Bartholomaeus Pitiscus
Encyclopedia
- "Pitiscus" redirects here. For the crater, see Pitiscus (crater)Pitiscus (crater)Pitiscus is a lunar impact crater that lies in the southern part of the Moon's near side, just to the northwest of the larger crater Hommel. The crater is worn, but still forms a prominent feature upon the surface. The rim is roughly circular, but appears oval from the Earth due to foreshortening....
. For the scholar, see Samuel PitiscusSamuel PitiscusSamuel Pitiscus was a classical scholar from Zutphen.He revised Rosinus' work on Roman antiquities, publishing his Lexicon antiquitatum romanarum. He was a nephew of Bartholomaeus Pitiscus....
.
Bartholomaeus Pitiscus (also Barthélemy, Bartholomeo, August 24, 1561 – July 2, 1613) was a 16th century German
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
trigonometrist
Trigonometry
Trigonometry is a branch of mathematics that studies triangles and the relationships between their sides and the angles between these sides. Trigonometry defines the trigonometric functions, which describe those relationships and have applicability to cyclical phenomena, such as waves...
, astronomer
Astronomy
Astronomy is a natural science that deals with the study of celestial objects and phenomena that originate outside the atmosphere of Earth...
and theologian
Theology
Theology is the systematic and rational study of religion and its influences and of the nature of religious truths, or the learned profession acquired by completing specialized training in religious studies, usually at a university or school of divinity or seminary.-Definition:Augustine of Hippo...
who first coined the word Trigonometry
Trigonometry
Trigonometry is a branch of mathematics that studies triangles and the relationships between their sides and the angles between these sides. Trigonometry defines the trigonometric functions, which describe those relationships and have applicability to cyclical phenomena, such as waves...
.
Pitiscus was born to poor parents in Grünberg
Zielona Góra
Zielona Góra is a city in Lubusz Voivodeship, in western Poland, with 117,557 inhabitants within the city limits and 294,000 inhabitants within the metropolitan area, including three neighbouring counties ....
(Zielona Góra) in Lower Silesia
Lower Silesia
Lower Silesia ; is the northwestern part of the historical and geographical region of Silesia; Upper Silesia is to the southeast.Throughout its history Lower Silesia has been under the control of the medieval Kingdom of Poland, the Kingdom of Bohemia and the Austrian Habsburg Monarchy from 1526...
, the part of Austrian-ruled Duchy of Glogau (Głogów). He studied theology in Zerbst
Zerbst
Zerbst is a town in the district of Anhalt-Bitterfeld, in Saxony-Anhalt, Germany. Until the administrative reform of 2007, Zerbst was the capital of the Anhalt-Zerbst district. Since the 1 January 2010 local government reform, Zerbst has about 24,000 inhabitants.It is not clear when was it founded;...
and Heidelberg. A Calvinist, he was appointed to teach the ten year-old Frederick IV, Elector Palatine
Frederick IV, Elector Palatine
Frederick IV, Elector Palatine of the Rhine , only surviving son of Louis VI, Elector Palatine and Elisabeth of Hesse, called "Frederick the Righteous" .-Life:Born in Amberg, his father died in October 1583 and...
of the Rhine, by Frederick's Calvinist uncle Johann Casimir of Simmern
Johann Casimir of Simmern
John Casimir of the Palatinate-Simmern was a German prince and a younger son of Elector Frederick III, Count Palatine of the Rhine. A firm Calvinist, he was a leader of mercenary troops in the religious wars of the time, including the Dutch Revolt...
, as Frederick's father had died in 1583. Pitiscus was subsequently appointed court chaplain
Chaplain
Traditionally, a chaplain is a minister in a specialized setting such as a priest, pastor, rabbi, or imam or lay representative of a religion attached to a secular institution such as a hospital, prison, military unit, police department, university, or private chapel...
at Breslau (Wrocław) and court preacher to Frederick. Pitiscus supported Frederick's subsequent measures against the Roman Catholic Church
Roman Catholic Church
The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the world's largest Christian church, with over a billion members. Led by the Pope, it defines its mission as spreading the gospel of Jesus Christ, administering the sacraments and exercising charity...
.
Pitiscus achieved fame with his influential work written in Latin, called Trigonometria: sive de solutione triangulorum tractatus brevis et perspicuus (1595, first edition printed in Heidelberg
Heidelberg
-Early history:Between 600,000 and 200,000 years ago, "Heidelberg Man" died at nearby Mauer. His jaw bone was discovered in 1907; with scientific dating, his remains were determined to be the earliest evidence of human life in Europe. In the 5th century BC, a Celtic fortress of refuge and place of...
), which introduced the word "trigonometry" to the English and French languages, translations of which had appeared in 1614 and 1619, respectively. It consists of five books on plane and spherical trigonometry. Pitiscus is sometimes credited with inventing the decimal point, the symbol separating integers from decimal fractions, which appears in his trigonometrical tables and was subsequently accepted by John Napier
John Napier
John Napier of Merchiston – also signed as Neper, Nepair – named Marvellous Merchiston, was a Scottish mathematician, physicist, astronomer & astrologer, and also the 8th Laird of Merchistoun. He was the son of Sir Archibald Napier of Merchiston. John Napier is most renowned as the discoverer...
in his logarithmic papers (1614 and 1619).
Pitiscus edited Thesaurus mathematicus (1613) in which he improved the trigonometric tables of Georg Joachim Rheticus
Georg Joachim Rheticus
Georg Joachim von Lauchen, also known as Rheticus , was a mathematician, cartographer, navigational-instrument maker, medical practitioner, and teacher. He is perhaps best known for his trigonometric tables and as Nicolaus Copernicus's sole pupil...
and also corrected Rheticus’ Magnus Canon doctrinæ triangulorum.
Pitiscus died in Heidelberg
Heidelberg
-Early history:Between 600,000 and 200,000 years ago, "Heidelberg Man" died at nearby Mauer. His jaw bone was discovered in 1907; with scientific dating, his remains were determined to be the earliest evidence of human life in Europe. In the 5th century BC, a Celtic fortress of refuge and place of...
. The lunar crater Pitiscus
Pitiscus (crater)
Pitiscus is a lunar impact crater that lies in the southern part of the Moon's near side, just to the northwest of the larger crater Hommel. The crater is worn, but still forms a prominent feature upon the surface. The rim is roughly circular, but appears oval from the Earth due to foreshortening....
is named after him.
The classical scholar Samuel Pitiscus
Samuel Pitiscus
Samuel Pitiscus was a classical scholar from Zutphen.He revised Rosinus' work on Roman antiquities, publishing his Lexicon antiquitatum romanarum. He was a nephew of Bartholomaeus Pitiscus....
(1637-1727) was his nephew.
Literature
- S. Gottwald, H.-J. Ilgauds, K.-H. Schlote (Hrsg.): Lexikon bedeutender Mathematiker. Verlag Harri Thun, Frankfurt a. M. 1990 ISBN 3-8171-1164-9
External links
- Biography MacTutor History of Mathematics archive
- Allgemeine Deutsche Biographie Allgemeine Deutsche BiographieAllgemeine Deutsche Biographie is one of the most important and most comprehensive biographical reference works in the German language....
:de:s:ADB:Pitiscus, Bartholomaeus