Robert Hues

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Tractatus de Globis 1634, National Library of Portugal

Robert Hues (* 1553 ; † May 25, 1632 in Oxford ) was a British mathematician , geographer and navigator of the Renaissance .

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Hues graduated from Oxford University (St. Mary's Hall) in 1578 and then took lessons in navigation in a school founded by Walter Raleigh . On a trip to Newfoundland, he checked the magnetic declination (deviation from north) of the compass needle and found deviations from the published values. From 1586 to 1588 and 1591 to 1593 he accompanied Thomas Cavendish on his circumnavigation (Cavendish died on the second voyage and John Davis was in command ), where he made astronomical observations and determined latitudes.

In 1594 he published a treatise on the first English terrestrial globes made by Emery Molyneux and their use in navigation ( Tractatus de globis et eorum usu ). The book saw at least twelve new editions - in addition to Latin (with editions from 1611 to 1663) in English (1638 and 1659), Dutch (1597, 1613 and 1622) and French (1618). The book begins with a dedication to Raleigh, in which the geographical and navigational advances made by the English over the Spanish and Portuguese under the reign of Queen Elizabeth I are praised. In addition to introductions to geography and astronomy, the book also contains instructions on how to calculate the distance on the globe from longitude and latitude data (see nautical triangle ). It also discusses the rhumb line by Thomas Harriot .

Hues kept in touch with Raleigh (and was one of Raleigh's executors) and then served Thomas Gray , who was imprisoned in the Tower from 1603 until his death in 1614 because of a conspiracy against James I. After his death in 1614 he served Henry Percy (1564-1632), who was also imprisoned in the Tower and who was suspected of participating in the Gunpowder Plot , also as a scientific advisor and teacher, together with Thomas Harriot and Walter Warner (after John Aubrey as the three magi designated by Northumberland). They also met Walter Raleigh, who was also imprisoned in the Tower.

Molyneux terrestrial globe based on the Dutch edition of the Hues treatise

Hues later taught Henry Percy's son, Algernon Percy , as a tutor in Oxford, where Percy studied from 1617, as well as his younger brother Henry, who was at Christ Church College in Oxford in 1622/23. He otherwise served Northumberland at Petworth House in West Sussex and at Syon House outside London, where Percy lived after his release from the Tower in 1622. He met with Walter Warner in London and was one of the administrators of Thomas Harriott, who died in 1621. Hues himself later lived in Oxford and was a fellow at the university. He is buried in Oxford Cathedral.

literature

personal data
SURNAME Hues, Robert
BRIEF DESCRIPTION British mathematician, geographer and navigator
DATE OF BIRTH 1553
DATE OF DEATH May 25, 1632
Place of death Oxford