Conrad Dasypodius (1532 – 26 April 1600) was a professor of

mathematics Mathematics is an area of knowledge that includes the topics of numbers, formulas and related structures, shapes and the spaces in which they are contained, and quantities and their changes. These topics are represented in modern mathematics ...

Strasbourg Strasbourg (, , ; german: Straßburg ; gsw, label=Bas Rhin Alsatian, Strossburi , gsw, label=Haut Rhin Alsatian, Strossburig ) is the prefecture and largest city of the Grand Est region of eastern France and the official seat of the Eu ...

Alsace Alsace (, ; ; Low Alemannic German/ gsw-FR, Elsàss ; german: Elsass ; la, Alsatia) is a cultural region and a territorial collectivity in eastern France, on the west bank of the upper Rhine next to Germany and Switzerland. In 2020, it had ...

. He was born in

Frauenfeld Frauenfeld (Alemannic: ''Frauefäld'') is the capital of the canton of Thurgau in Switzerland. The official language of Frauenfeld is (the Swiss variety of Standard) German, but the main spoken language is the local variant of the Alemannic Sw ...

Thurgau Thurgau (; french: Thurgovie; it, Turgovia), anglicized as Thurgovia, more formally the Canton of Thurgau, is one of the 26 cantons forming the Swiss Confederation. It is composed of five districts and its capital is Frauenfeld. Thurgau is part ...

Switzerland ). Swiss law does not designate a ''capital'' as such, but the federal parliament and government are installed in Bern, while other federal institutions, such as the federal courts, are in other cities (Bellinzona, Lausanne, Luzern, Neuchâtel ...

. His first name was also rendered as Konrad or Conradus or Cunradus, and his last name has been alternatively stated as Rauchfuss, Rauchfuß, and Hasenfratz. He was the son of

Petrus Dasypodius Petrus Dasypodius (''Peter Hasenfratz'', ca. 1495–1559) was a Swiss humanist. Born in Frauenfeld, he was a teacher and pastor in Zürich from 1527. Due to the Swiss Reformation, he was forced to move back to Frauenfeld in 1530. In 1533, he went ...

(Peter Hasenfuss) (1490–1559, or ''Peter Hasenfratz''), a

humanist Humanism is a philosophical stance that emphasizes the individual and social potential and agency of human beings. It considers human beings the starting point for serious moral and philosophical inquiry. The meaning of the term "humani ...

and

lexicographer Lexicography is the study of lexicons, and is divided into two separate academic disciplines. It is the art of compiling dictionaries. * Practical lexicography is the art or craft of compiling, writing and editing dictionaries. * Theoreti ...

. In 1564, Dasypodius edited various parts of the ''Elements'' of

Euclid Euclid (; grc-gre, Wikt:Εὐκλείδης, Εὐκλείδης; BC) was an ancient Greek mathematician active as a geometer and logician. Considered the "father of geometry", he is chiefly known for the ''Euclid's Elements, Elements'' trea ...

. In the preface, he says that for 26 years it had been the rule at his school that all who were promoted from the classes to public lectures should learn Book I of the ''Elements'', but there were no longer any copies to be had so he was bringing out a new edition so as to maintain a good and fruitful regulation of his school. In 1568, Dasypodius published a work about the heliocentric theory of

Nicolaus Copernicus Nicolaus Copernicus (; pl, Mikołaj Kopernik; gml, Niklas Koppernigk, german: Nikolaus Kopernikus; 19 February 1473 – 24 May 1543) was a Renaissance polymath, active as a mathematician, astronomer, and Catholic Church, Catholic cano ...

, ''Hypotyposes orbium coelestium congruentes cum tabulis Alfonsinis et Copernici seu etiam tabulis Prutenicis editae a Cunrado Dasypodio''. It is unclear whether Dasypodius was a heliocentrist himself or rather followed the "

Wittenberg Wittenberg ( , ; Low Saxon language, Low Saxon: ''Wittenbarg''; meaning ''White Mountain''; officially Lutherstadt Wittenberg (''Luther City Wittenberg'')), is the fourth largest town in Saxony-Anhalt, Germany. Wittenberg is situated on the Ri ...

interpretation." Dasypodius designed an

astronomical clock An astronomical clock, horologium, or orloj is a clock with special mechanisms and dials to display astronomical information, such as the relative positions of the Sun, Moon, zodiacal constellations, and sometimes major planets. Definition ...

for the

Strasbourg Cathedral Strasbourg Cathedral or the Cathedral of Our Lady of Strasbourg (french: Cathédrale Notre-Dame de Strasbourg, or ''Cathédrale de Strasbourg'', german: Liebfrauenmünster zu Straßburg or ''Straßburger Münster''), also known as Strasbourg ...

; that clock was built in 1572-1574 by Isaac Habrecht and

Josia Habrecht ''Josia'' is a genus of moths of the family Notodontidae Notodontidae is a family of moths with approximately 3,800 known species. The family was described by James Francis Stephens in 1829. Moths of this family are found in all parts of the w ...

. This monumental clock represented the synthesis of the most advanced scientific knowledge of the era, in the domains of astronomy, mathematics, and physics. That mechanism remained in the Cathedral until 1842, when it was replaced by a clock built by Jean Baptiste Schwilgué. Dasypodius translated writings of

Hero of Alexandria Hero of Alexandria (; grc-gre, Ἥρων ὁ Ἀλεξανδρεύς, ''Heron ho Alexandreus'', also known as Heron of Alexandria ; 60 AD) was a Greece, Greek mathematician and engineer who was active in his native city of Alexandria, Roman Egy ...

from Greek into Latin: one source says it was Hero's ''Automata''; but more likely it was the ''Mechanica''. Dasypodius died in

Works

Peucer - Hypotyposes orbium coelestium, 1568 - 144757

*''Euclidis Catoptrica'' (1557
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*''Euclidis quindecim elementorum geometriae secundum'' (1564
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*''Propositiones reliquorum librorum geometriae Euclidis'' (1564
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*(collaboration with Christianus Herlinus) ''Analysis geometriæ sex librórum Euclidis'' (1566), impr. J. Richelius, Strassburg
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*
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*''Eukleidu Stoicheiōn to Prōton'' (1570
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*''Mathematicum, complectens praecepta'' (1570
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*''Eukleidu Protaseis'' (1570
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*''Euclidis elementorum liber primus'' (1571
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*''Sphæricæ doctrinæ propositiones Græcæ et latinæ : Theodosi de sphæra libri III, De habitationibus liber, de Diebus et noctibus libri II. Autolici de sphæra mobili liber. De ortu et occasu stellarum libri II...'' (1572), impr. Christian Mylius, Strasbour
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*''Lexicon seu dictionarium mathematicum'' (1573) (8 vol. 4). *''Kalender oder Laaßbüchlein sampt der Schreibtafel, Mässen vnd Jarmärckren auff das M.D.LXXIIII. Jar'' (1573) (we don't know if it has been written by Dasypodius) *''Brevis et succincta descriptio Corporis luminosi, Quod Nunc Aliqvot Mensibvs Apparvit'' (157

*''Ein Richtiger vnd kurtzer Bericht über den WunderSternen/ oder besondern Cometen/ so nůn manche Monatszeit/ diß 72. vnd 73. Jar zů sonderem Warnungszeichen diser letzsten zeit ist erschienen: sehr fruchtbarlich mit seinem Prognostico zůbetrachten'' (157

* *''Wahrhafftige Außlegung des astronomischen Uhrwerks zu Straßburg'' (1578
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*''Brevis doctrina de cometis & cometarum effectibus'' (1578)
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*''Von Cometen und ihrer würckung'' (157

*''In Cl. Ptolemaei de astrorum iudiciis'' (1578
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*''Lexicon mathematicum'' (1579
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*''Isaaci Monachi Scholia In Evclidis Elementorvm Geometriae'' (1579
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*''Oratio Cunradi Dasypodii de disciplinis mathematicis...'' (1579) impr. Nicolaus Wyriot, Strasbourg (1 vol. in-8°) *''Wahrhafftige Außlegung und Beschreybung des astronomischen Uhrwerks zu Straßburg'' (1580
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*''Heron mechanicus'' (1580)
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*''Protheoria Mathematica'' (1593
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*''Institvtionvm Mathematicarvm Volvminis Primi'' (1593
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*''Institvtionvm Mathematicarvm Volvminis Primi Appendix'' (1596
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Notes

References

External links

Oratio...de Disciplinis Mathematicis

{{DEFAULTSORT:Dasypodius, Conrad 1532 births 1600 deaths People from Frauenfeld 16th-century Swiss mathematicians People from Alsace 16th-century Swiss astronomers 16th-century Swiss writers