Valentinus Otho

Valentinus Otho , also: Valentin Otto, Pitiscus, Parthenopolitanus (* around 1548 in Magdeburg , † April 8, 1603 in Prague ) was a German mathematician.

Life

Nothing is known about its origin. It is believed that he attended school in his native Magdeburg. On April 13, 1561, he enrolled at the University of Wittenberg , where in March 1566 he acquired the academic degree of a master's degree in the liberal arts. After spending some time in Wittenberg, studying astronomy and mathematics, and presenting Johannes Praetorius with an estimate and an approximation for the district number Pi , he went to Georg Joachim Rheticus in Kaschau in Upper Hungary in 1573 . The number pi is still used in school today ( ). ${\displaystyle \pi \approx {\tfrac {355}{113}}}$

In 1573 at the age of 25 he came to master Rheticus. He was the same age as Rheticus when he went to his master Copernicus. Rheticus began to initiate Otho in his work. However, Rheticus fell ill in 1574 and shortly before his death gave Otho the task of completing and editing his great trigonometric work. On behalf of Emperor Maximilian II , the imperial governor Hans Rueber zu Pixendorf hired Otho to order the estate of Rheticus. In order to be able to continue the legacy, Otho followed a request from the Saxon Elector August in 1577 , who appointed him from Kaschau as a professor of higher mathematics at the University of Wittenberg. This agreed with Otho to carry out the table work of Rheticus in Wittenberg. They agreed on an annual income of 400 thalers, with Otho undertaking to employ journeymen. Otho's professorship had not yet been confirmed by February 1, 1578. The reason may be found in Elector August's mistrust of the Philippists as a supporter of the Gnesiolutherans . The former pupil of Caspar Peucer was also met with distrust. After Otho had completed two parts of the work, it broke with the Wittenberg University in 1581. After he had refused to sign the formula of the Agreement , he was removed from office.

Otho stayed in touch with the university and eventually went to the Palatinate on the advice of Peucer. There he stayed in Heidelberg and, ill health, continued to work on the last part of the work, which finally appeared in Neustadt an der Haardt in 1596 under the title Opus Palatinum de triangulis . It became a fundamental work whose tables were used centuries later. In 1601 Otho became professor of mathematics at Heidelberg University . But he no longer held lectures, he complained about his poor health and poverty. Thereupon the Heidelberg Senate relieved him of his duties as a professor. He then went to Prague, where he died a year later.

Works

• Opus Palatinum de Triangulis (editing and editing), 1596 (original manuscript here http://www.bl.uk/manuscripts/FullDisplay.aspx?ref=Harley_MS_1720 )
• De triangulis globi sine angulo recto libri quinque

literature

• Walter Friedensburg : History of the University of Wittenberg . Max Niemeyer, Halle (Saale) 1917,
• Heinz Kathe : The Wittenberg Philosophical Faculty 1502–1817 (= Central German Research. Volume 117). Böhlau, Cologne / Weimar / Vienna 2002, ISBN 3-412-04402-4 .
• Wilhelm Kühlmann: Germany and Hungary in their educational and scientific relations during the Reniccance. Franz Steiner Verlag, 2004, ISBN 3-515-08551-3

Web links

• Cantor, Moritz: Lectures on the History of Mathematics 1550-1600 Chapter 68 (PDF; 507 kB)
• Wilhelm Kühlmann, Anton Schindling, Wolfram Hauer (eds.): Germany and Hungary in their educational and scientific relations during the Renaissance (=  Contubernium. Tubinger contributions to the history of the university and science . Volume 62 ). Franz Steiner Verlag, Stuttgart 2004, ISBN 3-515-08551-3 , pp. 200–223 ( limited preview in Google Book search).
• CJ Gerhardt: History of the Sciences in Germany Vol. 17 History of Mathematics in Germany P. 92–93 Online