Matthias Menius

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Matthias Menius (also: Maine, Mainius, Meine ; * 1544 in Danzig ; † January 3, 1601 in Königsberg (Prussia) ) was a German mathematician, astronomer and librarian.

Life

Menius began studying at the University of Wittenberg after attending school in his hometown on October 20, 1558 . Here he had attended Philipp Melanchthon's lectures as a Danzig council scholarship holder . But he should also have attended the lectures with Esrom Rüdinger in physics, with Petrus Vincentius in logic and also the mathematics lectures Sebastian Theodoricus , Caspar Peucer , Matthäus Blöchinger and Bartholomäus Schönborn . On August 29, 1570 he acquired the academic degree of a master's degree in philosophical sciences in Wittenberg .

In 1571 he married the mayor's daughter Clara Weidner in Görlitz and in the same year took over the post of rector of the Johannisschule in Gdansk. In 1572 he also received an extraordinary professorship in astronomy at the local grammar school, which was converted into a full professorship in 1579. In his time in Gdańsk there was a publication of an observation of a new star that he discovered in the constellation Cassiopeia in 1572 . At that time he had the great astronomer Tycho Brahe in planning his work progymnasmat. Astronomer. Instauratae supported. He had also worked on the manuscript de ortu et occasu lunae supputando , which, however, did not appear in print.

So he had made a name for himself in the scholarly world of that time. This led to his being appointed professor of mathematics at the University of Königsberg in 1579 . Here he stood up for the teachings of Nicolaus Copernicus and was a follower of the Gregorian calendar . He also made calendars himself from 1568 to 1602. The dissertation De rotunditate terrae and a prognosticon for the year 1588 come from his time in Königsberg . In 1585 he also became a princely librarian and had also participated in the organizational tasks of the Alma Mater in 1587, 1593 and 1599 as rector .

literature

  • Christian Gottlieb Jöcher : Scholar Lexicon. Vol. 3, p. 437
  • Friedrich Johann Buck: Biographies of the deceased mathematicians in general and of the great Prussian mathematician P. Christian Otters, who died more than a hundred years ago, credibly promoted to print, especially in two departments. Hartung & Zeise, Königsberg and Leipzig, 1764, p. 45, ( online )
  • Daniel Heinrich Arnoldt : Detailed and documented history of the Königsberg University. Johann Heinrich Hartung, Königsberg in Prussia, 1746, 2nd part, p.
  • Hermann Freytag: The Prussians at the University of Wittenberg and the non-Prussian students of Wittenberg in Prussia from 1502–1602. Duncker and Humblot publishing house, Leipzig, 1903, pp. 18, 55

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Paul Simson: History of the City of Danzig to 1626. Scientia-Verlag, 1967, p. 376
  2. ↑ Heinz Kathe : The Wittenberg Philosophical Faculty 1502-1817 (= Central German Research. Volume 117). Böhlau, Cologne / Weimar / Vienna 2002, ISBN 3-412-04402-4 , pp. 455-470.
  3. ↑ UA hall. Dean's office book of the Philosophical Faculty. 2, page 237
personal data
SURNAME Menius, Matthias
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Maine; Mainius; My
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German mathematician, astronomer and librarian
DATE OF BIRTH 1544
PLACE OF BIRTH Danzig
DATE OF DEATH January 3, 1601
Place of death Königsberg (Prussia)