Samuel Marolois ( – before 1627) was a Dutch mathematician and military engineer who is best known for his work on perspective.

Life and work

Marolois (or Marlois) was born in the

Dutch Republic The United Provinces of the Netherlands, commonly referred to in historiography as the Dutch Republic, was a confederation that existed from 1579 until the Batavian Revolution in 1795. It was a predecessor state of the present-day Netherlands ...

(possibly in

The Hague The Hague ( ) is the capital city of the South Holland province of the Netherlands. With a population of over half a million, it is the third-largest city in the Netherlands. Situated on the west coast facing the North Sea, The Hague is the c ...

) as son of Nicolas Marolois, a Protestant native of

Valenciennes Valenciennes (, also , , ; ; or ; ) is a communes of France, commune in the Nord (French department), Nord Departments of France, department, Hauts-de-France, France. It lies on the Scheldt () river. Although the city and region experienced ...

who had been exiled from France and served the

Prince of Orange Prince of Orange (or Princess of Orange if the holder is female) is a title associated with the sovereign Principality of Orange, in what is now southern France and subsequently held by the stadtholders of, and then the heirs apparent of ...

. Marolois became a mathematician and earthworks engineer in the employ of

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 ...

He was married to Hester le Maire, which made him a brother-in-law of the Amsterdam merchants Thomas le Maire and Pieter le Fevre. In March 1611, he bought a house in The Hague. After the death of

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 ...

, Marolois attempted unsuccessfully to succeed him as Chair of Mathematics in Leiden. Marolois wrote a book on perspective, , which was published in 1614 and printed many times in other languages including Dutch, German and Latin. The book had both theoretical and practical elements. The theoretical parts were mostly taken from the works of

Guidobaldo del Monte Guidobaldo del Monte (11 January 1545 – 6 January 1607, var. Guidobaldi or Guido Baldi), Marquis del Monte, was an Italian mathematician, philosopher and astronomer of the 16th century. Biography Del Monte was born in Pesaro. His father, Rani ...

, while the practical parts included many examples. In total, 275 figures are printed in the book. While Marolois' work contributed little to the mathematical theory of perspective, his book was influential in spreading awareness of the ideas. The artist

Joshua Kirby Joshua Kirby (1716 – 1774), often mistakenly called John Joshua Kirby, was an English 18th-century landscape painter, engraver, writer, draughtsman and architect famed for his publications and teaching on linear perspective based on Brook T ...

later claimed it was one of the most important early books on perspective. Marolois was a military adviser to the Dutch Republic 1612–1619. His described the cheapest way to build fortifications. It was the first systematic treatment of the Dutch system of fortifications, using geometric operations to draw polygonal plans, and is famous for the drawing of the citadel of

Coevorden Coevorden (; ; ) is a List of cities in the Netherlands by province, city and List of municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality in the Provinces of the Netherlands, province of Drenthe, in the east of Netherlands, the Netherlands. During the ...

. Marolois died in The Hague before 1627. Albert Girard prepared an edition of his mathematical works that was published in 1628.

References

Bibliography

* * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Marolois, Samuel 16th-century births 17th-century deaths 17th-century Dutch mathematicians