List of German astronomers of the early modern period
The following table records astronomers of the early modern period , i.e. from the end of the Middle Ages to the end of the 18th century, with a focus on the German-speaking area. The preset sorting is done chronologically according to the year of death.
Surname | born | died | Remarks |
---|---|---|---|
15th century | |||
Georg Muestinger | before 1400 | 1442 | Augustinian provost in Klosterneuburg Abbey ; Friend and student of Johannes von Gmunden |
Johannes von Gmunden | around 1380 | 1442 | Professor of Physics in Vienna; Planet tables and calendar |
Lawrence of Ratibor | 1381 | 1448 | Professor in Cracow and Polish court astronomer ; Prediction of a solar eclipse for 1433 |
Georg von Peuerbach | 1423 | 1461 | Pioneer of the Copernican worldview; built innovative measuring instruments; first university professor for astronomy |
Friedrich Amann | 1464 or 1465 | Benedictines in St. Emmeram in Regensburg ; Author of astronomical writings | |
Regiomontanus | 1436 | 1476 | first scientific description of a comet ; Reformer of the Julian calendar ; Ephemeris and tables of the solar declination |
Johannes Canter | 1424 | 1497 | Humanist and astronomer in Groningen ; Court astrologist of the German Emperor Friedrich III. |
16th Century | |||
Bernhard Walther | 1430 | 1504 | Pupil, patron and successor of Regiomontanus; astronomical observer in Nuremberg |
Johannes Engel | before 1463 | 1512 | Professor in Ingolstadt ; Corrections to the Alfonsine tables |
Andreas Stiborius | around 1464 | 1515 | University teacher in Vienna; Expert opinion on calendar reform |
Marcus Schinnagel | around 1448 | after 1520 | Astrologer and author of the text of a representative secular pentaptych |
Johannes Werner | 1468 | 1522 | Nuremberg pastor; Observer and instrument maker; Work on the precession of the equinoxes |
Heinrich Schreiber | 1492 | 1525 | Writings on arithmetic and astronomy |
Johannes Stöffler | 1452 | 1531 | Manufacturer of instruments and celestial globes; Author of an almanac; Professor of Astronomy in Tübingen |
Paul of Middelburg | 1445 | 1534 | Calendar reform proposals |
Wilhelm Haller of Hallerstein | 1478 | 1534 | |
Georg Tannstetter | 1482 | 1535 | University teacher in Vienna; Expert opinion on calendar reform, editor of astronomical works and tables |
Johannes Virdung | 1463 | 1538 or 1539 | Astrologer; Author of the Tabulae resolutae , a set of tables |
Albertus Pighius | around 1490 | 1542 | Catholic theologian; Writings on astrology and calendar reform |
Nicolaus Copernicus | 1473 | 1543 | Author of De revolutionibus Orbium Coelestium , where he was a heliocentric world view represented |
Lüder Reventlow | around 1470 | 1546 | astrologer |
Johannes Schöner | 1477 | 1547 | Nuremberg astronomer; Editor of the observations by Bernard Walther and Regiomontanus |
Jakob Ziegler | around 1470 | 1549 | Commentary on the second volume of the Naturalis historia of Pliny |
Johannes Vogelin | before 1500 | 1549 | Professor of Mathematics and Astronomy in Vienna; Writings on comets |
Nicolaus Kratzer | 1487 | 1550 | Court astronomer to King Henry VIII of England . |
Erasmus Reinhold | 1511 | 1553 | Advocate and advocate of the Copernican worldview |
Johann Dryander | 1500 | 1560 | Author of Astrolabii canones brevissimi and other textbooks on the use of astronomical instruments |
Johannes Hommel | 1518 | 1562 | Professor in Leipzig |
Johannes Acronius Frisius | presumably 1520 | 1564 | Professor in Basel |
Johann Scheubel | 1494 | 1570 | Professor in Tübingen |
Georg Joachim Rheticus | 1514 | 1574 | Professor in Wittenberg; Pupil of Copernicus |
Cyprian von Leowitz | 1524 | 1574 | Astrologer and court astronomer of the Palatinate Elector Ottheinrich in Lauingen ; Author of ephemeris ( Ephemeridum novum atque insigne opus from anno 1556 ad annum 1606 ) |
Hieronymus Lauterbach | 1531 | 1577 | Professor in Vienna and Styrian landscape mathematics in Graz |
Cornelis Gemma | 1535 | 1577 | Son of Gemma R. Frisius ; astrological writings; Expert opinion on calendar reform |
Erasmus Oswald Schreckenfuchs | 1511 | 1575 | Commentaria in novas theoricas planetarum Georgii Purbachii (1556) |
Paul Wittich | around 1546 | 1586 | Employee of Tycho Brahe and astronomer of Landgrave Wilhelm IV (Hessen-Kassel) of Hessen-Kassel |
Andreas Schöner | 1528 | 1590 | Son of Johannes Schöner ; Editor of his works and works of Regiomontanus ; Writings on Gnomonic |
Victorin Schönfeld | 1525 | 1591 | Prognosticon astrologicum on the revolutiones and accumulations of the planets (1562) |
Heinrich Brucaeus | 1530 | 1593 | Professor in Rostock |
Georg Stadius | around 1550 | 1593 | Styrian landscape mathematician and professor in Graz ; Author of calendars and Ephemerides astronomicae |
Pieter Dirkszoon Keyser | 1540 | 1596 | Dutch navigator; created a star catalog of the southern sky and named 12 new constellations |
Nicolaus Reimers | 1551 | 1600 | Translator of the main work of Nicolaus Copernicus ; Court astronomer of Rudolf II in Prague |
Thaddaeus Hagecius | 1525 | 1600 | Professor of Mathematics and Astronomy in Prague ; Study of planetary motion and cometary research; Observation of the supernova 1572 |
Christoph Rothmann | between 1550 and 1560 | probably around 1600 | prepared the Kassel star catalog for Wilhelm IV of Hessen-Kassel , but it remained unfinished |
17th century | |||
Tycho Brahe | 1546 | 1601 | had observatories built on the Baltic island of Hven ; described the supernova in 1572 ; his observations were the basis of Kepler's Rudolphine tables ; suggested a Tychonic World Model as a compromise between geocentric and heliocentric models |
Andreas Rosa | 1530 | 1602 | Astronomer in Schweinfurt, Schleusingen and Amberg |
David goose | 1541 | 1613 | Jewish astronomer in Prague |
Jakob Christmann | 1554 | 1613 | Orientalist ; Translator of the Farghani |
Bartholomäus Scultetus | 1540 | 1614 | Construction of sundials; Protestant advocate of Gregorian calendar reform |
Johann Richter | 1537 | 1616 | Professor in Wittenberg and Altdorf ; Instrument maker; De cometis (1578) |
David Fabricius | 1564 | 1617 | discovered the variability of the star Mira ; Father of Johann Fabricius |
Johann Fabricius | 1587 | 1617 | Co-discoverer of the sunspots |
Titus of Popma | before 1550 | 1620 | Frisian astronomer; Tables |
Isaac Habrecht | 1544 | 1620 | Writers of calendars; Manufacturer of celestial globes |
Kaspar Uttenhofer | before 1500 | 1621 | Nuremberg astronomer; Writings on gnomonics and comets |
Simon Marius | 1573 | 1625 | Court astronomer in Ansbach ; Dispute with Galileo about priority in the discovery of the four great moons of Jupiter ( Mundus Iovialis 1614) |
Johann Bayer | 1572 | 1625 | created the sky atlas Uranometria (1603); introduced Bayer designations with Greek and Latin letters |
Petrus Saxonius | 1591 | 1625 | Professor in Altdorf ; Investigation of sunspots |
Johann Caspar Odontius | 1580 | 1626 | Pupil of Kepler; "Nürnbergischer Astronomus"; Real and thorough description of the Comet in November and December in the 1618th year of Christ |
Julius Schiller | before 1500 | 1627 | together with Johann Bayer author of the Coelum Stellatum Christianum , a Christian star atlas |
David Origanus | 1558 | 1628 | Novae motuum coelestium ephemerides Brandenburgicae (1609) |
Johannes Kepler | 1571 | 1630 | discovered the laws of planetary motion ; De Stella nova in pede serpentarii on the Supernova 1604 ; Fonts on optics |
Johannes Schreck | 1576 | 1630 | Jesuit missionary in China; Translator of astronomical texts; tasked with reforming the Chinese calendar |
Michael Maestlin | 1550 | 1631 | Friend and teacher of Johannes Kepler ; Advocate of the Copernican worldview; realized that comets are not sublunar phenomena; correct explanation of the earth glow |
Johan Philip Lansberg | 1561 | 1632 | Tabulae motuum coelestium perpetuae (1632) |
Ambrosius Rhode | 1577 | 1633 | Professor in Wittenberg ; Textbook of optics |
Jacob Bartsch | 1600 | 1633 | Usus astronomicus planisphaerii stellati (star maps, 1624) |
Daniel Mögling | 1596 | 1635 | Court astronomer Philip III. from Hessen-Butzbach ; Rosicrucians |
Christoph Grienberger | 1561 | 1636 | Jesuit at the Collegium Romanum ; developed the German mount for telescopes; Fonts on optics |
Peter Crüger | 1580 | 1639 | Astronomer in Gdansk; De hypothetico systemate coeli (1615 ), Uranodromus cometicus ( 1619), Cupediae astrosophiae (1630) |
Christoph Scheiner | 1573 | 1650 | Optician and astronomer in Ingolstadt ; Co-discoverer of the sunspots |
Johann Holwarda | 1618 | 1651 | Studies on variable stars ; Dissertatio astronomica (1640) |
Jacob Fabricius | 1576 | 1652 | Pupil of Tycho Brahe |
Johann Baptist Cysat | 1586 | 1657 | Pupil of Christoph Scheiner ; Professor in the University of Lucerne |
Philipp Mueller | 1585 | 1659 | Professor in Leipzig |
Elias of Leo | 1602 | 1661 | written calendar documents |
Andreas Goldmayer | 1602 | 1665 | Astronomer and astrologer in Nuremberg; Harmonious eternal astronomical tables of the course of the sun and the moon (1639) |
Maria Cunitz | 1610 | 1664 | Urania Propitia (Tafelwerk, 1650) |
Oswald Kruger | 1598 | 1665 | Theoremata et problemata ex Optica, Geometria, Astronomia, Sphaera elementari, Computo ecclesiastico (1633) |
Adam Schall from Bell | 1592 | 1666 | Jesuit missionary in China; wrote astronomical writings in Chinese |
Christoph Notnagel | 1607 | 1666 | Professor in Wittenberg |
Philipp Eckebrecht | 1594 | 1667 | Nuremberg businessman and astronomer |
Abdias Trew | 1597 | 1669 | Professor in Altdorf |
Johannes Hecker | 1625 | 1675 | Call to observe the Mercury transit calculated by him on May 6, 1674 (first such call) |
Caspar Marche | 1629 | 1677 | Investigations into solar and lunar eclipses |
Daniel Lagus | 1618 | 1678 | Theoretatum uranographicorum pentas quarta (1640) |
Daniel Lipstorp | 1631 | 1684 | Copernicus redivivus (1653) |
Peter Megerlin | 1623 | 1686 | Work on chronology and comets; astrologer |
Johannes Hevelius | 1611 | 1687 | Selenograph ( Selenographia 1647); Discoverer of libration ; Comet discoverer |
Nicholas Mercator | 1620 | 1687 | Calendar Improvement and Spherical Astronomy Fonts |
Manuel Bocarro Francês | 1588 or 1593 | 1688 | Jewish doctor and astrologer; Writings on comets |
Georg Samuel Dörffel | 1643 | 1688 | Astronomical observation of the great comet, which A. appeared in 1680 and 1681 (1681) |
Stephan Spleiss | 1623 | 1693 | Incidental account of the present Comet stars (1664) |
Johann Jacob Zimmermann | 1644 | 1693 | Scriptura Sacra Copernizans (1690) |
Elisabetha Hevelius | 1647 | 1693 | Wife of Johannes Hevelius ; Editor and editor of the Prodromus astronomiae (catalog of the heavenly positions of 1564 stars) |
Christoph Arnold | 1650 | 1695 | Comet discoverers; Mercury transit observer on October 31, 1690 |
18th century | |||
Friedrich Madeweis | 1648 | 1705 | Redux apparitio novi cometae 1680 et 1681 (1681) |
Georg Christoph Eimmart | 1638 | 1705 | Founder of the first Nuremberg observatory, mathematician and engraver |
Maria Clara Eimmart | 1676 | 1707 | Astronomer in Nuremberg, daughter of Georg Christoph Eimmart , made astronomical drawings |
Detlev Clüver | 1645 | 1708 | Tabulae astronomicae in R. Moses Maimonides librum de consecratione calendarum et ratione intercalandi (1708) |
Gottfried Kirch | 1639 | 1710 | Calendar maker and royal astronomer in Berlin |
Bernhard Friedrich von Krosigk | 1656 | 1714 | Privy councilor and operator of astronomical studies; established observatories in Poplitz , Berlin, Arkhangelsk and South Africa |
Johann Heinrich Hoffmann | 1669 | 1716 | royal astronomer in Berlin |
Johann Justus Bode | 1676 | 1719 | Astronomer and mathematician in Coburg, inventor of the Instrumentum universale Uranoscopico-horologico-geometricum |
Maria Margaretha Kirch | 1670 | 1720 | Astronomer in Berlin |
Constantin Gabriel Hecker | 1670 | 1721 | Astronomer and calendar maker in Gdansk |
Johann Christoph Müller | 1673 | 1721 | Observatio de transitu Mercurii sub sole (1698) |
Hans Jakob Fäsi | 1664 | 1722 | Mathematician, astronomer and manufacturer of astrolabes |
Paul Father | 1656 | 1724 | Professor in Thorn |
Johann Philipp von Wurzelbau | 1651 | 1725 | Astronomer in Nuremberg |
Georg Heinrich Rast | 1695 | 1726 | Works on star occultations ; Dissertatio astronomica de linea meridiana (1716) |
Johann Leonhard Rost | 1688 | 1727 | Astronomer in Nuremberg |
Lothar Zumbach von Koesfeld | 1661 | 1727 | Astronomer in Leiden and Kassel; Designer of astronomical demonstration devices (planetolabium) |
Johann Heinrich Müller | 1671 | 1731 | Head of the observatory in Nuremberg |
Christian Sahme | 1663 | 1732 | Treatises on the shape of the earth, calculation of the eclipses and occultations of a star by the moon |
Johannes Gaupp | 1667 | 1738 | Pastor in Lindau, Gnomonica Mechanica Universalis (1720) |
Christfried Kirch | 1694 | 1740 | Director of the Berlin observatory ; Observationes astronomicae selectiores in observatorio regio Berolinensi habitae (1730) |
Johann Beyer | 1673 | 1751 | Carpenter and astronomer in Hamburg |
Johann Jakob Marinoni | 1676 | 1755 | imperial court mathematician in Vienna; built the first Vienna observatory |
Thomas Splice | 1705 | 1775 | Astronomer in Schaffhausen |
Johann Friedrich Weidler | 1691 | 1755 | Institutiones mathematicae (1718) |
Georg Rothe | 1691 | 1758 | Astronomer in Görlitz; Collected Comet Library Or intimate discussions about the Comet published in 1744 (1746) |
Basil Christian Bernhard Wiedeburg | 1722 | 1758 | Work on the annual parallax of the earth and the propagation of light |
August Nathanael Grischow | 1726 | 1760 | Director of the old Berlin observatory , then professor in Saint Petersburg |
Georg Matthias Bose | 1710 | 1761 | Physicist and astronomer in Wittenberg |
Andreas Gschwandter | 1696 | 1762 | Erotemata physico-astronomica de cometis, anno 1744 |
Tobias Mayer | 1723 | 1762 | Libration of the moon; exact tables on the position of the moon, which made the astronomical solution of the longitude problem possible |
Johann Wilhelm Gehler | 1696 | 1765 | Mayor and astronomer in Görlitz |
Friedrich Koes | 1684 | 1766 | Mathematician and astronomer in Kiel; Writings on calendar issues and solar or lunar eclipses |
Johann Bernhard Wiedeburg | 1687 | 1766 | (partly theologically supported) writings on comets |
Christoph Siegmund Schumacher | 1704 | 1768 | Improved astronomical year and diary for the year 1763 (1763) |
Gottfried Heinsius | 1709 | 1769 | Professor of Astronomy in St. Petersburg and Leipzig; Moon, sun and Saturn observations |
Christoph Langhansen | 1691 | 1770 | Reports of the solar eclipses in 1720 and 1734; Writings on the inclination of the ecliptic, the spherical shape of the earth, parallax calculations and on an unusual northern light observed on March 17, 1716 |
August von Hallerstein | 1703 | 1774 | Jesuit and missionary in China, head of the Imperial Astronomy Office in Beijing |
Georg Moritz Lowitz | 1722 | 1774 | Head of the Göttingen Observatory; Professor of Astronomy in Saint Petersburg |
Johann Andreas von Segner | 1704 | 1777 | Astronomical Lectures (1775) |
Johann Albrecht Klein | 1698 | 1778 | Astronomer in Grimma |
Joseph Stepling | 1716 | 1778 | Professor at the Clementinum in Prague and head of the observatory there |
Michael Adelbulner | 1702 | 1779 | Editor of the newsletter for the promotion of astronomy |
Johann Kies | 1713 | 1781 | Professor of mathematics and physics and astronomer in Berlin |
Christine Kirch | 1697 | 1782 | Astronomer in Berlin |
Johann Jakob Rau | 1715 | 1782 | Brief instructions for the knowledge and use of the celestial and terrestrial spheres (1756) |
Christian Mayer | 1719 | 1783 | Professor in Heidelberg and electoral court astronomer; Working over binary stars |
Johann Georg Palitzsch | 1723 | 1788 | discovered the return of Halley's Comet predicted by Edmond Halley in 1758 and discovered the atmosphere of Venus in 1761 |
Johann Ernst Basilius Wiedeburg | 1733 | 1789 | Works on constellations, polar lights and sunspots |
Philipp Matthäus Hahn | 1739 | 1790 | Designer of astronomical clocks and instruments |
Lampert Hinrich Röhl | 1724 | 1790 | Establishment of the Greifswald observatory |
Peter clumsiness | 1760 | 1790 | Head of the observatory in Mannheim |
Placidus Fixlmillner | 1721 | 1791 | Director of the Kremsmünster observatory |
Maximilian Hell | 1720 | 1792 | Jesuit and director of the Vienna University Observatory; Ephemerides astronomicae ad meridianum Vindobonensem |
Anton Pilgram | 1730 | 1793 | Ephemerides astronomicae ad meridianum Vindobonensem (1769ff); Disquisitio de parallaxi solis (1774) |
David Naudé | 1720 | 1794 | astronomical computer and observator at the Berlin Academy of Sciences |
Johann Wilhelm Wallot | 1743 | 1794 | Solstitial observations to determine the variability of the ecliptic skew |
Johann Matthias Matsko | 1721 | 1796 | Head of the observatory in Kassel |
Johann Jakob Huber | 1733 | 1798 | Director of the Berlin observatory ; Work on watch technology |
Gotthilf Christian Reccard | 1735 | 1798 | Astronomer in Koenigsberg |
Joseph Liesganig | 1719 | 1799 | Degree measurement in the Vienna meridian |