Joachim Jungius (born Joachim Junge; 22 October 1587 – 23 September 1657) was a German

mathematician A mathematician is someone who uses an extensive knowledge of mathematics in their work, typically to solve mathematical problems. Mathematicians are concerned with numbers, data, quantity, structure, space, models, and change. History On ...

logician Logic is the study of correct reasoning. It includes both formal and informal logic. Formal logic is the science of deductively valid inferences or of logical truths. It is a formal science investigating how conclusions follow from premises ...

and

philosopher of science A philosopher is a person who practices or investigates philosophy. The term ''philosopher'' comes from the grc, φιλόσοφος, , translit=philosophos, meaning 'lover of wisdom'. The coining of the term has been attributed to the Greek th ...

Life

Jungius was a native of

Lübeck Lübeck (; Low German also ), officially the Hanseatic City of Lübeck (german: Hansestadt Lübeck), is a city in Northern Germany. With around 217,000 inhabitants, Lübeck is the second-largest city on the German Baltic coast and in the state ...

. He studied

metaphysics Metaphysics is the branch of philosophy that studies the fundamental nature of reality, the first principles of being, identity and change, space and time, causality, necessity, and possibility. It includes questions about the nature of conscio ...

at the Universities of

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, ...

and

Giessen Giessen, spelled Gießen in German (), is a town in the German state (''Bundesland'') of Hesse, capital of both the district of Giessen and the administrative region of Giessen. The population is approximately 90,000, with roughly 37,000 univer ...

, where in 1608 he earned his degree. Beginning in 1609, he was a professor of mathematics at the University of

, and in 1614–15, with Wolfgang Ratke (1571–1635) and Christoph Helvig (1581–1617), he took part in studies of

educational reform Education reform is the name given to the goal of changing public education. The meaning and education methods have changed through debates over what content or experiences result in an educated individual or an educated society. Historically, th ...

. In 1616, he returned to

in order to study medicine, later obtaining his medical doctorate from the

University of Padua The University of Padua ( it, Università degli Studi di Padova, UNIPD) is an Italian university located in the city of Padua, region of Veneto, northern Italy. The University of Padua was founded in 1222 by a group of students and teachers from ...

with

Santorio Santorio Santorio Santori (29 March, 1561 – 25 February, 1636) also called Santorio Santorio, Santorio de' Sanctoriis, or Sanctorius of Padua and various combinations of these names, was an Italian physiologist, physician, and professor, who introduc ...

in 1619. From 1619 to 1623, he practiced medicine in Lübeck. In 1622 at Rostock, he founded an early scientific society known as ''Societas Ereunetica sive Zetetica''. From 1624 to 1628, Jungius worked as a professor of mathematics at Rostock, his service here being briefly interrupted in 1625, when he spent time as professor of medicine at the

University of Helmstedt The University of Helmstedt (german: Universität Helmstedt; official Latin name: ''Academia Julia'', "Julius University"), was a university in Helmstedt in the Duchy of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel that existed from 1576 until 1810. History Found ...

. From 1629 until 1657, he was professor of

natural sciences Natural science is one of the branches of science concerned with the description, understanding and prediction of natural phenomena, based on empirical evidence from observation and experimentation. Mechanisms such as peer review and repeatab ...

at the ''Akademisches Gymnasium'', a secondary school in

Hamburg (male), (female) en, Hamburger(s), Hamburgian(s) , timezone1 = Central (CET) , utc_offset1 = +1 , timezone1_DST = Central (CEST) , utc_offset1_DST = +2 , postal ...

. Jungius believed that science was based on mathematics, and in Hamburg stressed the importance of critical thinking to his students. He also felt that mathematics and

logic Logic is the study of correct reasoning. It includes both formal and informal logic. Formal logic is the science of deductively valid inferences or of logical truths. It is a formal science investigating how conclusions follow from premise ...

served as a remedy to

metaphysical Metaphysics is the branch of philosophy that studies the fundamental nature of reality, the first principles of being, identity and change, space and time, causality, necessity, and possibility. It includes questions about the nature of conscio ...

and mystical speculation. He died in Hamburg.

Works

Jungius was an important figure of 17th century

atomism Atomism (from Greek , ''atomon'', i.e. "uncuttable, indivisible") is a natural philosophy proposing that the physical universe is composed of fundamental indivisible components known as atoms. References to the concept of atomism and its atoms ...

, and was an advocate of a " corpuscular chemistry" that assumed the

conservation of mass In physics and chemistry, the law of conservation of mass or principle of mass conservation states that for any system closed to all transfers of matter and energy, the mass of the system must remain constant over time, as the system's mass can ...

. He also demonstrated that a

catenary In physics and geometry, a catenary (, ) is the curve that an idealized hanging chain or cable assumes under its own weight when supported only at its ends in a uniform gravitational field. The catenary curve has a U-like shape, superfici ...

was not a

parabola In mathematics, a parabola is a plane curve which is Reflection symmetry, mirror-symmetrical and is approximately U-shaped. It fits several superficially different Mathematics, mathematical descriptions, which can all be proved to define exact ...

. In 1638 he published the textbook ''Logica Hamburgensis'', which presented late

medieval In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire ...

theories and techniques of

. Here he demonstrated oblique cases of arguments that did not adhere to simpler forms of inference; An example being: "The square of an even number is even; 6 is even; therefore, the square of 6 is even". His double position as connected to scholastic logic, but also to innovations, earns him the classification semi-

Ramist Ramism was a collection of theories on rhetoric, logic, and pedagogy based on the teachings of Petrus Ramus, a French academic, philosopher, and Huguenot convert, who was murdered during the St. Bartholomew's Day massacre in August 1572. Acco ...

Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz Gottfried Wilhelm (von) Leibniz . ( – 14 November 1716) was a German polymath active as a mathematician, philosopher, scientist and diplomat. He is one of the most prominent figures in both the history of philosophy and the history of math ...

wrote, :"While Jungius of Lübeck is a man little known even in Germany itself, he was clearly of such judiciousness and such capacity of mind that I know of no other mortal, including even Descartes himself, from whom we could better have expected a great restoration of the sciences, had Jungius been either known or assisted." Jung was a man of great intellect, he defined a plant as: "A plant is a living non-sentient body, attached to a particular place or habitat, where it is able to feed, to grow in size, and finally to propagate itself."Morton, A.G. 1981 ''History of Botanical Science''. p,169. Academic Press.

Bibliography

* Joachim Jungius, ''Phoronomica sive doctrine de motu locali'', 1689. * Joachim Jungius, 1957. ''Logica Hamburgensis'', facsimile reproduction of the original edition (Hamburg, 1638) edited by Rudolf W. Meyer, Hamburg: J.J. Augustin. * Joachim Jungius, 1977. ''Logica Hamburgensis additamenta'', edited by Wilhelm Risse, Göttingen: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht. * Joachim Jungius, 1988. ''Disputationes Hamburgenses'', critical edition by Clemens Müller-Glauser, Göttingen: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht.

Citations

External links

* H. Kangro
Biography in Dictionary of Scientific Biography
*

{{DEFAULTSORT:Jungius, Joachim 1587 births 1657 deaths 17th-century German physicians German philosophers 17th-century German mathematicians Scientists from Lübeck University of Giessen faculty University of Rostock faculty 17th-century German writers 17th-century German male writers

Life

Works

Bibliography

Citations

Further reading

External links