Honoré Fabri

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Honoré Fabri

Honoré Fabri , also Fabry, Latinized Honoratus Fabrius, (* around 1608 in France , † March 8, 1688 in Rome ) was a French Jesuit , mathematician , astronomer , philosopher and physicist .

Life

Dialogi physici , 1665

He was probably born near Lyon in 1607 or 1608 (e.g. Le Grand Abergement 80 km northeast of Lyon, Belley and Virieu-le-Grand were given). His godfather is said to have been the poet Honoré d'Urfé . He went to school in Belley. In 1626 he joined the Jesuit order, spent two years in Avignon and from 1628 studied at the Collège de la Trinité in Lyon. One of his teachers there was Claude Boniel (1585–1666). From 1630 to 1632 Fabri taught in Roanne and then went to Rome to study at the Collegio Romano . He was ordained in Rome in 1635 and graduated in 1636. He then taught philosophy and science at the Jesuit College in Arles , where he also taught the new discovery of the blood circulation by William Harvey . In 1638 he taught logic in Aix-en-Provence , where he made friends with Pierre Gassendi , and from 1640 he was professor of logic and mathematics at his old school, Collège de la Trinité in Lyon. His students there included Pierre Mousnier , Philippe de La Hire , François de Raynaud and Jean Dominique Cassini . He corresponded with Christian Huygens , Constantijn Huygens , Marin Mersenne , René Descartes , Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz and other well-known scientists.

In 1646 his pupil Mousnier published his logic lecture ( Philosophiae tomus primus ) and his natural philosophy and physical lectures ( Tractatus physicus de motu locali ). His publications were not well received by the Jesuit order; he was first sent to Fréjus and in 1648 to Rome, where he was entrusted with administrative tasks. Even after Mersenne, the order is said to have tried unsuccessfully to exclude him and prevent further publications. One took offense, for example, at his deviation from the teaching of Aristotle . In 1648 Mousnier published his Metaphysik-Vorlesung ( Metaphysica demonstrativa ). Although he worked for the Inquisition in Rome, he was temporarily imprisoned himself in 1669. The reason seems to be his anonymous publication about the Saturn rings identified by Christian Huygens (Fabri suspected moons instead of rings and was only converted to Huygens view after five years of discussion), in which he took the view in one passage that the experiment would be about them Ultimately, decide the question of the earth's movement and the Church will take an open stance in this regard. It was believed that he exceeded his powers here, especially since he was a member of the Inquisition. He was also suspected of being a supporter of René Descartes . On the mediation of Michelangelo Ricci and Leopoldo de 'Medici , he was released after a month and a half.

He is one of the early pioneers of calculus, especially in his major mathematical work Opusculum geometricum de linea sinuum et cycloide from 1659. His integration of the cycloid influenced Leibniz, with whom he corresponded on analysis and other questions.

Fabri was friends with François d'Aix de Lachaise .

In addition, he dealt with optics, magnetism, astronomy and developed a theory of the tides, dealt with mechanics (parallelogram of forces, analysis of vaults, kinematics of shocks), vibrations and elasticity. Even Isaac Newton knew his writings and was told by its own account first on the theory of diffraction by Francesco Maria Grimaldi through the writings of Fabri. He also tried to explain the blue of the sky.

In 1669 another mathematics book Synopsis geometrica and his Summula Theologica was published . In it he represented conservative views (which earned him the criticism of Leibniz), as well as in his physics book Dialogi physici from 1665, which earned him the criticism of Galileo supporters among the physicists such as Giovanni Alfonso Borelli . He was considered an opponent of Jansenism .

In 1657 he became a corresponding member of the Accademia del Cimento in Florence.

Fonts

  • Honoré Fabri (Antimo Farbio): Opusculum geometricum de linea sinuum et cycloide . 1659 (Latin, gutenberg.beic.it ).
  • Honoré Fabri: Pithanophilus seu dialogus, vel opusculum de opinione probabili in quo proxima morum regula, scilicet conscientia, ad sua principia reducitur . 1659 (Latin, gutenberg.beic.it ).
  • Honoré Fabri: Dialogi physici . Ed .: Fourmy, Christophe. 1665 (Latin, gutenberg.beic.it ).
  • Honoré Fabri: Synopsis optica, in qva illa omnia quae ad opticam, dioptricam, catoptricam pertinent, id est, ad triplicem radivm visvalem directum, refractum, reflexum, breviter quidem, accvrate tamen demonstrantur. Ed .: Horace Boissat, George Remeus. Lugduni 1667, OCLC 81977275 (Latin, gutenberg.beic.it ).
  • Honoré Fabri: Synopsis geometrica . Ed .: Antoine Molin. 1669 (Latin, gutenberg.beic.it ).
  • Honoré Fabri: De linea sinuum et cycloide . 1659 ( digital.beic.it ).
  • Honoré Fabri: De maximis et minimis centuria . Ed .: Antoine Molin. Lugduni 1669 ( Digitale.beic.it ).
  • Honoré Fabri: [Opere. Lettere e carteggi] . (Latin, digital.beic.it ).
  • Honoré Fabri: Synopsis trigonometriae planae . Naples 1753 ( digital.beic.it ).

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Karl-Eugen Kurrer : The History of the Theory of Structures. Searching for Equilibrium . Berlin: Ernst & Sohn 2018, pp. 217f., ISBN 978-3-433-03229-9 .
personal data
SURNAME Fabri, Honoré
BRIEF DESCRIPTION French Jesuit, mathematician, astronomer, philosopher and physicist
DATE OF BIRTH around 1608
PLACE OF BIRTH France
DATE OF DEATH March 8, 1688
Place of death Rome