Theodorus Moretus

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Theodorus Moretus , also known as Theodor or Theodore Moretus (born February 9, 1602 in Antwerp , † November 6, 1667 in Breslau ) was a Flemish mathematician , physicist and astronomer and belonged to the Jesuit order . He was a professor at the Jesuit universities in Prague , Olomouc and Wroclaw.

Life

Representation of an experiment of melting metal with a mirror, from Tractatus physico-mathematicus de aestu mari

Moretus was born as the son of Peter and Henriette Moerentorf (Latinized Moretus). He comes from a famous family of printers and publishers: his mother was the youngest daughter of Christoph Plantin (around 1520–1589), and Theodorus was a nephew of Jan I. Moretus and cousin of Balthasar I. Moretus.

In 1618 he entered the Jesuit order in Mechelen . He came to Prague in 1629 as an assistant to Gregory of St. Vincent, then took over the physics professorship in Olomouc from 1632, but returned to Prague in 1634. In the following years he worked at various Jesuit colleges in Bohemia and Moravia . Finally, in 1659 he was entrusted with the mathematics professorship in Breslau, which he held until his death.

Scientific activity

Theodorus Moretus was a mathematician with an extraordinarily wide range of interests. Moretus' mathematical works deal mainly with practical applications of this science. From today's perspective, most of them would be classified in physics. For example, they deal with questions of acoustics and hydrostatics . Because of his astronomical activity, the lunar crater Moretus was named after him.

Works

  • Mathematici Tractatus , 1641
  • Soliloquia ad obtestationes Davidicas et Psalmorum allegoria , 1656
  • Propositiones mathematicae ex Optica de Imagine Visionis , 1661
  • De ponderum gravitate , 1663
  • Propositiones mathematicas ex harmonica de Soni Magnitude , 1664
  • Tractatus physico-mathematicus de aestu mari , 1665
  • De luna pascali et solis motu , 1666
  • De principatu B. Virginis , 1670
  • Principatus incomparabilis primi filii hominis messiae et primae parentis Matris Virginis: in conceptione illius immaculata exhibitus , Apud viduam J. Busaei, 1671

literature

  • Henri Bosmans: Théodore Moretus de la Compagnie de Jésus, mathématicien, (1602-1667). D'après sa correspondance et ses manuscrits. In: De Gulden Passer. Driemaandelijksch Bulletijn van de Vereeniging of the Antwerp Bibliophile. Nieuwe reeks. 6 : 57-163 (1928)
  • Karl Adolf Franz Fischer: Jesuits in Breslau. Sources on the history of the Breslau Jesuit Academy and Jesuit University 1640-1755. In: Archives for Silesian Church History 38 (1980), pp. 121–174
  • Hermann Hoffmann: The Breslau mathematician Theodor Moretus SJ (1601–1667). In: Annual report of the Silesian Society for Patriotic Culture 107 (1934), pp. 118–155
  • Georg Schuppener: Theodor Moretus (1602–1667) - a Prague Jesuit mathematician. In: Cemus, Petronilla (ed.): Bohemia Jesuitica 1556-2006. Vol. 2. Prague / Würzburg 2010 (Nakladatelství Karolinum / Echter Verlag), pp. 661–675

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Moretus lunar crater. Retrieved October 13, 2012 .
personal data
SURNAME Moretus, Theodorus
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Moret, Théodore
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Flemish mathematician, physicist and astronomer and was a member of the Jesuit order
DATE OF BIRTH February 9, 1602
PLACE OF BIRTH Antwerp
DATE OF DEATH November 6, 1667
Place of death Wroclaw