Johann Philipp von Wurzelbauer (also spelled Wurzelbaur, Wurzelbau, Wurtzelbaur, Wurtzelbau) (28 September 1651 – 21 July 1725) was a German astronomer.

Biography

A native of Nuremberg, Wurzelbauer was a merchant who became an astronomer. As a youth, he was keenly interested in

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 ...

and astronomy but had been forced to earn his living as a merchant. He married twice: his first marriage was to Maria Magdalena Petz (1656–1713), his second to Sabina Dorothea Kress (1658–1733). Petz bore him six children. He first published a work concerning his observations on the great comet of 1680, and initially began his work at a private castle-

observatory An observatory is a location used for observing terrestrial, marine, or celestial events. Astronomy, climatology/meteorology, geophysical, oceanography and volcanology are examples of disciplines for which observatories have been constructed. His ...

on Spitzenberg 4 owned by

Georg Christoph Eimmart Georg Christoph Eimmart the Younger (22 August 1638, Regensburg – 5 January 1705, Nürnberg) was a German draughtsman and engraver. Biography Eimmart was instructed by his father, Georg Christoph Eimart the Elder (1603-1658), who was also an e ...

(completely destroyed during World War II), the director of Nuremberg's painters' academy. Wurzelbauer was 64 when he began this second career, but proved himself to be an able assistant to Eimmart. A large quadrant from his days at Eimmart's observatory still survives. After 1682, Wurzelbauer owned his own astronomical observatory and instruments, and observed the transit of

Mercury Mercury commonly refers to: * Mercury (planet), the nearest planet to the Sun * Mercury (element), a metallic chemical element with the symbol Hg * Mercury (mythology), a Roman god Mercury or The Mercury may also refer to: Companies * Merc ...

solar eclipse A solar eclipse occurs when the Moon passes between Earth and the Sun, thereby obscuring the view of the Sun from a small part of the Earth, totally or partially. Such an alignment occurs during an eclipse season, approximately every six month ...

s, and worked out the geographical latitude of his native city. After 1683, he had withdrawn himself completely from business life to dedicate himself to astronomy. By 1700, Wurzelbauer had become the most well-known astronomer in Nuremberg. For his services to the field of astronomy, he was ennobled in 1692 by

Leopold I, Holy Roman Emperor Leopold I (Leopold Ignaz Joseph Balthasar Franz Felician; hu, I. Lipót; 9 June 1640 – 5 May 1705) was Holy Roman Emperor, King of Hungary, Croatia, and Bohemia. The second son of Ferdinand III, Holy Roman Emperor, by his first wife, Maria An ...

and added the ''von'' to his name. He was a member of the

French French (french: français(e), link=no) may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France, and its various dialects and accents ** French people, a nation and ethnic group identified with Franc ...

and the Prussian academies of the sciences. The crater Wurzelbauer on the Moon is named after him.

Works

*''Uranies Noricae basis astronomico-geographica''. Nürnberg: Selbstverlag 1697 *''Herrn Christian Huygens Cosmotheoros oder weltbetrachtende Muthmassungen von den himmlischen Erdkugeln und deren Schmuck. Übers. von Johann Philipp Wurzelbau''r. Leipzig 1703 *''Stabilimentum baseos Uranies Noricae astronomico-geographicae Norimbergae Anno 1713'' *''Uranies Noricae basis astronomica''. Nürnberg: Selbstverlag 1719 *''Opera Geographica-Astronomica''. Nürnberg: Peter Conrad Monath 1728

External links

Johann Philipp von Wurzelbau, um 1700 bekanntester in Nürnberg lebender Astronom

* ttp://archives.lib.byu.edu/repositories/14/resources/7436 Johannes Hevelius letter to Johann Philipp von Wurtzelbau, MSS 494a
L. Tom Perry Special Collections
Brigham Young University {{DEFAULTSORT:Wurzelbauer, Johann Philipp von 17th-century German astronomers Members of the Prussian Academy of Sciences Members of the French Academy of Sciences 1651 births 1725 deaths Scientists from Nuremberg 18th-century German astronomers