marco Mastrofini (1763–1845) was an Italian priest, philosopher and mathematician.

History of work

In 1834 Mastrofini offered to create for the world an "eternal" calendar, and demonstrated that its invariance can be achieved only by application of special

intercalary days Intercalation or embolism in timekeeping is the insertion of a leap day, week, or month into some calendar years to make the calendar follow the seasons or moon phases. Lunisolar calendars may require intercalations of both days and months. S ...

that would belong to any week or month. He offered to establish a calendar year of 364 days split into 52 seven-day weeks, and to place the 365th day of each year at the end of December, considering it special or out of week. He planned one more special day in a

leap year A leap year (also known as an intercalary year or bissextile year) is a calendar year that contains an additional day (or, in the case of a lunisolar calendar, a month) added to keep the calendar year synchronized with the astronomical year o ...

, and to place it in the middle of a year, between the last day of June and the first day of July, or following the first special day.

Influence on other calendars

His work significantly influenced the Armelin's calendar and calendar reform proposal by

Auguste Comte Isidore Marie Auguste François Xavier Comte (; 19 January 1798 – 5 September 1857) was a French philosopher and writer who formulated the doctrine of positivism. He is often regarded as the first philosopher of science in the modern sense ...

in 1849.

References

Marco Mastrofini Bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mastrofini, Marco 1763 births 1845 deaths People from Monte Compatri 19th-century Italian Roman Catholic priests 18th-century Italian mathematicians 19th-century Italian mathematicians