Regiomontanus

(rē'jēōmŏn'tā`nəs) [Lat.,=belonging to the royal mountain, i.e., to Königsberg], 1436–76, German astronomer and mathematician, b. Königsberg. His original name was Johannes Müller. In 1461 he went to Rome with Cardinal Bessarion and learned Greek in order to translate Greek writings. In 1468 he was called to the court of the king of Hungary to make a collection of Greek manuscripts, and three years later he settled at Nuremberg, where, with his pupil and patron, Bernhard Walther, he established an observatory and a printing press. Among other works they published the Ephemerides for the years 1474–1506, calculated by Regiomontanus, and Georg von Purbach's Theoricae planetarum novae. Summoned by Pope Sixtus IV, Regiomontanus went to Rome in 1475 to assist in reforming the calendar and was made bishop of Regensburg. He died in Rome. He made improved instruments, both mathematical and astronomical, introduced algebra into Germany, and did much to further trigonometry.

A sixteenth-century wood engraving of Ptolemy’s system called “Regiomontanus.” Reproduced by permission of Fortean Picture Library.

Regiomontanus (Johann Müller)

(religion, spiritualism, and occult)

Regiomontanus (born Johann Müller), a German astronomer and astrologer, was born on June 6, 1436, in Königsberg, Germany. He established an observatory at Nuremberg, where he observed Halley’s comet. Regiomontanus also published ephemerides (tables of planetary positions) that were used by, among other people, Christopher Columbus. He was brought to Rome by Pope Sixtus IV to help devise the calendar. Regiomontanus was also the translator of Ptolemy’s Almagest. He died in Rome on July 6, 1476. He is best remembered by astrologers for the system of house division that bears his name.

Regiomontanus

(pseudonym of Johann Müller). Born June 6, 1436, in Königsberg, Franconia (then a part of Germany); died July 6, 1476, in Rome. German astronomer and mathematician. Student of G. Purbach.

Regiomontanus lived in Italy from 1461 to 1468, studying the works of the Greek mathematicians and astronomers. From 1468 to 1471 he was a professor at the University of Vienna. In 1471 he settled in Nuremberg, where an astronomical observatory, a workshop for the construction of astronomical instruments, and a printing press were built for him. In 1475 he moved to Rome at the invitation of the pope to participate in research on calendar reform.

REFERENCES

Berry, A. Kratkaia istoriia astronomii, 2nd ed. Moscow-Leningrad, 1946. (Translated from English.)
Cantor, M. Vorlesungen über Geschichte der Mathematik, vol. 2. Leipzig, 1913.

Regiomontanus

original name Johann M?ller. 1436--76, German mathematician and astronomer, who furthered the development of trigonometry

Regiomontanus

Re·gi·o·mon·ta·nus

Regiomontanus

Regiomontanus

Regiomontanus

Regiomontanus (Johann Müller)

Regiomontanus

REFERENCES

Regiomontanus

Regiomontanus

Synonyms for Regiomontanus

noun German mathematician and astronomer (1436-1476)

Synonyms