Giovanni Antonio Magini (in

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, 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 ...

, Maginus) (13 June 1555 – 11 February 1617) was an Italian

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 ...

astrologer Astrology is a range of divinatory practices, recognized as pseudoscientific since the 18th century, that claim to discern information about human affairs and terrestrial events by studying the apparent positions of celestial objects. Di ...

, cartographer, 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 ...

His Life

He was born 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 ...

, and completed studies in

philosophy Philosophy (from , ) is the systematized study of general and fundamental questions, such as those about existence, reason, knowledge, values, mind, and language. Such questions are often posed as problems to be studied or resolved. ...

Bologna Bologna (, , ; egl, label= Emilian, Bulåggna ; lat, Bononia) is the capital and largest city of the Emilia-Romagna region in Northern Italy. It is the seventh most populous city in Italy with about 400,000 inhabitants and 150 different na ...

in 1579. His father was Pasquale Magini, a citizen of Padua. Dedicating himself to astronomy, in 1582 he wrote '' Ephemerides coelestium motuum'', translated into Italian the following year. In 1588 he was chosen over

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 ...

to occupy the chair of mathematics at the

University of Bologna The University of Bologna ( it, Alma Mater Studiorum – Università di Bologna, UNIBO) is a public research university in Bologna, Italy. Founded in 1088 by an organised guild of students (''studiorum''), it is the oldest university in contin ...

after the death of Egnatio Danti. He died in Bologna.

His work

Magini supported a geocentric system of the world, in preference to

Copernicus Nicolaus Copernicus (; pl, Mikołaj Kopernik; gml, Niklas Koppernigk, german: Nikolaus Kopernikus; 19 February 1473 – 24 May 1543) was a Renaissance polymath, active as a mathematician, astronomer, and Catholic canon, who formulat ...

's heliocentric system. Magini devised his own planetary theory, in preference to other existing ones. The Maginian System consisted of eleven rotating spheres, which he described in his ''Novæ cœlestium orbium theoricæ congruentes cum observationibus N. Copernici'' (

Venice Venice ( ; it, Venezia ; vec, Venesia or ) is a city in northeastern Italy and the capital of the Veneto Regions of Italy, region. It is built on a group of 118 small islands that are separated by canals and linked by over 400 ...

, 1589). In his ''De Planis Triangulis'' (1592), he described the use of quadrants in

surveying Surveying or land surveying is the technique, profession, art, and science of determining the terrestrial two-dimensional or three-dimensional positions of points and the distances and angles between them. A land surveying professional is ...

and

astronomy Astronomy () is a natural science that studies celestial objects and phenomena. It uses mathematics, physics, and chemistry in order to explain their origin and evolution. Objects of interest include planets, moons, stars, nebulae, g ...

. In 1592 Magini published ''Tabula tetragonica'', and in 1606 devised extremely accurate trigonometric tables. He also worked on the geometry of the sphere and applications of trigonometry, for which he invented calculating devices. He also worked on the problem of

mirror A mirror or looking glass is an object that reflects an image. Light that bounces off a mirror will show an image of whatever is in front of it, when focused through the lens of the eye or a camera. Mirrors reverse the direction of the im ...

s and published on the theory of concave spherical mirrors. He also published a commentary on Ptolemy’s ''Geographia'' (

Cologne Cologne ( ; german: Köln ; ksh, Kölle ) is the largest city of the German western state of North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW) and the fourth-most populous city of Germany with 1.1 million inhabitants in the city proper and 3.6 millio ...

, 1596). As a cartographer, his life's work was the preparation of ''Italia'' or the ''Atlante geografico d'Italia'' (Geographic Atlas of Italy), printed posthumously by Magini's son in 1620. This was intended to include maps of every Italian region with exact nomenclature and historical notes. A major project, its production (begun in 1594) proved expensive and Magini assumed various additional posts in order to fund it, including becoming tutor in mathematics to the sons of

Vincenzo I of Gonzaga Vincenzo Ι Gonzaga (21 September 1562 – 9 February 1612) was ruler of the Duchy of Mantua and the Duchy of Montferrat from 1587 to 1612. Biography Vincenzo was the only son of Guglielmo Gonzaga, Duke of Mantua, and Archduchess Eleanor of Aus ...

Duke of Mantua During its history as independent entity, Mantua had different rulers who governed on the city and the lands of Mantua from the Middle Ages to the early modern period. From 970 to 1115, the Counts of Mantua were members of the House of Canos ...

, a major patron of the arts and sciences. He also served as court astrologer. The Duke of Mantua, to whom the atlas is dedicated, assisted him with this project and allowed for maps of the various states of Italy to be brought to Magini. The governments of

Messina Messina (, also , ) is a harbour city and the capital of the Italian Metropolitan City of Messina. It is the third largest city on the island of Sicily, and the 13th largest city in Italy, with a population of more than 219,000 inhabitants in t ...

and

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

also assisted Magini financially in this project. Magini did not do any of the mapping himself. He was also interested in pursuits which today would be considered pseudoscientific. A strong supporter of

astrology Astrology is a range of divinatory practices, recognized as pseudoscientific since the 18th century, that claim to discern information about human affairs and terrestrial events by studying the apparent positions of celestial objects. Di ...

, he defended its use in medicine in his ''De astrologica ratione'' (

, 1607). Magini collaborated closely with Valentine Naibod, and in this book he published ''De annui temporis mensura in Directionibus'' and '' De Directionibus'' from Naibod's unfinished manuscript '' Claudii Ptolemaei Quadripartitae Constructionis Apotelesmata Commentarius novus et Eiusdem Conversio nova''. He was also interested in metoposcopy. He corresponded with Tycho Brahe, Clavius,

Abraham Ortelius Abraham Ortelius (; also Ortels, Orthellius, Wortels; 4 or 14 April 152728 June 1598) was a Brabantian cartographer, geographer, and cosmographer, conventionally recognized as the creator of the first modern atlas, the '' Theatrum Orbis Terraru ...

, and Johann Kepler. His correspondence was edited in 1886 by Antonio Favaro. The

lunar crater Lunar craters are impact craters on Earth's Moon. The Moon's surface has many craters, all of which were formed by impacts. The International Astronomical Union currently recognizes 9,137 craters, of which 1,675 have been dated. History The w ...

Maginus is named after him. A UK Software company takes their name from the Maginus crater named in his honour.

Works

* * * * * * * *

Ptolemy's Geographia editions

Magini is well known for his reduced size edition of Ptolemy's Geographiae published in Italian as "Geografia cioe Descrittione Universale della Terra" * 1596 Venice. Latin text. Printer Heredes Simoni Galignani. 64 copper-plate maps. * 1597 Cologne. Latin text. Printer Petrus Keschedt. 64 copper-plate maps. * 1598 Venice. Italian text. Printer Gio. Battista & Giorgio Galignani Fratelli. Artist Girolamo Porro. 64 copper-plate maps.Map: ''Palaestina, vel Terra Sancta
', From the "Geography" of Claudius Ptolemy, edited by Magini and printed in 1598 Venice, at Google Books * 1608 Cologne. Latin text. Printer Antonius Becker. 63 copper-plate maps. * 1617 Arnheim. Latin text. Printer Ioannes Ianssonius. 64 copper-plate maps. * 1621 Padua. Italian text. Printer Paolo and Francesco Galignani. 64 copper-plate maps.

Gallery

File:Giovanni Antonio Magini. Moscoviae Imperivm. 1608.jpg File:05 - Ducato Di Urbino, 1620 - Giovanni Antonio Magini.jpg File:Romagna olim Flaminia.jpg

References

*

Mille Anni di Scienza in Italia, Ministero dell'Università e della Ricerca Scientifica e Tecnologica, Italy, retrieved 2014-02-05. *

External links

The Correspondence of Giovanni Antonio Magini
i
EMLO

Online Galleries, History of Science Collections, University of Oklahoma Libraries
High resolution images of works by and/or portraits of Giovanni Antonio Magini in .jpg and .tiff format. {{DEFAULTSORT:Magini, Giovanni Antonio 1555 births 1617 deaths Italian astrologers 16th-century astrologers 17th-century astrologers 17th-century Italian astronomers Scientists from Padua 16th-century Italian astronomers 16th-century Italian mathematicians 17th-century Italian mathematicians