Fotothek df tg 0004503 Geometrie ^ Trigonometrie

Bartholomaeus Pitiscus (also ''Barthélemy'' or ''Bartholomeo''; August 24, 1561 – July 2, 1613) was a 16th-century

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) ** Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ge ...

trigonometrist,

astronomer An astronomer is a scientist in the field of astronomy who focuses their studies on a specific question or field outside the scope of Earth. They observe astronomical objects such as stars, planets, moons, comets and galaxies – in either ...

and

theologian Theology is the systematic study of the nature of the divine and, more broadly, of religious belief. It is taught as an academic discipline, typically in universities and seminaries. It occupies itself with the unique content of analyzing the ...

who first coined the word ''

trigonometry Trigonometry () is a branch of mathematics that studies relationships between side lengths and angles of triangles. The field emerged in the Hellenistic world during the 3rd century BC from applications of geometry to astronomical studies ...

''.

Biography

Pitiscus was born to poor parents in Grünberg (now Zielona Góra, Poland), then part of the Duchy of Glogau/Głogów, one of the Habsburg-ruled

Duchies of Silesia The Duchies of Silesia were the more than twenty divisions of the region of Silesia formed between the 12th and 14th centuries by the breakup of the Duchy of Silesia, then part of the Kingdom of Poland. In 1335, the duchies were ceded to the Kin ...

. He studied theology in

Zerbst Zerbst () is a town in the district of Anhalt-Bitterfeld, in Saxony-Anhalt, Germany. Until an administrative reform in 2007, Zerbst was the capital of the former Anhalt-Zerbst district. Geography Zerbst is situated in the Anhalt-Wittenberg regi ...

and

Heidelberg Heidelberg (; Palatine German language, Palatine German: ''Heidlberg'') is a city in the States of Germany, German state of Baden-Württemberg, situated on the river Neckar in south-west Germany. As of the 2016 census, its population was 159,914 ...

. A

Calvinist Calvinism (also called the Reformed Tradition, Reformed Protestantism, Reformed Christianity, or simply Reformed) is a major branch of Protestantism that follows the theological tradition and forms of Christian practice set down by John Ca ...

, he was appointed to teach the ten-year-old

Frederick IV, Elector Palatine Frederick IV, Elector Palatine of the Rhine (german: Kurfürst Friedrich IV. von der Pfalz; 5 March 1574 – 19 September 1610), only surviving son of Louis VI, Elector Palatine and Elisabeth of Hesse, called "Frederick the Righteous" (german: ...

of the Rhine, by Frederick's Calvinist uncle

Johann Casimir of Simmern John Casimir, Count Palatine of Simmern (German: ''Johann Casimir von Pfalz-Simmern'') (7 March 1543 – Brockhaus Geschichte Second Edition) was a German prince and a younger son of Frederick III, Elector Palatine. A firm Calvinist, he was a lead ...

, as Frederick's father had died in 1583. Pitiscus was subsequently appointed court chaplain at Breslau (Wrocław) and court preacher to Frederick. Pitiscus supported Frederick's subsequent measures against the

Roman Catholic Church The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

. 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

), which introduced the word ''trigonometry'' to the English and French languages, translations into which had appeared in 1614 and 1619, respectively. It consists of five books on

plane Plane(s) most often refers to: * Aero- or airplane, a powered, fixed-wing aircraft * Plane (geometry), a flat, 2-dimensional surface Plane or planes may also refer to: Biology * Plane (tree) or ''Platanus'', wetland native plant * ''Planes' ...

and

spherical trigonometry Spherical trigonometry is the branch of spherical geometry that deals with the metrical relationships between the sides and angles of spherical triangles, traditionally expressed using trigonometric functions. On the sphere, geodesics are grea ...

. Pitiscus is sometimes credited with inventing the

decimal point A decimal separator is a symbol used to separate the integer part from the fractional part of a number written in decimal form (e.g., "." in 12.45). Different countries officially designate different symbols for use as the separator. The choi ...

, the symbol separating integers from decimal fractions, which appears in his trigonometrical tables and was subsequently accepted by

John Napier John Napier of Merchiston (; 1 February 1550 – 4 April 1617), nicknamed Marvellous Merchiston, was a Scottish landowner known as a mathematician, physicist, and astronomer. He was the 8th Laird of Merchiston. His Latinized name was Ioan ...

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 de Porris, also known as Rheticus ( /ˈrɛtɪkəs/; 16 February 1514 – 5 December 1576), was a mathematician, astronomer, cartographer, navigational-instrument maker, medical practitioner, and teacher. He is perhaps best known for ...

and also corrected Rheticus’s ''Magnus Canon doctrinæ triangulorum''.Reconstruction of Pitiscus' tables
Pitiscus died in

. The

lunar crater Lunar craters are impact craters on Earth's Moon. The Moon's surface has many craters, all of which were formed by impacts. The International Astronomical Union currently recognizes 9,137 craters, of which 1,675 have been dated. History The wor ...

Pitiscus is named after him. The classical scholar Samuel Pitiscus (1637–1727) was his nephew.

Works

Notes

References

* S. Gottwald, H.-J. Ilgauds, K.-H. Schlote (Hrsg.): ''Lexikon bedeutender Mathematiker''. Verlag Harri Thun, Frankfurt a. M. 1990

External links

* * Allgemeine Deutsche Biographie :de:s:ADB:Pitiscus, Bartholomaeus {{DEFAULTSORT:Pitiscus, Bartholomaeus 1561 births 1613 deaths People from Austrian Silesia 16th-century German astronomers 16th-century German mathematicians 17th-century German mathematicians German Calvinist and Reformed ministers People from Zielona Góra 16th-century German writers 16th-century German male writers 17th-century German writers 17th-century German male writers