Christen Sørensen Longomontanus
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Christen Sørensen Longomontanus (also as Longberg or Severin) (4 October 1562 – 8 October 1647) was a
Danish Danish may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to the country of Denmark People * A national or citizen of Denmark, also called a "Dane," see Demographics of Denmark * Culture of Denmark * Danish people or Danes, people with a Danish ance ...
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, natural satellite, moons, comets and galaxy, g ...
. The name Longomontanus was a
Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...
ized form of the name of the village of Lomborg,
Jutland Jutland ( da, Jylland ; german: Jütland ; ang, Ēota land ), known anciently as the Cimbric or Cimbrian Peninsula ( la, Cimbricus Chersonesus; da, den Kimbriske Halvø, links=no or ; german: Kimbrische Halbinsel, links=no), is a peninsula of ...
,
Denmark ) , song = ( en, "King Christian stood by the lofty mast") , song_type = National and royal anthem , image_map = EU-Denmark.svg , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Danish Realm, Kingdom of Denmark ...
, where he was born. His father, a laborer called Søren, or Severin, died when Christen was eight years old. An uncle took charge of the child, and had him educated at Lemvig; but after three years sent him back to his mother, who needed his help to work the fields. She agreed that he could study during the winter months with the clergyman of the parish; this arrangement continued until 1577, when the ill-will of some of his relatives and his own desire for knowledge caused him to run away to Viborg. There he attended the
grammar school A grammar school is one of several different types of school in the history of education in the United Kingdom and other English-speaking countries, originally a school teaching Latin, but more recently an academically oriented secondary school ...
, working as a labourer to pay his expenses, and in 1588 went to
Copenhagen Copenhagen ( or .; da, København ) is the capital and most populous city of Denmark, with a proper population of around 815.000 in the last quarter of 2022; and some 1.370,000 in the urban area; and the wider Copenhagen metropolitan ar ...
with a high reputation for learning and ability. Engaged by Tycho Brahe in 1589 as his assistant in his great astronomical observatory of
Uraniborg Uraniborg ( da, Uranienborg, sv, Uraniborg) was a Danish astronomical observatory and alchemy laboratory established and operated by Tycho Brahe. It was built on Hven, an island in the Øresund between Zealand and Scania, Sweden, which was ...
, he rendered invaluable service for eight years. He held Tycho Brahe in the highest regard and always supported his system and tried to improve upon it throughout his life.Kragh, Helge. (2015). Georgius Frommius (1605–1651) and Danish Astronomy in the Post-Tychonian Era. Acta Baltica Historiae et Philosophiae Scientiarum. 3. 45-68. 10.11590/abhps.2015.1.03. However, he did disagree with the Tycho Brahe's system in some regards, he believed that the earth rotated unlike his master's theory that it was immobile. During this time,
Kepler Johannes Kepler (; ; 27 December 1571 – 15 November 1630) was a German astronomer, mathematician, astrologer, natural philosopher and writer on music. He is a key figure in the 17th-century Scientific Revolution, best known for his laws o ...
joined the two in trying to come up with a theory on how to predict longitude at oppositions with complete accuracy. Longomontanus used Mars as a model for this. Having left the island of Hven with his master, he obtained his discharge at Copenhagen on 1 June 1597, in order to study at some German universities. He rejoined Tycho at
Prague Prague ( ; cs, Praha ; german: Prag, ; la, Praga) is the capital and largest city in the Czech Republic, and the historical capital of Bohemia. On the Vltava river, Prague is home to about 1.3 million people. The city has a temperate ...
in January 1600, and having completed the Tychonic lunar theory, turned homeward again in August. Soon after this, Tyco Brahe’s untimely demise happened. After Tycho managed to become an mathematician that served the Emperor Rudolph II, he died in October 1601. The Emperor had to appoint a new Mathematician. When doing so, the expected choice would have been Longomontanus since he was Tycho’s preferred choice. However, Longomontanus was gone during this time in Denmark and Johannes Kepler was there, so he was anointed.   He visited Frauenburg, where
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 canon, who formulated ...
had made his observations, took a master's degree at
Rostock Rostock (), officially the Hanseatic and University City of Rostock (german: link=no, Hanse- und Universitätsstadt Rostock), is the largest city in the German state of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern and lies in the Mecklenburgian part of the state, c ...
, and at Copenhagen found a patron in
Christian Friis Christians () are people who follow or adhere to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. The words ''Christ'' and ''Christian'' derive from the Koine Greek title ''Christós'' (Χρι ...
, chancellor of Denmark, who employed him in his household. Appointed in 1603 rector of the school of Viborg, he was elected two years later to a professorship in the
University of Copenhagen The University of Copenhagen ( da, Københavns Universitet, KU) is a prestigious public university, public research university in Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark. Founded in 1479, the University of Copenhagen is the second-oldest university in ...
, and his promotion to the chair 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 ...
ensued in 1607. This post was held by Longomontanus till his death in 1647. Longomontanus was not an advanced thinker. He adhered to Tycho's erroneous views about
refraction In physics, refraction is the redirection of a wave as it passes from one medium to another. The redirection can be caused by the wave's change in speed or by a change in the medium. Refraction of light is the most commonly observed phenomeno ...
, believed that
comet A comet is an icy, small Solar System body that, when passing close to the Sun, warms and begins to release gases, a process that is called outgassing. This produces a visible atmosphere or coma, and sometimes also a tail. These phenomena ar ...
s were messengers of evil, and imagined that he had squared the circle. He found that the circle whose diameter is 43 has for its circumference the square root of 18252 which gives 3.14185... for the value of π. John Pell and others tried in vain to convince him of his error. In 1632 he started the construction of the '' Rundetårn'' (a stately astronomical tower in Copenhagen), but did not live to witness its completion. King
Christian IV of Denmark Christian IV (12 April 1577 – 28 February 1648) was King of Denmark and Norway and Duke of Holstein and Schleswig from 1588 until his death in 1648. His reign of 59 years, 330 days is the longest of Danish monarchs and Scandinavian monar ...
, to whom he dedicated his ''Astronomia Danica'', an exposition of the Tychonic system of the universe, conferred upon him the canonry of
Lunden Lunden is a municipality in the district of Dithmarschen, in Schleswig-Holstein, Germany. It is situated on the Eider river, about 16 km north of Heide. It is part of the '' Amt Kirchspielslandgemeinde'' ("collective municipality") of Eider. ...
in Schleswig. Longomontanus's major contribution to science was to develop Tycho's geoheliocentric model of the universe empirically and publicly to common acceptance. When Tycho died in 1601, his program for the restoration of astronomy was unfinished. The observational aspects were complete, but two important tasks remained, namely the selection and integration of the data into accounts of the motions of the
planet A planet is a large, rounded astronomical body that is neither a star nor its remnant. The best available theory of planet formation is the nebular hypothesis, which posits that an interstellar cloud collapses out of a nebula to create a you ...
s, and the presentation of the results on the entire program in the form of a systematic treatise. Longomontanus assumed the responsibility and fulfilled both tasks in his voluminous ''Astronomia Danica'' (1622). Regarded as the testament of Tycho, the work was eagerly received in seventeenth-century astronomical literature. The book was highly accredited and many famous. owners included Chrstopher Wren, Christiaan Huygens as well as the Royal Greenwhich Observatory in England. The book mainly compared the three world systems of the time, these included the Copernicus, Tycho Brahe and Ptolemy schools of thought. But unlike Tycho's, the geoheliocentric model of Longomontanus gave the Earth a proper daily rotation (as in the models of
Ursus Ursus is Latin for bear. It may also refer to: Animals * ''Ursus'' (mammal), a genus of bears People * Ursus of Aosta, 6th-century evangelist * Ursus of Auxerre, 6th-century bishop * Ursus of Solothurn, 3rd-century martyr * Ursus (''praefectus ...
and Roslin). It is therefore sometimes called the 'semi-Tychonic' system. The book was reprinted in 1640 and 1663, which indicates its popularity and the interest in the semi-Tychonic system in this period. Having originally worked on calculating the Martian
orbit In celestial mechanics, an orbit is the curved trajectory of an object such as the trajectory of a planet around a star, or of a natural satellite around a planet, or of an artificial satellite around an object or position in space such as a p ...
for Tycho with
Kepler Johannes Kepler (; ; 27 December 1571 – 15 November 1630) was a German astronomer, mathematician, astrologer, natural philosopher and writer on music. He is a key figure in the 17th-century Scientific Revolution, best known for his laws o ...
, he had already modelled its orbit in his geoheliocentric model to an error in
longitude Longitude (, ) is a geographic coordinate that specifies the east–west position of a point on the surface of the Earth, or another celestial body. It is an angular measurement, usually expressed in degrees and denoted by the Greek letter l ...
of under 2 arcminutes when Kepler had still only achieved 8 arcminutes error in his
heliocentric Heliocentrism (also known as the Heliocentric model) is the astronomical model in which the Earth and planets revolve around the Sun at the center of the universe. Historically, heliocentrism was opposed to geocentrism, which placed the Earth at ...
system, as he had not yet used
elliptical Elliptical may mean: * having the shape of an ellipse, or more broadly, any oval shape ** in botany, having an elliptic leaf shape ** of aircraft wings, having an elliptical planform * characterised by ellipsis (the omission of words), or by conc ...
orbits. Some historians claim Kepler’s 1627 '' Rudolphine Tables'', based on Tycho Brahe’s observations, were more accurate than any previous tables. But nobody has ever demonstrated they were more accurate than Longomontanus’s 1622 ''Danish Astronomy'' tables, also based upon Tycho’s observations.


Publications

His major works in mathematics and astronomy were: * ''Systematis Mathematici, etc.'' (1611) * ''Cyclometria e Lunulis reciproce demonstrata'', etc. (1612) * ''Disputatio de Eclipsibus'' (1616) * ''Astronomia Danica'', etc. (1622) * * ''Disputationes quatuor Astrologicae'' (1622) * ''Pentas Problematum Philosophiae'' (1623) * ''De Chronolabio Historico, seu de Tempore Disputationes tres'' (1627) * ''Geometriae quaesita XIII. de Cyclometria rationali et vera'' (1631) * ''Inventio Quadraturae Circuli'' (1634) * ''Disputatio de Matheseos Indole'' (1636) * ''Coronis Problematica ex Mysteriis trium Numerorum'' (1637) * ''Problemata duo Geometrica'' (1638) * ''Problema contra Paulum Guldinum de Circuli Mensura'' (1638) * ''Introductio in Theatrum Astronomicum'' (1639) * ''Rotundi in Plano, etc.'' (1644) * ''Admiranda Operatio trium Numerorum 6, 7, 8'', etc. (1645) * ''Caput tertium Libri primi de absoluta Mensura Rotundi plani'', etc. (1646)


Eponymy

*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 ...
Longomontanus was named after him. It is located near the
Tycho crater Tycho is a masculine given name, a latinization of Greek Τύχων, from the name of Tyche ( grc-gre, Τύχη, link=no), the Greek goddess of fortune or luck. The Russian form of the name is ''Tikhon'' (Тихон). People Given name * Tycho B ...
.This is not a coincidence
as explains
Giambattista Riccioli Giovanni Battista Riccioli, Society of Jesus, SJ (17 April 1598 – 25 June 1671) was an Italian astronomer and a Catholic church, Catholic priest in the Jesuit order. He is known, among other things, for his experiments with pendulums and with f ...
, who named it.


References

*


External links


Biography from ''Dansk Biografisk Lexicon''
(1887–1905 – in Danish) * Longomontanus'
'Astronomia Danica'
in its original Latin, at the internet archive. {{DEFAULTSORT:Longomontanus, Christen Sorensen 1562 births 1647 deaths 16th-century Danish astronomers Rectors of the University of Copenhagen 17th-century Danish astronomers