Daniel Schwenter (Schwender) (31 January 1585 – 19 January 1636) was a German Orientalist,

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 ...

inventor An invention is a unique or novel device, method, composition, idea or process. An invention may be an improvement upon a machine, product, or process for increasing efficiency or lowering cost. It may also be an entirely new concept. If an ...

poet A poet is a person who studies and creates poetry. Poets may describe themselves as such or be described as such by others. A poet may simply be the creator ( thinker, songwriter, writer, or author) who creates (composes) poems (oral or writte ...

, and

librarian A librarian is a person who works professionally in a library providing access to information, and sometimes social or technical programming, or instruction on information literacy to users. The role of the librarian has changed much over time, ...

Biography

Schwenter was born in

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 ...

. He was professor of oriental languages and mathematics at the

University of Altdorf The University of Altdorf () was a university in Altdorf bei Nürnberg, a small town outside the Free Imperial City of Nuremberg. It was founded in 1578 and received university privileges in 1622 and was closed in 1809 by Maximilian I Joseph of Ba ...

. This is achieved by a preface written by Schwenter in the book ''Kurtzer, gründtlicher, warhaffter, gebesserter und vermehrter Underricht, Zuberaitung und Gebrauch deß Circkels, Schregmeß und Linial'' from George Galgemair and by an old chronicle of the University of Altdorf. His works include ''Delicia Physico-Mathematicae'' (

, 1636) and ''Geometriae practicae novae et auctae tractatus I-IV'' (published posthumously in 1641). Among other topics, ''Geometriae practicae'' covers the art of baculometry - the measuring of inaccessible distances via staves. As a linguist, Schwenter was familiar with

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 ...

Hebrew Hebrew (; ; ) is a Northwest Semitic language of the Afroasiatic language family. Historically, it is one of the spoken languages of the Israelites and their longest-surviving descendants, the Jews and Samaritans. It was largely preserved ...

Arabic Arabic (, ' ; , ' or ) is a Semitic languages, Semitic language spoken primarily across the Arab world.Semitic languages: an international handbook / edited by Stefan Weninger; in collaboration with Geoffrey Khan, Michael P. Streck, Janet C ...

Syriac Syriac may refer to: *Syriac language, an ancient dialect of Middle Aramaic *Sureth, one of the modern dialects of Syriac spoken in the Nineveh Plains region * Syriac alphabet ** Syriac (Unicode block) ** Syriac Supplement * Neo-Aramaic languages a ...

, and

Aramaic The Aramaic languages, short Aramaic ( syc, ܐܪܡܝܐ, Arāmāyā; oar, 𐤀𐤓𐤌𐤉𐤀; arc, 𐡀𐡓𐡌𐡉𐡀; tmr, אֲרָמִית), are a language family containing many varieties (languages and dialects) that originated in ...

. He was also an authority on

Euclid Euclid (; grc-gre, Wikt:Εὐκλείδης, Εὐκλείδης; BC) was an ancient Greek mathematician active as a geometer and logician. Considered the "father of geometry", he is chiefly known for the ''Euclid's Elements, Elements'' trea ...

. He died in

Altdorf bei Nürnberg Altdorf bei Nürnberg (, ) is a town in south-eastern Germany. It is situated 25 km east of Nuremberg, in the district Nürnberger Land. Its name literally means “Altdorf near Nuremberg”, to distinguish it from Altdorf (disambiguation), o ...

Schwenter and the Scioptric Ball

He is credited with developing the scioptric ball in 1636. This is a universal joint that allows a microscope, mounted on the ball, to be swiveled into any position. Its invention was inspired by Schwenter's studies of the

human eye The human eye is a sensory organ, part of the sensory nervous system, that reacts to visible light and allows humans to use visual information for various purposes including seeing things, keeping balance, and maintaining circadian rhythm. ...

. The scioptric ball provided a firm anchor for a

microscope A microscope () is a laboratory instrument used to examine objects that are too small to be seen by the naked eye. Microscopy is the science of investigating small objects and structures using a microscope. Microscopic means being invisibl ...

telescope A telescope is a device used to observe distant objects by their emission, absorption, or reflection of electromagnetic radiation. Originally meaning only an optical instrument using lenses, curved mirrors, or a combination of both to observe ...

while allowing the telescope to be swiveled in all directions in order to follow the course of an

eclipse An eclipse is an astronomical event that occurs when an astronomical object or spacecraft is temporarily obscured, by passing into the shadow of another body or by having another body pass between it and the viewer. This alignment of three ce ...

or for drawing panoramic views. The microscope or telescope passes through the center of the ball, the essential function being similar to that of the ball (or pan-and-tilt) head on a modern photographer's tripod.

Schwenter and the Fountain Pen

Schwenter did not invent the

fountain pen A fountain pen is a writing instrument which uses a metal nib to apply a water-based ink to paper. It is distinguished from earlier dip pens by using an internal reservoir to hold ink, eliminating the need to repeatedly dip the pen in an inkw ...

, but in 1636, in his ''Deliciae Physic-Mathematicae'', he described a pen made in two parts, using portions of seven

quill A quill is a writing tool made from a moulted flight feather (preferably a primary wing-feather) of a large bird. Quills were used for writing with ink before the invention of the dip pen, the metal- nibbed pen, the fountain pen, and, eventually ...

s. One part served as a reservoir for

ink Ink is a gel, sol, or solution that contains at least one colorant, such as a dye or pigment, and is used to color a surface to produce an image, text, or design. Ink is used for drawing or writing with a pen, brush, reed pen, or quill. Thi ...

and included the writing point. The second part provided the pen body (a full-length feather) and served as a plug in the back end of the first part. The ink was sealed inside first part by the second. Squeezing the pen forced ink to flow through a small hole in one of the first part's quill fragments and from there to the writing point.

References

Sources

Portrait of Daniel Schwenter

The Camera Obscura

External links

From th

in the Rare Book and Special Collection Division at the

Library of Congress The Library of Congress (LOC) is the research library that officially serves the United States Congress and is the ''de facto'' national library of the United States. It is the oldest federal cultural institution in the country. The library is ...

Deliciae physico-mathematicae, Volume 1

Deliciae physico-mathematicae, Volume 2

Deliciae physico-mathematicae, Volume 3
{{DEFAULTSORT:Schwenter, Daniel 1585 births 1636 deaths 17th-century German inventors 17th-century German mathematicians Linguists from Germany Engineers from Nuremberg Christian Hebraists University of Altdorf faculty