![Juan de Alcega](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/79/Juan_de_Alcega.png)
Juan de Alcega was a 16th-century
tailor
A tailor is a person who makes or alters clothing, particularly in men's clothing. The Oxford English Dictionary dates the term to the thirteenth century.
History
Although clothing construction goes back to prehistory, there is evidence of ...
and
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 ...
from
Basque country, Spain.
Life and work
Little is known about the life of Juan de Alcega. He was born in the province of
Gipuzkoa
Gipuzkoa (, , ; es, Guipúzcoa ; french: Guipuscoa) is a province of Spain and a historical territory of the autonomous community of the Basque Country. Its capital city is Donostia-San Sebastián. Gipuzkoa shares borders with the French depa ...
, probably in the town of
Hondarribia es, fuenterribense
, population_note =
, population_density_km2 = auto
, blank_name_sec1 = Official language(s)
, blank_info_sec1 = Basque, Spanish
, timezone = CET
, utc_offset = +1
, ti ...
.
In 1580 he published in
Madrid
Madrid ( , ) is the capital and most populous city of Spain. The city has almost 3.4 million inhabitants and a metropolitan area population of approximately 6.7 million. It is the second-largest city in the European Union (EU), and ...
the book entitled ''Libro de Geometría, practica, y traça (Book on Geometry, Practice, and Pattern)'', reedited in 1589. This book is a clear example of the application of mathematics to technology in its first modern states. It was also the subject of studies on
philology
Philology () is the study of language in oral and writing, written historical sources; it is the intersection of textual criticism, literary criticism, history, and linguistics (with especially strong ties to etymology). Philology is also defin ...
by his terminology and by his exposition of the mode of his times. In the introduction to his book, he states that he had some difficulties publishing it due to the resistance of the medieval guild of tailors, who thought that he was revealing the secrets of his art.
[, page 247.]
References
Bibliography
*
*
*
*
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Alcega, Juan De
16th-century Spanish people
16th-century Spanish mathematicians
People from Hondarribia
Spanish tailors
Basque academics