Vincentio (Vincenzio, Vincenzo) Reinieri (Renieri, Reiner) (30 March 1606 – 5 November 1647) was an Italian

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 ...

and

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, natural satellite, moons, comets and galaxy, g ...

. He was a friend and disciple of

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 was ...

Biography

Born at

Genoa Genoa ( ; it, Genova ; lij, Zêna ). is the capital of the Italian region of Liguria and the List of cities in Italy, sixth-largest city in Italy. In 2015, 594,733 people lived within the city's administrative limits. As of the 2011 Italian ce ...

, he was a member of the

Olivetan The Olivetans, formally known as the Order of Our Lady of Mount Olivet, are a monastic order. They were founded in 1313 and recognised in 1344. They use the Rule of Saint Benedict and are a member of the Benedictine Confederation, where they ar ...

order. His order sent him to

Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus (legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...

in 1623. He met Galileo at

Siena Siena ( , ; lat, Sena Iulia) is a city in Tuscany, Italy. It is the capital of the province of Siena. The city is historically linked to commercial and banking activities, having been a major banking center until the 13th and 14th centuri ...

in 1633. Galileo had Reinieri update and attempt to improve his astronomical tables of the motions of

Jupiter's moons There are 82 known moons of Jupiter, not counting a number of moonlets likely shed from the inner moons. All together, they form a satellite system which is called the Jovian system. The most massive of the moons are the four Galilean moons: ...

, revising these tables for prediction of the positions of these satellites. Reinieri's work led him to

Arcetri Arcetri is a location in Florence, Italy, positioned among the hills south of the city centre. __TOC__ Landmarks A number of historic buildings are situated there, including the house of the famous scientist Galileo Galilei (called '' Villa Il Gi ...

, where he befriended

Vincenzo Viviani Vincenzo Viviani (April 5, 1622 – September 22, 1703) was an Italian mathematician and scientist. He was a pupil of Torricelli and a disciple of Galileo.Pisa Pisa ( , or ) is a city and ''comune'' in Tuscany, central Italy, straddling the Arno just before it empties into the Ligurian Sea. It is the capital city of the Province of Pisa. Although Pisa is known worldwide for its leaning tower, the cit ...

: "Not infrequently I am in some battle with the

Peripatetic Peripatetic may refer to: *Peripatetic school, a school of philosophy in Ancient Greece *Peripatetic axiom * Peripatetic minority, a mobile population moving among settled populations offering a craft or trade. *Peripatetic Jats There are several ...

gentlemen, particularly when I note that those fattest with ignorance least appreciate your worth, and I have just given the head of one of those a good scrubbing." (Drake, p. 413-4) Reinieri became professor of mathematics at the

University of Pisa The University of Pisa ( it, Università di Pisa, UniPi), officially founded in 1343, is one of the oldest universities in Europe. History The Origins The University of Pisa was officially founded in 1343, although various scholars place ...

on the death of Dino Peri. He also taught

Greek Greek may refer to: Greece Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group. *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family. **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...

there. His astronomical work consisted of adding new observations of Jupiter's moons to Galileo's. To some degree, Reinieri improved the Galilean tables on the motions of these satellites. Before his death, Galileo decided to place all of the papers containing his observations and calculations in the hands of Reinieri. Reinieri was to finish and revise them. Reinieri's observations of Jupiter's moons remained unpublished at the time of his premature death at Pisa in 1647. He was succeeded to the chair of mathematics by Famiano Michelini (c. 1600-1666).

Legacy

On Reinieri's death, papers concerning

longitude Longitude (, ) is a geographic coordinate that specifies the east–west position of a point on the surface of the Earth, or another celestial body. It is an angular measurement, usually expressed in degrees and denoted by the Greek letter l ...

entrusted to him by Galileo are said to have been stolen by a man named Giuseppe Agostini (Fahie, p. 374). However, scholars such as Antonio Favaro doubt whether this

theft Theft is the act of taking another person's property or services without that person's permission or consent with the intent to deprive the rightful owner of it. The word ''theft'' is also used as a synonym or informal shorthand term for some ...

actually occurred (see Antonio Favaro, ''Documenti inediti per la Storia dei MSS. Galileiani'', Rome, 1886, pp. 8–14). The crater Reiner on the

Moon The Moon is Earth's only natural satellite. It is the fifth largest satellite in the Solar System and the largest and most massive relative to its parent planet, with a diameter about one-quarter that of Earth (comparable to the width of ...

is named after him.

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...
works

*''Expugnata Hierusalem, poema'', Publisher: Maceratae, Apud Petrum Salvionum (1628

*''Tabulae mediceae secundorum mobilium universales quibus per unicum prosthaphaereseon orbis canonem planetarum calculus exhibetur. Non solum tychonicè iuxta Rudolphinas Danicas & Lansbergianas, sed etiam iuxta Prutenicas Alphonsinas & Ptolemaicas'', Publisher: Florentiae, typis nouis Amatoris Massae & Laurentij de Landis (1639

* *''Tabulæ motuum cælestium universales : serenissimi magni ducis etruriæ Ferdinandi II. auspicijs primo editæ, & Mediceæ nuncupati, nunc vero auctæ, recognitæ, atque... Bernardini Fernandez de Velasco... iussu, ac sumptibus recusæ...''Publisher: Florentiæ : typis Amatoris Massæ Foroliuien., 164

Sources

*Drake, Stillman, ''Galileo at Work: His Scientific Biography'' (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1978), 464. *Fahie, J.J.
''Galileo: His Life and Work''
(London: John Murray, 1903), 374-5. -

Google Books Google Books (previously known as Google Book Search, Google Print, and by its code-name Project Ocean) is a service from Google Inc. that searches the full text of books and magazines that Google has scanned, converted to text using optical c ...

Biography

Legacy

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ... works

Sources

Further reading

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...
works