Johannes Müller von Königsberg (June 6, 1436 – July 6, 1476), known by his Latin pseudonym Regiomontanus, was an important German mathematician, astronomer and astrologer. He was born in the Franconian village of Unfinden near Königsberg, Bavaria (not to be confused with the East Prussian city of Königsberg, now known as Kaliningrad). Image File history File links Download high resolution version (1000x1634, 968 KB) Regiomontanus (1436–1476) German mathematician, astronomer and astrologer. ... June 6 is the 157th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (158th in leap years), with 208 days remaining. ... Events April - Paris is recaptured by the French End of the Hussite Wars in Bohemia. ... July 6 is the 187th day of the year (188th in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar, with 178 days remaining. ... Events March 2 - Battle of Grandson. ... Latin is an ancient Indo-European language originally spoken in the region around Rome called Latium. ... A pseudonym (Greek: false name) is a fictitious name used by an individual as an alternative to their legal name (whereas an allonym is the name of another actual person assumed by one person, usually historical, in authorship of a work of art; e. ... This article is in need of attention from an expert on the subject. ... An astronomer or astrophysicist is a scientist whose area of research is astronomy or astrophysics. ... An astrological chart (or horoscope) _ Y2K Chart — This particular chart is calculated for January 1, 2000 at 12:01:00 A.M. Eastern Standard Time in New York City, New York, USA. (Longitude: 074W0023 - Latitude: 40N4251) Astrology (from Greek: αστρολογία = άστρον, astron, star + λόγος, logos, word) is... The Franconian Rake is originally is a heraldic symbol of the bishops of Würzburg, who - though nominally Dukes of Franconia - only ruled in parts of Franconia. ... East Prussia (German: Ostpreu en; Polish: Prusy Wschodnie; Russian: Восточная Пруссия — Vostochnaya Prussiya) was a province of Kingdom of Prussia, situated on the territory of former Ducal Prussia. ... Former German name of the city of Kaliningrad. ... Map of Kaliningrad Oblast Kaliningrad (Russian: Калининград, German: Königsberg, Polish: Królewiec, Lithuanian: Karaliaučius, Latin: Regiomontium) is a seaport city, capital and main city of the Kaliningrad Oblast, the Russian exclave between Poland and Lithuania on the Baltic Sea. ...

He is also called Johannes Müller, der Königsberger (Johannes Müller of Königsberg). His full Latin name was Joannes de Regio monte, which abbreviated to Regiomontanus (from the Latin for "Königsberg"—"King's Mountain"). Latin is an ancient Indo-European language originally spoken in the region around Rome called Latium. ...

At eleven years of age, he became a student at the university in Leipzig, Saxony. Three years later he continued his studies at Alma Mater Rudolfina, the university in Vienna, Austria. There he became a pupil and friend of Georg von Peurbach. In 1457 he graduated with a degree of "magister artium" (Master of Arts) and held lectures in optics and ancient literature. He built astrolabes for Matthias Corvinus of Hungary and Cardinal Bessarion, and in 1465 a portable sundial for Pope Paul II. His work with Peurbach brought him to the writings of Nicholas of Cusa (Cusanus), who held a heliocentric view. Regiomontanus, however, remained a geocentrist after Ptolemy. Following Peurbach's death, he continued the translation of Ptolemy's Almagest which Peurbach had begun at the initiative of Johannes Bessarion. From 1461 to 1465 Regiomontanus lived and worked at Cardinal Bessarion's house in Rome. He wrote De Triangulis omnimodus (1464) and Epytoma in almagesti Ptolemei. De Triangulis (On Triangles) was one of the first textbooks presenting the current state of trigonometry and included lists of questions for review of individual chapters. In it he wrote: Leipzig â–¶(?) [] (Sorbian/Lusatian: Lipsk) is the largest city in the federal state (Bundesland) of Saxony in Germany. ... With an area of 18,413 km² and a population of 4. ... University of Vienna, main building, seen from Beethovens apartment The University of Vienna (German: Universität Wien) in Austria was founded in 1365 by Rudolph IV and hence named Alma mater Rudolphina. ... Vienna (German: Wien [viːn]; Hungarian: Bécs, Czech: Vídeň, Slovak: Viedeň, Romany Vidnya; Serbian: Beč) is the capital of Austria, and also one of Austrias nine states (Land Wien). ... Events University of Freiburg founded. ... A lecture on linear algebra at the Helsinki University of Technology A lecture is a presentation on a particular subject given in order to teach people about that subject, for example by a university or college teacher. ... See also: List of optical topics Optics (appearance or look in ancient Greek) is a branch of physics that describes the behavior and properties of light and the interaction of light with matter. ... For the ship of Dumont dUrville, see Astrolabe A 16th century astrolabe. ... Matthias Corvinus as depicted in Chronica Hungarorum by Ján z Turca Matthias Corvinus (Hungarian: Corvinus Mátyás and Hunyadi Mátyás, Romanian: Matei Corvin) (February 23, 1443 (?) – April 6, 1490) was one of the greatest Kings of Hungary, ruling between 1458 and 1490. ... Events July 13 - Battle of Montlhéry Troops of King Louis XI of France fight inconclusively against an army of the great nobles organized as the League of the Public Weal. ... Wall sundial Wall sundial in Warsaws Old Town A sundial measures time by the position of the sun. ... Pope Paul II, né Pietro Barbo (February 23, 1417 – July 26, 1471), was pope from 1464 to 1471. ... Nicholas of Cusa Nicholas of Cusa (1401 - August 11, 1464) was a cardinal of the Catholic Church, a philosopher, a mathematician, and an astronomer. ... In astronomy, heliocentrism is the theory that the Sun is at the center of the Universe and/or the Solar System. ... Claudius Ptolemaeus, given contemporary German styling, in a 16th century engraved book frontispiece. ... Almagest is the Latin form of the Arabic name (al-kitabu-l-mijisti, i. ... Johannes Bessarion, or Basilius (c. ... Events February 2 - Battle of Mortimers Cross - Yorkist troops led by Edward, Duke of York defeat Lancastrians under Owen Tudor and his son Jasper Tudor, Earl of Pembroke in Wales. ... Events July 13 - Battle of Montlhéry Troops of King Louis XI of France fight inconclusively against an army of the great nobles organized as the League of the Public Weal. ... City motto: Senatus Populusque Romanus – SPQR (The Senate and the People of Rome) Founded 21 April 753 BC mythical, 1st millennium BC Region Latium Mayor Walter Veltroni (Left-Wing Democrats) Area  - City Proper  1290 km² Population  - City (2004)  - Metropolitan  - Density (city proper) 2,546,807 almost 4,000,000 1... Trigonometry (from the Greek trigonon = three angles and metro = measure) is a branch of mathematics dealing with angles, triangles and trigonometric functions such as sine, cosine and tangent. ...

"You who wish to study great and wonderful things, who wonder about the movement of the stars, must read these theorems about triangles. Knowing these ideas will open the door to all of astronomy and to certain geometric problems."

In the Epytoma he critiqued the translation, pointing out inaccuracies. Later Nicolaus Copernicus would refer to this book as an influence on his own work. In 1467 Regiomontanus left Rome to work at the court of Matthias Corvinus of Hungary. There he calculated extensive astronomical tables and built astronomical instruments. Nicolaus Copernicus (Mikołaj Kopernik) Mikołaj Kopernik (February 19, 1473 – May 24, 1543), more commonly known by the Latin form Nicolaus Copernicus, was a Polish astronomer, mathematician, economist and astrologer. ... Events October 29 - Battle of Brusthem: Charles the Bold defeats Liege Beginning of the Sengoku Period in Japan. ... Matthias Corvinus as depicted in Chronica Hungarorum by Ján z Turca Matthias Corvinus (Hungarian: Corvinus Mátyás and Hunyadi Mátyás, Romanian: Matei Corvin) (February 23, 1443 (?) – April 6, 1490) was one of the greatest Kings of Hungary, ruling between 1458 and 1490. ...

In 1471 he moved to the Free City of Nuremberg, in Franconia, then one of the Empire's important seats of learning, publication, commerce and art. Regiomontanus remains famous for having built at Nuremberg the first astronomical observatory in Germany, perhaps in Europe. There he published many astronomical charts. This article is about the year 1471, not the BT caller ID service accessible by dialling 1-4-7-1. ... Hl. ... The Franconian Rake is originally is a heraldic symbol of the bishops of Würzburg, who - though nominally Dukes of Franconia - only ruled in parts of Franconia. ...

In 1475 he went to Rome to work with Pope Sixtus IV on calendar reform. While there, Regiomontanus died mysteriously: some say of plague, others by (more likely) assassination. That was on July 6, 1476, when he had just turned forty a month earlier. Events August 29 - Treaty of Picquigny ends a brief war between France and England. ... Sixtus IV, born Francesco della Rovere (July 21, 1414 – August 12, 1484) was Pope from 1471 to 1484, essentially a Renaissance prince, the Sixtus of the Sistine Chapel where the team of artists he brought together introduced the Early Renaissance to Rome with a masterpiece. ... Various reforms to the Gregorian calendar have been proposed. ... Plague is usually understood as a generic term for Bubonic plague, the mortal disease caused by the bacillus Yersinia pestis, which is spread by fleas from rats and some species of mice to human beings. ... Jack Ruby murdered the assassin, Lee Harvey Oswald, in a very public manner. ...

Domenico Maria Novara da Ferrara, the teacher of Nicolaus Copernicus, referred to Regiomontanus as having been his own teacher. Domenico Maria Novara (Ferrara, 1454-1504) was an astronomer and for 21 years was a professor at Bolognas university, where he became famous as Nicolaus Copernicus teacher. ...

A prolific author, Regiomontanus was internationally famous already in his lifetime. Despite having completed only a quarter of what he had intended to write, he left a substantial body of work.

It is not true that he came to be called posthumously after the place of his birth, Königsberg (in Latin, Regiomontanus). In Regiomontanus' day it was common for scholars to Latinize their names when publishing. Copernicus did likewise, which is why we do not know him today by his actual name, Nikołai Kopernik.

Regiomontanus and Astrology

One biographer has claimed to have detected a decline in Regiomontanus' interest in astrology over his life, and came close to asserting that Regiomontanus had rejected it altogether. But more recent commentators have suggested that the occasional expression of skepticism about astrological prognostication reflected a disquiet about the procedural rigor of the art, not about its underlying principles. It seems plausible that, like some other astronomers, Regiomontanus concentrated his efforts on mathematical astronomy because he felt that astrology could not be placed on a sound footing until the celestial motions had been modeled accurately. An astrological chart (or horoscope) - Y2K Chart — This particular chart is calculated for January 1, 2000 at 12:01:00 A.M. Eastern Standard Time in New York City, New York, USA. (Longitude: 074W0023 - Latitude: 40N4251), using the tropical zodiac Astrology (from Greek: αστρολογία = άστρον, astron, star + λόγος, logos, word) is... Occams Razor non sunt multiplicanda entia praeter necessitatem or plurality should not be posited without necessity is a central tenet of skeptical thought. ... An astrological chart (or horoscope) _ Y2K Chart — This particular chart is calculated for January 1, 2000 at 12:01:00 A.M. Eastern Standard Time in New York City, New York, USA. (Longitude: 074W0023 - Latitude: 40N4251) Astrology (from Greek: αστρολογία = άστρον, astron, star + λόγος, logos, word) is... An astronomer or astrophysicist is a scientist whose area of research is astronomy or astrophysics. ... Mathematics is commonly defined as the study of patterns of structure, change, and space; more informally, one might say it is the study of figures and numbers. Mathematical knowledge is constantly growing, through research and application, but mathematics itself is not usually considered a natural science. ... Astrology: the study of the positions of the celestial objects relative to the Earth and how these positions affect happenings on the lives of cultures, nations and the natural environment. ... An astrological chart (or horoscope) - Y2K Chart — This particular chart is calculated for January 1, 2000 at 12:01:00 A.M. Eastern Standard Time in New York City, New York, USA. (Longitude: 074W0023 - Latitude: 40N4251), using the tropical zodiac Astrology (from Greek: αστρολογία = άστρον, astron, star + λόγος, logos, word) is...

In his youth, Regiomontanus had cast horoscopes (natal charts) for famous patrons. His Tabulae directionum, completed in Hungary, were designed for astrological use and contained a discussion of different ways of determining astrological houses. The calendars for 1475-1531 which he printed at Nuremberg contained only limited astrological information—a method of finding times for bloodletting according to the position of the moon; subsequent editors added material. In astrology, a horoscope is a chart or diagram representing the positions of the planets and other celestial bodies at the time of any moment in time or any event, such as a persons birth. ... Example of a natal chart A natal chart is another name for the astrological birth chart -- it is the unique astrological chart specific to an individuals birth that shows the positions of the Sun, Ascendant, Moon, Lunar Nodes, and all of the other planets in our solar system as... An astrological chart (or horoscope) _ Y2K Chart — This particular chart is calculated for January 1, 2000 at 12:01:00 A.M. Eastern Standard Time in New York City, New York, USA. (Longitude: 074W0023 - Latitude: 40N4251) Astrology (from Greek: αστρολογία = άστρον, astron, star + λόγος, logos, word) is... Most astrological systems divide the astrological chart (or natal chart) into twelve houses, which depend more on the time and place of birth (or initiation) than on the date. ... Events August 29 - Treaty of Picquigny ends a brief war between France and England. ... Events January 26 - Lisbon, Portugal is hit by an earthquake-- thousands die October 1 - Battle of Kappel - The forces of Zürich are defeated by the Catholic cantons. ... Hl. ... Bloodletting (or blood-letting, in modern medicine referred to as phlebotomy) was a popular medical practice from antiquity up to the late 19th century, involving the withdrawal of often considerable quantities of blood from a patient in the belief that this would cure or prevent illness and disease. ... Crust composition Oxygen 43% Silicon 21% Aluminium 10% Calcium 9% Iron 9% Magnesium 5% Titanium 2% Nickel 0. ...

But perhaps the works most indicative of Regiomontanus' hopes for an empirically sound astrology were his almanacs or ephemerides, produced first in Vienna for his own benefit, and printed in Nuremberg for the years 1475-1506. Weather predictions and observations were juxtaposed by Regiomontanus in his manuscript almanacs, and the form of the printed text enabled scholars to enter their own weather observations in order to likewise check astrological predictions; extant copies reveal that several did so. Regiomontanus' Ephemeris would be used in 1504, by a Christopher Columbus stranded on Jamaica, to intimidate the natives into continuing to provision him and his crew from their scanty food stocks, when he successfully predicted a lunar eclipse for February 29, 1504. Empirical is an adjective often used in conjunction with science, both the natural and social sciences, which means an observation or experiment based upon experience that is capable of being verified or disproved. ... An almanac (also spelled almanack, especially in Commonwealth English) is an annual publication containing tabular information in a particular field or fields often arranged according to the calendar. ... An ephemeris (plural: ephemerides) (from the Greek word ephemeros= daily) was, traditionally, a table providing the positions (given in a Cartesian coordinate system, or in right ascension and declination or, for astrologers, in longitude along the zodiacal ecliptic), of the Sun, the Moon, and the planets in the sky at... Vienna (German: Wien [viːn]; Hungarian: Bécs, Czech: Vídeň, Slovak: Viedeň, Romany Vidnya; Serbian: Beč) is the capital of Austria, and also one of Austrias nine states (Land Wien). ... Hl. ... Events August 29 - Treaty of Picquigny ends a brief war between France and England. ... Events January 21 - Pope Julius II founds the Swiss Guard Second outbreak of the sweating sickness in England Leonardo da Vinci completes the Mona Lisa. ... Meteorology is the scientific study of the atmosphere that focuses on weather processes and forecasting. ... An astrological chart (or horoscope) _ Y2K Chart — This particular chart is calculated for January 1, 2000 at 12:01:00 A.M. Eastern Standard Time in New York City, New York, USA. (Longitude: 074W0023 - Latitude: 40N4251) Astrology (from Greek: αστρολογία = άστρον, astron, star + λόγος, logos, word) is... Events January 1 - French troops surrender Gaeta to the Spanish under Cordoba. ... Christopher Columbus (conjectural image by Sebastiano del Piombo). ... An eclipse occurs whenever the Sun, Earth and Moon line up exactly. ... February 29 is the 60th day of a leap year in the Gregorian Calendar, with 306 days remaining. ... Events January 1 - French troops surrender Gaeta to the Spanish under Cordoba. ...

Regiomontanus did not live to produce the special commentary to the ephemerides that he had promised would reveal the advantages the almanacs held for the multifarious activities of physicians, for human births and the telling of the future, for weather forecasting, for the inauguration of employment, and for a host of other activities, although this lack was again made good by subsequent editors. Nevertheless Regiomontanus' promise suggests that he either was as convinced of the validity and utility of astrology as his contemporaries, or was willing to set aside his misgivings for the sake of commercial success. Physician examining a child The word physician should not be confused with physicist, which means a scientist in the area of physics. ... Birth is the process in animals by which an offspring is expelled from the body of its mother. ... For the meaning in finance, see futures contract. ... Composite satellite image showing the progress of a hurricane weather system approaching the East Coast of the United States Weather comprises all the various phenomena that occur in the atmosphere of a planet. ... Employment is a contract between two parties, one being the employer and the other being the employee. ... An astrological chart (or horoscope) - Y2K Chart — This particular chart is calculated for January 1, 2000 at 12:01:00 A.M. Eastern Standard Time in New York City, New York, USA. (Longitude: 074W0023 - Latitude: 40N4251), using the tropical zodiac Astrology (from Greek: αστρολογία = άστρον, astron, star + λόγος, logos, word) is...

External links

• Adam Mosley, Regiomontanus Biography, web site at the Department of History and Philosophy of Science of the University of Cambridge (1999).
• Biography at the MacTutor archive