Christoph Grienberger

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Christoph Grienberger (also Gruemberger, Grünberger ) SJ (* July 2, 1561 in Hall , † March 11, 1636 in Rome ) was a Jesuit and astronomer .

Catalogus veteres affixarum longitudines, ac latitudines conferens cum novis , 1612

Education and studies

On August 20, 1580 he entered the Jesuit order. He studied rhetoric and philosophy in Prague from 1583 to 1584. From 1587 he was a teacher of mathematics in Olomouc . From 1589 to 1591 he studied theology in Vienna and was a mathematics teacher in Graz .

From 1595 he acquired his astronomical knowledge in Rome from Christoph Clavius SJ, professor at the Collegium Romanum . In 1597 he was professor of mathematics in Graz, where he met Johannes Kepler . In 1612 Grienberger succeeded Christoph Clavius ​​and held this professorship until 1633. One of the tasks of Fathers Clavius ​​and Grienberger was the training of the astronomically educated offspring for the Jesuits' China mission (e.g. Johann Adam Schall von Bell ). He constructed the equatorial device of a telescope with great precision.

Grienberger wrote optical and mathematical works. This led to an exchange of letters with many personalities of his time, especially with his confreres. His writings include “New Fixed Star Catalog” and “New Himmelsbild”.

Together with his brother Christoph Scheiner, Grienberger developed a heliotrope for sunspot observation, the German mount , a variant of the equatorial mount of the telescope. Together they publish the third volume of the book "Rosa Ursina sive Sol", which enables the exploration of the planetary system .

Affair Galileo

At the time when Galileo Galilei was first admonished in 1616 and convicted in 1633, Grienberger was a senior mathematician at the Collegium Romanum . In a letter of January 22nd, 1611 to his friend Galileo, he confesses, " that he had been converted to full recognition through his own observation of contradictions and doubts about everything he found reported in Galileo's message and that he had objected to observations which he should have admired, venerated and defended much more. ... It is hard to renounce opinions which have been established for many centuries and which have been affirmed by the authority of so many sages ... "

In April 1611, Galileo received a benevolent opinion from the Jesuit Fathers, including Grienberger, which had been requested by Cardinal Roberto Bellarmino , the accuser of the Inquisition at the time. They limited themselves to the pure description of astronomical observations and avoided any conclusion, such as B. the one that because of the phases of Venus this must orbit the sun.

The superior general Claudio Acquaviva SJ gave an instruction in 1614 to the members of the Jesuit order to defend the views of Aristotle , ie to adhere to the geocentric system . Cardinal Bellarmino said in a letter of April 12, 1615 to the theologian and astronomer Paolo Antonio Foscarini that Galileo should have treated the heliocentric world system of Nicolaus Copernicus only as a hypothesis. Galileo hoped for the assistance of his friend Grienberger. This expert, who was to decide, however, remained cautious: Galileo should first have presented astronomical evidence for the Copernican system and then dealt with the Holy Scriptures . Galileo accepted Grienberger's view, but said that a ray of divine wisdom could also illuminate the lower mind. In a letter of July 25, 1634 to Elia Diodati , Galilei Grienberger quoted: " If Galileo had managed to preserve the benevolence of the fathers of this college, he would live gloriously in the world and would have been none of his misfortune happened, and he could have written about any matter at his own discretion, I say even about the motion of the earth, etc. "

Grienberger's successor at the Collegium Romanum was Athanasius Kircher SJ in November 1633 .

The moon crater Gruemberger is named after Grienberger .

Works

  • Catalogus veteres affixarum longitudines ac latitudines conferens cum novis stellis (Rome 1612)
  • Nova imaginum caelestium prospectiva (Rome 1612)
  • Speculum ustorium verae ac primigenae suae formae restitutum (Rome 1613)
  • Rerum mathematicarum opus (Rome 1624)
  • Euclidi sex primi Elementorum Geometricum libri (Rome 1629)

literature

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Grienberger, Christopher. Archived from the original on March 28, 2014 ; accessed on June 9, 2019 (English, original website no longer available).
  2. ↑ a b The astronomer Christoph Grienberger and the Galilei trial , bibcode : 2003AcHA ... 18 ... 34D
  3. ^ Christoph Grienberger (in Italian only) . Retrieved October 19, 2015 (Italian).
  4. ↑ a b c In the name of the Lord . Retrieved October 19, 2015 .
personal data
SURNAME Grienberger, Christoph
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Gruemberger, Christoph
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Jesuit priest and astronomer
DATE OF BIRTH July 2, 1561
PLACE OF BIRTH Hall
DATE OF DEATH March 11, 1636
Place of death Rome