, an eminent astronomer, was born of noble parents, at a town in
, an eminent astronomer, was born of noble parents, at a town in Piedmont in Italy, June 8, 1635. After he had laid a proper foundation in his studies at home, he was sent to continue them in a college of Jesuits at Genoa. He had an uncommon turn for Latin poetry, which he exercised so very early, that poems of his were published when he was but eleven years old. At length he fell in with books of astronomy, which he read with great eagerness; and feeling a strong propensity to proceed farther in that science, in a short time he made so amazing a progress, that, in 1650, the senate of Bologna invited him to be their public methematical professor. He was not more than fifteen years of age when he went to Bologna, where he taught mathematics, and made observations upon the heavens with great care and assiduity. In 1652 a comet appeared, which he observed with great accuracy; and discovered, that comets were not bodies accidentally generated in the atmosphere, as had usually been supposed, but of the same nature, and probably governed by the same laws, as the planets. The same year he solved an astronomical problem, which Kepler and Bullialdus had given up as insolvable; viz. to determine geometrically the apogee and eccentricity of a planet from its true and mean place. In 1653, when a church of Bologna was repaired and enlarged, he obtained leave of the senate to correct and settle a meridian line, which had been drawn by an astronomer in 1575. These were circumstances very remarkable in one who had not yet attained his twentieth year. In 1657 he attended, as an assistant, a nobleman, who was sent to Rome to compose some differences which had arisen between Bologna and Ferrara, from the inundations of the Po; and shewed so much skill and judgment in the management of that affair, that in 1663, Marius Chigi, brother of pope Alexander VII. appointed him inspector-general of the fortifications of the castle of Urbino; and he had afterwards committed to him the care of all the rivers in the ecclesiastical state.
, an eminent astronomer, was born at Thorn in Prussia, January 19,
, an eminent astronomer, was born at Thorn in Prussia, January 19, 1473. His father was a stranger, but from what part of Europe is unknown. He settled here as a merchant, and the archives of the city prove that he obtained the freedom of Thorn in 1462. It seems clear that he must have been in opulent circumstances, and of consideration, not only from the liberal education which he bestowed upon his son, but from the rank of his wife, the sister of Luca Watzelrode, bishop of Ermeland, a prelate descended from one of the most illustrious families of Polish Prussia. Nicholas was instructed in the Latin and Greek languages at home; and afterward sent to Cracow, where he studied philosophy, mathematics, and medicine: though his genius was naturally turned to mathematics, which he chiefly studied, and pursued through all its various branches. He set out for Italy at twenty-three years of age; stopping at Bologna, that he might converse with the celebrated astronomer of that place, Dominic Maria, whom he assisted for some time in making his observations. From hence he passed to Rome, where he was presently considered as not inferior to the famous Regiomontanus. Here he soon acquired so great a reputation, that he was chosen professor of mathematics, which he taught there for a long time with the greatest applause and here also he made some astronomical observations about the year 1500.
of earthquakes; and because he speaks of the great bear as never touching the horizon, he makes him an eminent astronomer. The truth is, the knowledge of nature, which
Homer had the most sublime and universal genius that
the world has ever seen; and though it is an extravagance
of enthusiasm to say, as some of the Greeks did, that all
knowledge may be found in his writings, no man penetrated deeper into the feelings and passions of humaa
nature. He represents great things with such sublimity, and
inferior objects with such propriety, that he always makes
the one admirable, and the other pleasing. Strabo, whose
authority in geography is indisputable, assures us, that
Homer has described the places and countries, of which he
gives an account, with such accuracy, that no man can
imagine who has not seen them, and no man can observe
without admiration and astonishment. Nothing, however,
can be more absurd, than the attempts of some critics,
who have possessed more learning and science than taste,
to rest the merit of Homer upon the extent of his knowledge. An ancient encomiast upon Homer proves him to
have possessed a perfect knowledge of nature, and to have
been the author of the doctrine of Thales and Xenophanes,
that water is the first principle of all things, from his having called Oceanus the parent of nature; and infers, that
he was acquainted with Empedocles’ doctrine of friendship
end discord, from the visit which Juno pays to Oceanus
and Thetis to settle their dispute: because Homer represents Neptune as shaking the earth, he concludes him to
have been well acquainted with the causes of earthquakes;
and because he speaks of the great bear as never touching
the horizon, he makes him an eminent astronomer. The
truth is, the knowledge of nature, which poetry describes,
is very different from that which belongs to the philosopher.
It would be easy to prove, from the beautiful similes of
Homer, that he was an accurate observer of natural appearances; and to show from his delineation of characters,
that he was intimately acquainted with human nature. But
he is not, on this account, to be ranked with natural philosophers or moralists. Much pains have been taken to
prove, that Homer expresses just and sublime conceptions
of the divine nature. And it will be acknowledged, that,
in some passages, he speaks of Jupiter in language which
may not improperly be applied to the Supreme Deity. But,
if the whole fable of Jupiter, as it is represented in Homer,
be fairly examined, it will be very evident, either that he
had not just conceptions of the divine nature, or that he
did not mean to express them in the portrait which he has
drawn of the son of Saturn, the husband of Juno, and the
president of the council of Olympus. It would surely have
been too great a monopoly of perfection, if the first poet in
the world had also been the first philosopher.
Homer has had his enemies; and it is certain, that Plato
banished his writings from his commonwealth; but lest this
should be thought a blemish upon the memory of the poet,
we are told that the true reason was, because he did not
esteem the common people to be capable readers of them.
They would be apt to pervert his meaning, and have wrong
notions of God and religion, by taking his bold and beautiful allegories in a literal sense. Plato frequently declares,
that he loves and admires him as the best, the most pleasant, and divine of all poets, and studiously imitates his
figurative and mystical way of writing: and though he
forbad his works to be read in public, yet he would never
be without them in his closet. But the most memorable
enemy to the merits of Homer was Zoilus, a snarling critic, who frequented the court of Ptolemy Philadelphus,
king of Egypt, and wrote ill-natured notes upon his poems,
but received no encouragement from that prince; on the
contrary, he became universally despised for his pains, and
was at length put, as some say, to a most miserable death.
It is said that though Homer’s poems were at first published all in one piece, and not divided into books, yet
every one not being able to purchase them entire, they
were circulated in separate pieces; and each of those
pieces took its name from the contents, as, “The Battle
of the Ships;
” “The Death of Dolon;
” “The Valour of
Agamemnon;
” “The Grot of Calypso;
” “The Slaughter
of the Wooers,
” &c. nor were these entitled books, but
rhapsodies, as they were afterwards called, when they were
divided into books. Homer’s poems were not known entire in Greece before the time of Lycurgus; whither that
law-giver being in Ionia carried them, after he had taken
the pains to transcribe them from perfect copies with his
own hands. This may be called the first edition of Homer
that appeared in Greece, and the time of its appearing
there was about 120 years before Rome was built, that is,
about 200 years after the time of Homer. It has been said,
that the “Iliad
” and “Odyssey
” were not composed by
Homer in their present form, but only in separate little
poems, which being put together and connected afterwards
by some other person, make the entire works they now appear; but this is so extravagant a conceit that it scarceJy
deserves to be mentioned.
, an eminent astronomer, was born at Longomontum, a town in Denmark,
, an eminent astronomer, was born at Longomontum, a town in Denmark,
whence he took his name, in 1562. Vossius, by mistake,
calls him Christopher. He was the son of Severinus, a
poor labourer, and was obliged to divide his time between
following the plow and attending to the lessons which the
minister of the parish gave him, by which he profited so
much as to acquire considerable knowledge, especially in
the mathematics. At length, when he was fifteen, he
stole from his family, and went to Wiburg, where there
was a college, in which he spent eleven years, supporting
himself by his talents: and on his removing thence to
Copenhagen, the professors of this university soon conceived a high esteem for him, and recommended him
to Tycho Brahe, who received him very kindly. He lived
eight years with this eminent astronomer, and assisted him
so much in his observations and calculations, that Tycho
conceived a very particular affection for him, and having
left his native country to settle in Germany, he was desirous of having the company of Longomontanus, who accordingly attended him. Afterwards being, in 1600, desirous of a professor’s chair in Denmark, Tycho generously
consented to give up his assistant and friend, with the
highest testimonies of his merit, and supplied him plentifully with money for his journey. On his return to Denmark, he deviated from his road, in order to view the
places whence Copernicus had made his astronomical
observations; and passed so much time in this journey, that
it was not till 1605 that he was nominated to the professorship of mathematics in the university of Copenhagen. In
this situation he continued till his death, in 1647, when
he was eighty-five years old. He married, and had children; but the whole of his family died before him. He
was the author of several works, in mathematics and astronomy. His “Astronomia Danica,
” first printed in Christianus Longomontanus
Severini films.
”
, an eminent astronomer and mathematician, the son of Edmund Maskelyne,
, an eminent astronomer and mathematician, the son of Edmund Maskelyne, esq. of Purton, in Wiltshire, was born at London in 1732, and educated at Westminster school, where he made a distinguished progress in classical learning. Before he left school his studies appear to have been determined to astronomy by his accidentally seeing the memorable solar eclipse of 1748, exhibited through a large telescope in a camera obscura. From this period he applied himself with ardour to astronomy and optics, and as a necessary preparation, turned his attention to geometry and algebra, the elements of which he learned in a few months without the help of a master. In 1749 he entered of Catherine hall, Cambridge, but soon after removed to Trinity college, where he pursued his favourite studies with increased success; and on taking his degree of B. A. in 1754, received distinguished honours from the university. He took his degrees of A.M. in 1757, B. D. in 1768, and D. D. in 1777. Being admitted into holy orders he officiated for some time as curate of Barnet; and in 1756 became a fellow of his college.
, an eminent astronomer and mathematician, was born at Salfeldt in
, an eminent astronomer and
mathematician, was born at Salfeldt in Thuringia, a province in Upper Saxony, the llth of October, 1511. H^
studied mathematics under James Milichi at Wittemberg,
in which university he afterwards became professor of those
sciences, which he taught with great applause. After
writing a number of useful and learned works, he died
February 19, 1553, at 42 years of age only. His writings
are chiefly the following: 1. “Theorize novae Planetarum
G. Purbachii,
” augmented and illustrated with diagrams
and Scholia in 8vo, 1542; and again in 1580. In this
work, among other things worthy of notice, he teaches (p. 75 and 76) that the centre of the lunar epicycle describes
an ovalfgure in each monthly period, and that the or hit
of Mercury is also of the same oval figure. 2. “Ptolomy’s
Almagest,
” the first book, in Greek, with a Latin version,
and Scholia, explaining the more obscure passages, 1549,
8vo. At the end of p. 123 he promises an edition of
Theon’s Commentaries, which are wry useful for understanding Ptolomy’s meaning; but his immature death prevented Reinhold from giving this and other works which he
had projected. 3. “Prutenicse Tabulae Ccelestiurn Motuum,
” Primus
liber Tabularum Directionum
” to which are added, the
“Canon Fcecundus,
” or Table of Tangents, to every
minute of the quadrant and New Tables of Climates, Parallels, and Shadows, with an Appendix containing the
second Book of the Canon of Directions; 1554, 4to.
Reinhold here supplies what was omitted by Regiomontanus in his Table of Directions, &c.; shewing the finding
of the sines, and the construction of the tangents, the sines
being found to every minute of the quadrant, to the radius 10,000,000; and he produced the Oblique Ascensions
from 60 degrees to the end of the quadrant. He teaches
also the use of these tables in the solution of spherical
problems.