Petrus Peregrinus de Maricourt (Latin), Pierre Pelerin de Maricourt (French), or Peter Peregrinus of Maricourt (
fl. 1269), was a French mathematician, physicist, and writer who conducted experiments on
magnetism and wrote the first extant treatise describing the properties of
magnet
A magnet is a material or object that produces a magnetic field. This magnetic field is invisible but is responsible for the most notable property of a magnet: a force that pulls on other ferromagnetic materials, such as iron, steel, nicke ...
s. His work is particularly noted for containing the earliest detailed discussion of freely pivoting
compass
A compass is a device that shows the cardinal directions used for navigation and geographic orientation. It commonly consists of a magnetized needle or other element, such as a compass card or compass rose, which can pivot to align itself with ...
needles, a fundamental component of the dry compass soon to appear in medieval navigation. He also wrote a treatise on the construction and use of a universal
astrolabe.
Peregrinus' text on the magnet is entitled in many of the manuscripts of it ''Epistola Petri Peregrini de Maricourt ad Sygerum de Foucaucourt, militem, de magnete'' ("Letter of Peter Peregrinus of Maricourt to Sygerus of Foucaucourt, Soldier, on the Magnet") but it is more commonly known by its short title, ''Epistola de magnete'' ("Letter on the Magnet"). The letter is addressed to an otherwise unknown
Picard countryman named Sygerus (Sigerus, Ysaerus) of
Foucaucourt, possibly a friend and neighbor of the author; Foucaucourt borders on the home area of Peregrinus around Maricourt, in the present-day ''department'' of the
Somme, near
Péronne.
In only one of the 39 surviving manuscript copies the letter also bears the closing legend ''Actum in castris in obsidione Luceriæ anno domini 1269º 8º die augusti'' ("Done in camp during the siege of
Lucera
Lucera ( Lucerino: ) is an Italian city of 34,243 inhabitants in the province of Foggia in the region of Apulia, and the seat of the Diocese of Lucera-Troia.
Located upon a flat knoll in the Tavoliere Plains, near the foot of Daunian Mount ...
, August 8, 1269"), which might indicate that Peregrinus was in the army of
Charles
Charles is a masculine given name predominantly found in English language, English and French language, French speaking countries. It is from the French form ''Charles'' of the Proto-Germanic, Proto-Germanic name (in runic alphabet) or ''*k ...
, duke of Anjou and king of Sicily, who in 1269 laid siege to the city of Lucera. However, given that only one manuscript attests this, the evidence is weak. There is no indication of why Peter received the sobriquet ''Peregrinus'' (or "pilgrim"), but it suggests that he may have been either a pilgrim at one point or a
crusade
The Crusades were a series of religious wars initiated, supported, and sometimes directed by the Latin Church in the medieval period. The best known of these Crusades are those to the Holy Land in the period between 1095 and 1291 that were i ...
r; and the attack on Lucera of 1269 had been sanctioned as a ''crusade'' by the
Pope
The pope ( la, papa, from el, πάππας, translit=pappas, 'father'), also known as supreme pontiff ( or ), Roman pontiff () or sovereign pontiff, is the bishop of Rome (or historically the patriarch of Rome), head of the worldwide Cathol ...
. So Petrus Peregrinus may have served in that army.
"You must realize, dearest friend," Peregrinus writes, "that while the investigator in this subject must understand nature and not be ignorant of the celestial motions, he must also be very diligent in the use of his own hands, so that through the operation of this stone he may show wonderful effects."
The content of the ''Epistola de magnete''
In his letter of 1269, Peregrinus explains how to identify the poles of the compasses. He also describes the laws of magnetic
attraction and
repulsion. The letters also contain a description of an experiment with a repaired magnet, as well as a number of compasses, one of which "you will be able to direct your steps to cities and islands and to any place whatever in the world." Indeed, the increasing perfection of magnetic compasses during the thirteenth century allowed navigators such as
Vandino and Ugolino Vivaldi
__NOTOC__
Vandino (sometimes Vadino or Guido) and Ugolino Vivaldi (sometimes Ugolino de Vivaldo) (fl. 1291) were two brothers and Genoese explorers and merchants who are best known for their attempted voyage from Europe to India via Africa. Th ...
to strike out on voyages to unknown lands.
;
The ''Epistola de magnete'' is divided into two parts. ''Part One'' (10 chapters): This is a section that serves as a model of
inductive reasoning based on definite experiences, and setting forth the fundamental laws of magnetism. He did not discover these laws, but presented them in logical order. Part One discusses the physical (but not the occult) properties of the
lodestone
Lodestones are naturally magnetized pieces of the mineral magnetite. They are naturally occurring magnets, which can attract iron. The property of magnetism was first discovered in antiquity through lodestones. Pieces of lodestone, suspen ...
and provides the first extant written account of the
polarity
Polarity may refer to:
Science
*Electrical polarity, direction of electrical current
*Polarity (mutual inductance), the relationship between components such as transformer windings
* Polarity (projective geometry), in mathematics, a duality of ord ...
of magnets. He was thus the first to use the word "
pole
Pole may refer to:
Astronomy
*Celestial pole, the projection of the planet Earth's axis of rotation onto the celestial sphere; also applies to the axis of rotation of other planets
*Pole star, a visible star that is approximately aligned with the ...
" in this context. He provides methods for determining the north and south poles of a magnet, and he describes the effects magnets have upon one another, showing that like poles repel each other and unlike poles attract each other. He also treats the attraction of iron by lodestones, the magnetization of iron by lodestones, and the ability to reverse the polarity in such an induced magnet. Peregrinus attributed the Earth's magnetism to the action of celestial poles, rather than to the terrestrial poles of the planet itself.
''Part Two'' (three chapters): This section describes three devices that utilize the properties of magnets. He treats the practical applications of magnets, describing the "wet" floating compass as an instrument, and a "dry" pivoted compass in some detail. He also attempts to prove that with the help of magnets it is possible to realize
perpetual motion (see
History of perpetual motion machines
The history of perpetual motion machines dates at least back to the Middle Ages. For millennia, it was not clear whether perpetual motion devices were possible or not, but modern theories of thermodynamics have shown that they are impossible. D ...
). His device is a toothed wheel which passes near a lodestone so that the teeth are alternately attracted by one pole and repelled by the other.
The universal astrolabe text
The ''Nova Compositio Astrolabii Particularis'' (found in only 4 manuscripts) describes the construction and use a universal
astrolabe which could be used at a variety of latitudes without changing the plates. Unlike
al-Zarqālī's more famous universal astrolabe in which vertical halves the heavens were projected onto a plane through the poles, this one had both the northern and southern hemispheres projected onto a plane through the equator (which was also the limit of projection). There are no known surviving astrolabes based on this treatise. The use of such an astrolabe is very complicated, and since it is probable that most sophisticated users were not frequent travelers, they were more likely happier with the traditional (and simpler) stereographic planispheric astrolabe.
Roger Bacon
The literature often mentions that Peregrinus was praised by
Roger Bacon, who called him a "perfect mathematician" and one who valued experience over argument. But the association of the praise with Peregrinus appears only in a
marginal gloss to Bacon's ''Opus tertium'' and only in one of the five manuscripts used in the critical edition, which leads us to conclude that it was a later comment added by someone else. That Bacon's praise was for Peregrinus is open to serious debate.
Legacy
The influence of Peregrinus' astrolabe was virtually nil. His reputation derives mainly from his work on magnetism. The ''De magnete'' became a very popular work from the
Middle Ages
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 a ...
onwards, as witnessed by the large number of manuscript copies.
The first printed edition of it was issued at
Augsburg
Augsburg (; bar , Augschburg , links=https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Swabian_German , label=Swabian German, , ) is a city in Swabia, Bavaria, Germany, around west of Bavarian capital Munich. It is a university town and regional seat of the ' ...
, in 1558, by
Achilles Gasser
Achilles Pirmin Gasser (3 November 1505 – 4 December 1577) was a German physician and astrologer. He is now known as a well-connected humanistic scholar, and supporter of both Copernicus and Rheticus.
Life
Born in Lindau, he studied mathemat ...
. In 1572,
Jean Taisner Jean Taisner (or Taisnier) (Latin: ''Johannes Taisnerius''; 1508, Ath, Habsburg Netherlands – 1562, Cologne) was a musician, astrologer, and self-styled mathematician who published a number of works.
A publication of his entitled ''Opusculum perp ...
published from the press of Johann Birkmann of
Cologne
Cologne ( ; german: Köln ; ksh, Kölle ) is the largest city of the German western States of Germany, state of North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW) and the List of cities in Germany by population, fourth-most populous city of Germany with 1.1 m ...
a work entitled ''Opusculum perpetua memoria dignissimum, de natura magnetis et ejus effectibus, Item de motu continuo''. This is considered a piece of
plagiarism
Plagiarism is the fraudulent representation of another person's language, thoughts, ideas, or expressions as one's own original work.From the 1995 '' Random House Compact Unabridged Dictionary'': use or close imitation of the language and thought ...
, as Taisnier presents, as though his own, the ''Epistola de magnete'' of Peregrinus and a treatise on the fall of bodies by
Gianbattista Benedetti
Giambattista (Gianbattista) Benedetti (August 14, 1530 – January 20, 1590 in) was an Italian mathematician from Venice who was also interested in physics, mechanics, the construction of sundials, and the science of music.
Science of motio ...
.
William Gilbert acknowledged his debt to Peregrinus and incorporated this thirteenth-century scientist's experiments on magnetism into his own treatise, called ''
De magnete
''De Magnete, Magneticisque Corporibus, et de Magno Magnete Tellure'' (''On the Magnet and Magnetic Bodies, and on That Great Magnet the Earth'') is a scientific work published in 1600 by the English physician and scientist William Gilbert. A h ...
''.
The ''Epistola de magnete'' was later issued by Guillaume Libri (''Histoire des sciences mathématiques en Italie'', vol 2
aris, 1838 pp. 487–505), but, based on only one manuscript, this edition was full of defects; corrected editions were published by Timoteo Bertelli (in ''Bulletino di bibliografia e di storia delle scienze matematiche e fisiche pubblicata da B. Boncampagni,'' 1 (1868), 70–80) and G. Hellmann (''Rara magnetica 1269-1599''
eudrucke von Schriften und Karten über Meteorologie und Erdmagnetismus, 10 erlin, 1898 .
The modern critical edition was prepared by Loris Sturlese and appears in Petrus Peregrinus de Maricourt, ''Opera'' (Pisa, 1995), pp. 63–89.
A translation into English has been made by Silvanus P. Thompson ("Epistle of Peter Peregrinus of Maricourt, to Sygerus of Foucaucourt, Soldier, concerning the Magnet",
ondon: Chiswick Press, 1902; by Brother Arnold
Joseph Charles Mertens("The Letter of Petrus Peregrinus on the Magnet, A. D. 1269", with introductory note by Brother Potamian
M. F. O'Reilly ew York, 1904; and H. D. Harradon, ("Some Early Contributions to the History of Geomagnetism - I," in ''Terrestrial Magnetism and Atmospheric Electricity''
ow ''Journal of Geophysical Research''48
943
Year 943 ( CMXLIII) was a common year starting on Sunday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar.
Events
By place
Byzantine Empire
* Spring – Allied with the Rus', a Hungarian army raids Moesia and Thrace. ...
3-17
ext pp. 6–17.
The modern critical edition of the astrolabe text was prepared by Ron B. Thomson and appears in Petrus Peregrinus de Maricourt, ''Opera'' (Pisa, 1995), pp. 119–196.
The philosopher and scientist Charles S. Peirce made a thorough study the Epistle of Petrus Peregrinus on the lodestone (MS. No. 7378; See Eisele, C. (1957) The Charles S. Peirce-Simon Newcomb Correspondence. Proceedings of the American Philosophical Society, Vol. 101, No. 5. p. 411).
The
European Geosciences Union
The European Geosciences Union (EGU) is a non-profit international union in the fields of Earth, planetary, and space sciences whose vision is to "realise a sustainable and just future for humanity and for the planet." The organisation has hea ...
(EGU) established the Petrus Peregrinus Medal in recognition for outstanding scientific contributions in the field of magnetism.
EGU - Awards & Medals - Petrus Peregrinus Medal
/ref>
See also
*History of geomagnetism
The history of geomagnetism is concerned with the history of the study of Earth's magnetic field. It encompasses the history of navigation using compasses, studies of the prehistoric magnetic field (archeomagnetism and paleomagnetism), and applica ...
* History of electromagnetic theory
Notes
References
*
External links
Encyclopædia Britannica: Peter Peregrinus of Maricourt
Peter Peregrinus at IET Archives
The letter of Petrus Peregrinus on the magnet, A.D. 1269 (translated 1904)
*Andreas Kleinert, ''Wie funktionierte das Perpetuum mobile des Petrus Peregrinus?'', in NTM N.S. 11 (2003), 155–170
{{DEFAULTSORT:Petrus Peregrinus de Maricourt
13th-century births
13th-century deaths
13th-century French mathematicians
13th-century French physicists
13th-century French writers
13th-century Latin writers
French male non-fiction writers
French science writers
Magneticians
Medieval physicists