Johann Richter (astronomer)

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Johann Richter alias Johannes Praetorius
Torquetum by Johannes Praetorius 1568

Johann Richter , latinized Johannes Praetorius (* 1537 in Sankt Joachimsthal , † October 27, 1616 in Altdorf near Nuremberg ), was a German mathematician, instrument maker and astronomer.

Life

Nothing is known about his early life, from 1557 he studied at the University of Wittenberg and completed a degree in liberal arts (including rhetoric , grammar , arithmetic , geometry , music , astronomy and logic ). From 1562 to 1569 he lived in Nuremberg . There, he designed a series of astronomical and mathematical instruments today in the Germanic National Museum are kept in Nuremberg. The invention of the measuring table (Mensula or Tabula Praetoriana) as an aid for the graphic solution of surveying tasks is attributed to him, but it is not certain.

According to Richter's information, globes (1566) also kept in Nuremberg ( cast by Wenzel Jamnitzer and gilded and engraved by the goldsmith Horninck ) were also made. From 1562 to 1571 Richter is said to have produced globes and other astrononomic devices, especially for the Nuremberg city doctor and astronomer Melchior Ayrer, which were presumably exhibited in the Kunstkammer Ayrer.

After stays in Prague and Vienna (1569) and Cracow (1570), he accepted a call from the University of Wittenberg in 1571 and was appointed professor of higher mathematics (astronomy) at the University of Wittenberg . On March 4, 1572, he acquired the degree of master's degree in the philosophical sciences and was accepted into the Senate of the Faculty of Philosophy on March 7, 1572. During this time he made Valentinus Otho aware of the trigonometric work of Joachim Rheticus and published his observations of the comet ( De cometis ) visible in the constellation Kassiopeia .

For political reasons he had to vacate the chair in 1575, but received the first mathematics professorship at the newly founded University of Altdorf through his brother Paul Praetorius in the winter semester of 1576/77 . He lived and worked in Altdorf until his death in 1616. His pupil Petrus Saxonius succeeded his chair.

Works

  • De cometis, qui antea visi sunt, et de eo, qui novissime mense novembri apparuit, narratio. Nuremberg: Gerlach & Montanus 1578
  • Problema, quod iubet ex qvatvor rectis lineis datis qvadrilaterum fieri, quod sit in circulo, aliquot modis explicatum. Nuremberg: Valentin Fuhrmann 1598

literature

  • Praetorius (Johann). In: Johann Heinrich Zedler : Large complete universal lexicon of all sciences and arts . Volume 29, Leipzig 1741, sheet 86.
  • Gerhard Bott (Ed.): Focus Behaim Globus. 2 vols. Verlag des Germanisches Nationalmuseums, Nuremberg 1992
  • Johann Gabriel Doppelmayr: Historical news from the Nuremberg mathematicians and artists. Peter Conrad Monath, Nuremberg 1730, pp. 83-92
  • Siegmund Günther:  Praetorius, Johannes . In: Allgemeine Deutsche Biographie (ADB). Volume 26, Duncker & Humblot, Leipzig 1888, p. 519 f.
  • Felix Schmeidler:  Praetorius, Johannes. In: New German Biography (NDB). Volume 20, Duncker & Humblot, Berlin 2001, ISBN 3-428-00201-6 , p. 667 ( digitized version ).
  • Klaus Matthäus: On the history of the Nuremberg calendar system . Booksellers Association, Frankfurt a. M. 1969, Sp. 1044-1047
  • Uwe Müller (ed.): 450 years of Copernicus “De revolutionibus”. Astronomical and mathematical books from Schweinfurt libraries. City archive, Schweinfurt 1993
  • Zofia Wardeska: The University of Altdorf as the center of Copernicus reception at the turn of the 16th to the 17th century. Sudhoffs Archiv 61/2, 1977, pp. 156-164
  • Georg Andreas Will: Nürnbergisches Gelehrtenlexikon Vol. 3. Lorenz Schüpfel, Nürnberg 1757, pp. 225–231
  • Helmar Junghans: Directory of the rectors, vice-rectors, deans, professors and castle church preachers of Leucorea from the summer semester 1536 to the winter semester 1574/75. In: Irene Dingel, Günther Wartenberg : Georg Major (1502–1574) - A theologian of the Wittenberg Reformation. Evangelische Verlagsanstalt, Leipzig 2005, ISBN 3-374-02332-0
  • Rudolf Wolkan : Bohemia's share in the German literature of the XVI. Century. KuK Hofbuchdruckerei A. Haase, Prague 1894, part 3, p. 169

Web links

Commons : Johannes Praetorius  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Doris Wolfangel: Dr. Melchior Ayrer (1520-1579). Medical dissertation Würzburg 1957, p. 32 f.
personal data
SURNAME Judge, Johann
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Praetorius, Johannes
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German mathematician
DATE OF BIRTH 1537
PLACE OF BIRTH Saint Joachimsthal
DATE OF DEATH October 27, 1616
Place of death Altdorf near Nuremberg