Regiomontanus: Astrolabe & Library
A crater on the moon is named for him.
Regiomontanus1 [Johannes Müller von Königsberg],2 was the most important astronomer of the fifteenth century. He was also a humanist.3 The crater Regiomontanus on the Moon was named for him in 1935.4 David A. King’s book, Astrolabes and Angels, includes the story of Regiomontanus presenting an astrolabe5 to Cardinal Bessarion.6
Regiomontanus’ book on arithmetic and algebra, Algorithmus Demonstratus, was among the first containing symbolic algebra. In 1464, Regiomontanus wrote De Triangulis omnimodus (“On Triangles of All Kinds”) presenting trigonometry in its modern form. In 1465, he built a portable sundial for Pope Paul II.
In 1471 he set up an astronomical observatory in Nuremberg, and his own printing press on which to reproduce scientific texts. Regiomontanus made a number of important observations, including eclipses and the passing of Halley’s comet in January, 1472, which enabled later astronomers to make comparisons. He also observed that the method of lunar distances could be used to determine longitude at sea. In 1475, Regiomontanus was called to Rome to work with Pope Sixtus IV on calendar reform. On his way, he published "Ephemeris" in Venice; both Christopher Columbus and Amerigo Vespucci used Regiomontanus's Ephemerides to measure longitudes in the New World.7
In “Text to trophy: shifting representations of Regiomontanus's Library”8 Kremer, offers three different narratives about ‘Regiomontanus’s library’. The first narrative traces the history of ‘Regiomontanus’s library’ as an aggregate named as such. The second narrative examines the three extant sixteenth-century inventories of the library. The third narrative considers various ‘uses’ made of the library after Regiomontanus’s death, its function as a source for texts and trophies, and its role in the construction of biographical representations of Regiomontanus.
O’Connor,J.J. and and E F Robertson (2004). Johann Müller Regiomontanus. MacTutor History of Mathematics Archive. School of Mathematics and Statistics University of St Andrews, Scotland. Regiomontanus was born Johann Müller of Königsberg. . The Latin version of Königsberg (meaning King's mountain) is Regio Monte or, as it later became, Regiomontanus. There was variety of names under which Regiomontanus was known. He matriculated at university as Johannes Molitoris de Künigsperg, using 'Molitoris' which is a Latin form of 'Müller'. Other variants included Johannes Germanus (Johann the German), Johannes Francus (Johannes from Franconia), Johann von Künigsperg (Johann from Königsberg), and the French sounding Joannes de Monte Regio. [Regiomontanus was the son of a miller].
Bernstein,Eckhard. (2001). Group Identity Formation in the German Renaissance Humanists: The Function of Latin. September 2001 Munich conference "Germania latina - latinitas teutonica."
The need to set humanists off from the profanum vulgus showed itself most clearly in the Latinization, and to a lesser degree Grecization, of proper names for it signified an initiation into an exclusive European community of scholars. And just as a novice often adopted a different name upon entering a monastery to mark the importance of his or her decision, so the humanists assumed a new name to celebrate their entrance into the lay order [23] of the humanist intelligentsia…Adoption of a new name could mask the modest social background of a humanist. [Regiomontanus was the son of a miller].
James Steven Byrne. 2006. “A Humanist History of Mathematics? Regiomontanus’s Padua Oration in Context.” Journal of the History of Ideas 67 (1): 41–61.
Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature. Regiomontanus on Moon.
Poppick, Laura (2017). The Story of the Astrolabe, the Original Smartphone Smithsonian Magazine (Jan.31).
King, David A. Astrolabes and Angels, Epigrams and Enigmas: From Regiomontanus' Acrostic for Cardinal Bessarion to Piero Della Francesca's "Flagellation of Christ" : an Essay by David A. King, Inspired by Two Remarkable Discoveries by Berthold Holzschuh. Stuttgart: Franz Steiner Verlag, 2007.
Zinner, Ernst. (1990) Regiomontanus: His life and work. Translated by Ezra Brown. Amsterdam: North-Holland; New York, N.Y., U.S.A. : Distributors for the U.S. and Canada, Elsevier Science Pub. Co., 1990 1990.
Kremer, Richard L. (2004). “Text to trophy: shifting representations of Regiomontanus's Library,” pp. 75-90. In Raven, James. Lost Libraries: The Destruction of Great Book Collections Since Antiquity. Houndmills, Basingstoke, Hampshire: Palgrave Macmillan.
And he did it all during a forty-year lifespan. I'm approaching twice that, and would be astounded had I accomplished just one of his feats