Maurolico, Francis

, a celebrated Italian mathematician, was born in 1494 at Messina, where he afterwards taught mathematics with great success. In that employment he was particularly admired, for the astonishing clearness with which he expressed himself, making the most difficult questions easy, by the manner in which he explained them. He had a penetrating mind, and a prodigious memory. He was abbe of Santa Maria del Porto, in Sicily; but, as mathematicians in his time were generally supposed to be able to read the stars, he could not resist the temptation of assuming to himself such powers; and delivered some predictions to don Juan of Austria, for which, as he happened to guess rightly, he obtained the credit of being a prophet, besides considerable rewards. He died July 21, 1575, at the age of eightyone. His principal works are, 1. An edition of the “Spherics of Theodosius,” 1558, folio. 2. “Emendatio et restitutio Conicorum Apollonii Pergasi,” 1654, folio. 3. “Archimedis monumenta omnia,” 1685, folio. 4. “Euclidis phenomena,” Rome, 1591, 4 to. 5. “Martyrologium, 1566, 4to. 6.” Sinicarum rerum Compendium.“7. Also, in 1552,” Rimes,“in 8vo. He published also, 8.” Opuscula Mathematica,“1575, 4to. 9.” Arithmeticorum libri duo," 1575. These, with a few more, form the list of his works, most of which are upon subjects of a similar nature. ²