HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

Simon Marius ( latinized form of Simon Mayr; 10 January 1573 – 5 January 1625) was a German
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, moons, comets and galaxies – in either ...
. He was born in Gunzenhausen, near
Nuremberg Nuremberg ( ; german: link=no, Nürnberg ; in the local East Franconian dialect: ''Nämberch'' ) is the second-largest city of the German state of Bavaria after its capital Munich, and its 518,370 (2019) inhabitants make it the 14th-largest ...
, but spent most of his life in the city of
Ansbach Ansbach (; ; East Franconian: ''Anschba'') is a city in the German state of Bavaria. It is the capital of the administrative region of Middle Franconia. Ansbach is southwest of Nuremberg and north of Munich, on the river Fränkische Rezat, ...
. He is most known for being among the first observers of the four largest moons of
Jupiter Jupiter is the fifth planet from the Sun and the largest in the Solar System. It is a gas giant with a mass more than two and a half times that of all the other planets in the Solar System combined, but slightly less than one-thousandth t ...
, and his publication of his discovery led to charges of plagiarism.


Early life

Marius was the son of Reichart Mayr, a mayor of Gunzenhausen. On the recommendation of
George Frederick, Margrave of Brandenburg-Ansbach George Frederick of Brandenburg-Ansbach (german: Georg Friedrich der Ältere; 5 April 1539 in Ansbach – 25 April 1603) was Margrave of Ansbach and Bayreuth, as well as Regent of Prussia. He was the son of George, Margrave of Brandenburg-Ansbach a ...
, he was admitted to the Margrave's Academy in
Heilsbronn Heilsbronn is a town in the Ansbach district of the Mittelfranken administrative region of Franconia, in the German state of Bavaria between Nuremberg and Ansbach, in the wooded valley of the Rangau. Its hallmark is the ''Katharinenturm'', a medi ...
in 1586, where he studied until 1601. During this time, he published observations about a comet as well as astronomical tables, which gave him a reputation as a good astronomer and mathematician, and the Margrave appointed him as his official mathematician. Marius wanted to attend the
University of Königsberg The University of Königsberg (german: Albertus-Universität Königsberg) was the university of Königsberg in East Prussia. It was founded in 1544 as the world's second Protestant academy (after the University of Marburg) by Duke Albert of Pruss ...
, but was unable to get a scholarship. However, the Margrave wrote a letter of recommendation on 22 May 1601, so that Marius could study in
Prague Prague ( ; cs, Praha ; german: Prag, ; la, Praga) is the capital and List of cities in the Czech Republic, largest city in the Czech Republic, and the historical capital of Bohemia. On the Vltava river, Prague is home to about 1.3 milli ...
under
Tycho Brahe Tycho Brahe ( ; born Tyge Ottesen Brahe; generally called Tycho (14 December 154624 October 1601) was a Danish astronomer, known for his comprehensive astronomical observations, generally considered to be the most accurate of his time. He was ...
, which he did for several months, although he may actually have worked directly with David Fabricius instead of Brahe himself. By September 1601, Marius had already left Prague and he arrived in
Padua Padua ( ; it, Padova ; vec, Pàdova) is a city and ''comune'' in Veneto, northern Italy. Padua is on the river Bacchiglione, west of Venice. It is the capital of the province of Padua. It is also the economic and communications hub of the ...
in December 1601 to study medicine at 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 ...
. During this time, he tutored other students in astronomy, including one Baldassarre Capra, with whom he wrote a book on a new star (actually
Kepler's Supernova SN 1604, also known as Kepler's Supernova, Kepler's Nova or Kepler's Star, was a Type Ia supernova that occurred in the Milky Way, in the constellation Ophiuchus. Appearing in 1604, it is the most recent supernova in the Milky Way galaxy to ha ...
) which they had observed in 1604. Capra had a dispute with
Galileo Galilei Galileo di Vincenzo Bonaiuti de' Galilei (15 February 1564 – 8 January 1642) was an Italian astronomer, physicist and engineer, sometimes described as a polymath. Commonly referred to as Galileo, his name was pronounced (, ). He wa ...
(both of them learned
fencing Fencing is a group of three related combat sports. The three disciplines in modern fencing are the foil, the épée, and the sabre (also ''saber''); winning points are made through the weapon's contact with an opponent. A fourth discipline, ...
from Capra's father) on the invention of the
proportional compass The sector, also known as a proportional compass or military compass, was a major calculating instrument in use from the end of the sixteenth century until the nineteenth century. It is an instrument consisting of two rulers of equal length joi ...
and Marius took his student's side in the argument. Marius left the school in July 1605, returning to Ansbach to become the mathematician and physician to the new Margraves, Christian and Joachim Ernst. In 1606, Marius married Felicitas Lauer (born 1590), the daughter of his publisher, in Ansbach, and in 1609 he published the first German translations of
Euclid Euclid (; grc-gre, Εὐκλείδης; BC) was an ancient Greek mathematician active as a geometer and logician. Considered the "father of geometry", he is chiefly known for the '' Elements'' treatise, which established the foundations of ...
's '' Elements''. That year, he also built his own telescope and in November made observations of the Galilean moons, slightly before Galileo did himself; this became the source of a major dispute between the two.


Dispute with Galileo

Capra published another book in 1607 which he actually plagiarised from Galileo, and Marius was implicated in the act due to his prior association with Capra, even though this was after Marius had left Padua. Galileo certainly was under that impression, as he referred to his "old adversary" (without explicitly naming Marius) as a "poisonous reptile", and an "enemy of all mankind". In 1614, Marius published his work ''Mundus Iovialis'' (English: ''World of Jupiter'') describing the planet
Jupiter Jupiter is the fifth planet from the Sun and the largest in the Solar System. It is a gas giant with a mass more than two and a half times that of all the other planets in the Solar System combined, but slightly less than one-thousandth t ...
and its moons (he previously had published the discovery in 1611 in a local almanac). Here he claimed to have discovered the planet's four major moons about a month before Galileo, who was naturally incensed. In '' The Assayer'' in 1623, he accused Marius of plagiarism. Because of Galileo's stature in the scientific community, for nearly 300 years, Marius's reputation was tainted by Galileo's accusations. However, a jury in the Netherlands in 1903 examined the evidence extensively and ruled in favor of Marius's independent discoveries, with results published by Bosscha in 1907. Apparently Marius discovered the moons independently, but did not start keeping notes until 29 December 1609. Marius used the
Julian calendar The Julian calendar, proposed by Roman consul Julius Caesar in 46 BC, was a reform of the Roman calendar. It took effect on , by edict. It was designed with the aid of Greek mathematicians and astronomers such as Sosigenes of Alexandr ...
, and that date is equivalent to 8 January 1610, in the Gregorian one used by Galileo, one day after Galileo's letter in which he first described the moons. Regardless of priority, the mythological names by which these satellites are known today ( Io, Europa, Ganymede and
Callisto Callisto most commonly refers to: *Callisto (mythology), a nymph *Callisto (moon), a moon of Jupiter Callisto may also refer to: Art and entertainment *''Callisto series'', a sequence of novels by Lin Carter *''Callisto'', a novel by Torsten Kro ...
) are those given them by Marius:


Discoveries

Simon Marius also observed the Andromeda "nebula", which had also been known to Persian astronomers of 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 ...
. Discussion of Marius' work is scarce, but what exists tends to note his skill as an observer, including: * That in 1612 he measured the diameter of the Andromeda nebula and discerned it as having a dull, pale light which increased in brightness toward its center, like "a candle shining through horn". * That he detected spurious disks of stars created by his telescope. * That, from his observations of the Galilean moons he derived better periods of revolution and other orbital elements for them than did Galileo. * That he observed the location of Tycho Brahe's supernova of
1572 Year 1572 ( MDLXXII) was a leap year starting on Tuesday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. Events January–June * January 16 – Thomas Howard, 4th Duke of Norfolk, is tried for treason, for his part ...
and found a star there which he estimated to be "somewhat dimmer than Jupiter's third moon". Marius drew conclusions about the structure of the
universe The universe is all of space and time and their contents, including planets, stars, galaxies, and all other forms of matter and energy. The Big Bang theory is the prevailing cosmological description of the development of the universe. ...
from his observations of the Jovian moons and the stellar disks. The stellar disks he observed were spurious (likely the
Airy disk In optics, the Airy disk (or Airy disc) and Airy pattern are descriptions of the best- focused spot of light that a perfect lens with a circular aperture can make, limited by the diffraction of light. The Airy disk is of importance in physics, ...
caused by diffraction, as stars are too distant for their physical disks to be detected telescopically), but Marius interpreted them to be physical disks, like the planetary disks visible through a telescope. He concluded that since he could see stellar disks, the stars could not be as distant as was required in the Copernican world system, and he said that the appearance of the stars as seen through a telescope actually argued against Copernicus.Marius/Schlör, ''Mundus Iovialis'', pp. 46–49. These findings are contrasting to those of Galileo, who utilized similar telescopic data alternatively to support the Copernican world system. This adherence by Galileo to the Copernican heliocentric theory arises due to its apparent mathematical grandeur and his prior commitment to the theory. Marius, however, showed no evident commitment to any theory but rather hypothesized based on telescopic observation. He also concluded from his observations of the Galilean moons that they must orbit Jupiter while Jupiter orbits the Sun.Marius, Simon (tr. by A.O. Prickard)
"The Mundus Jovialis of Simon Marius"
''
The Observatory (astronomy) ''The Observatory'' is a publication, variously described as a journal, a magazine and a review, devoted to astronomy. It appeared regularly starting in 1877, and it is now published every two months. The current editors are David Stickland, Bob A ...
'', vol. 39, 1916, pp. 404, 408, 409
Therefore, Marius concluded that the geocentric
Tychonic system The Tychonic system (or Tychonian system) is a model of the Universe published by Tycho Brahe in the late 16th century, which combines what he saw as the mathematical benefits of the Copernican system with the philosophical and "physical" bene ...
, in which the planets circle the Sun while the Sun circles the Earth, must be the correct world system, or model of the universe.


Work

* ''Mundus Iovialis anno MDCIX Detectus Ope Perspicilli Belgici'' (''Die Welt des Jupiter, 1609 mit dem flämischen Teleskop entdeckt''; Lateinisches Faksimile und deutsche Übersetzung; Hrsg. und bearb. von Joachim Schlör. Naturwiss. begleitet und mit einem Nachw. vers. von Alois Wilder), 1614 * Zinner, E., "Zur Ehrenrettung des Simon Marius", in: ''Vierteljahresschrift der Astronomischen Gesellschaft'', 77. Jahrgang, 1. Heft, Leipzig 1942 * Bosscha, J., "Simon Marius. Réhabilitation d´un astronome calomnié", in: ''Archives Nederlandaises des Sciences Exactes et Naturelles'', Ser. II, T. XII, pp. 258–307, 490–528, La Haye, 1907


References


External links


Marius-Portal
– Mathematician – Medical Practitioner – Astronomer.

– biography of Simon Marius.
Simon-Marius-Gymnasium
– Simon-Marius-Gymnasium Gunzenhausen, named after the astronomer.
Online Galleries, History of Science Collections, University of Oklahoma Libraries
High resolution images of works by and/or portraits of Simon Marius in .jpg and .tiff format. {{DEFAULTSORT:Marius, Simon 1573 births 1625 deaths People from Gunzenhausen 17th-century German astronomers People from Ansbach University of Padua alumni People involved in plagiarism controversies