Muzio or Mutio Oddi (15 December 1569,

Urbino Urbino ( ; ; Romagnol: ''Urbìn'') is a walled city in the Marche region of Italy, south-west of Pesaro, a World Heritage Site notable for a remarkable historical legacy of independent Renaissance culture, especially under the patronage of F ...

– 15 December 1639, Urbino) was an Italian mathematician and

Gnomon A gnomon (; ) is the part of a sundial that casts a shadow. The term is used for a variety of purposes in mathematics and other fields. History A painted stick dating from 2300 BC that was excavated at the astronomical site of Taosi is the ...

ist.

Biography

He was born to Lisabetta Genga and Lattanzio Oddi. His initial training was in eloquence and philosophy, but he later trained under the painter

Federico Barocci Federico Barocci (also written ''Barozzi'')(c. 1535 in Urbino – 1612 in Urbino) was an Italian Renaissance painter and printmaker. His original name was Federico Fiori, and he was nicknamed Il Baroccio. His work was highly esteemed and inf ...

. He moved to

Pesaro Pesaro () is a city and ''comune'' in the Italian region of Marche, capital of the Province of Pesaro e Urbino, on the Adriatic Sea. According to the 2011 census, its population was 95,011, making it the second most populous city in the Marche ...

to work under

Guidobaldo del Monte Guidobaldo del Monte (11 January 1545 – 6 January 1607, var. Guidobaldi or Guido Baldi), Marquis del Monte, was an Italian mathematician, philosopher and astronomer of the 16th century. Biography Del Monte was born in Pesaro. His father, ...

, one of the main disciples of

Federico Commandino Federico Commandino (1509 – 5 September 1575) was an Italian humanist and mathematician. Born in Urbino, he studied at Padua and at Ferrara, where he received his doctorate in medicine. He was most famous for his central role as translat ...

. He was hired to work in Spain and France as a

military engineer Military engineering is loosely defined as the art, science, and practice of designing and building military works and maintaining lines of military transport and military communications. Military engineers are also responsible for logistics ...

, which required him also to help train in the use of artillery. He returned to the Duchy of Urbino to work as an engineer under the Duke

Francesco Maria II della Rovere Francesco Maria II della Rovere (20 February 1549 – 23 April 1631) was the last Duke of Urbino. Biography Born at Pesaro, Francesco Maria was the son of Guidobaldo II della Rovere, Duke of Urbino, Count of Montefeltro and Vittoria Farnese ...

. In 1601, he was accused, perhaps unfairly, of being involved in a plot that also involved the Marchese Ippolito della Rovere; the plot aimed to depose the Duke Francesco Maria. In 1609, Muzio Oddi was released from prison, and exiled to

Milan Milan ( , , Lombard: ; it, Milano ) is a city in northern Italy, capital of Lombardy, and the second-most populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of about 1.4 million, while its metropolitan city ...

. In Milan, he won a competition to become professor of Mathematics. He published his works, prepared in prison, including (1614, dedicated to Count and Cardinal Teodoro Trivulzio, probably one of his patrons), and a treatise entitled ''Dello squadro'' (1625) regarding surveyor's quadrants. In 1625, Oddi replaced his brother, Matteo, as chief fortifications engineer to the Republic of Lucca. In 1626, he helped design new city walls and was rewarded with a commemorative medal. In 1631, he became architect for the Sanctuary of the Holy House of Loreto, and in 1633 publishes his book on the proportional or military compass, In 1636, he moves to

Lucca Lucca ( , ) is a city and ''comune'' in Tuscany, Central Italy, on the Serchio River, in a fertile plain near the Ligurian Sea. The city has a population of about 89,000, while its province has a population of 383,957. Lucca is known as one ...

to work as a military engineer. Late in life, he returned to Urbino as a professor of mathematics. In 1638, he publishes a second book on

sundials A sundial is a horological device that tells the time of day (referred to as civil time in modern usage) when direct sunlight shines by the apparent position of the Sun in the sky. In the narrowest sense of the word, it consists of a flat ...

, , also composed while in prison. He was reappointed

Gonfaloniere The Gonfalonier (in Italian: ''Gonfaloniere'') was the holder of a highly prestigious communal office in medieval and Renaissance Italy, notably in Florence and the Papal States. The name derives from ''gonfalone'' (in English, gonfalon), the t ...

in Urbino. A few letters to

Christopher Clavius Christopher Clavius, SJ (25 March 1538 – 6 February 1612) was a Jesuit German mathematician, head of mathematicians at the Collegio Romano, and astronomer who was a member of the Vatican commission that accepted the proposed calendar inve ...

and others exist. He returned to Urbino in 1637.

Works

* * * * * * *

Sources

Oddi Muzio: Gnomonista Coraggioso, Biografia di Nicola Severino
* ''Degli Uomini Illustri di Urbino Commentario'',

, 1819, Carlo Grossi,
Short Biography of Oddi
* * This entry was translated from the Italian entry on Oddi Muzzio.Sabine Eiche, ''I Gheribizzi di Muzio Oddi'' (Urbino: Accademia Raffaello, 2005). * Enrico Gamba and Vico Montebelli, ''Le scienze a Urbino nel tardo Rinascimento'' (Urbino: Quattroventi, 1988). * Alexander Marr, 'The Production and Distribution of Mutio Oddi's ''Dello squadro, in S. Kusukawa and I. Maclean (eds.), ''Transmitting Knowledge: Words, Images and Instruments Early Modern Europe'' (Oxford-Warburg, 2006), pp. 165–192.

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Oddi, Muzio 1569 births 1639 deaths 17th-century Italian mathematicians Italian military engineers People from Urbino