From The Hutchinson Unabridged Encyclopedia
Arabian scientist. He was the author of the Kitab al-Manazir/Book of Optics, translated into Latin as Opticae thesaurus (1572). For centuries it remained the most comprehensive and authoritative treatment of optics in both East and West.
Greek mathematician, physicist, and inventor. He is famous for his work in geometry (on the circle, sphere, cylinder, and parabola), physics, mechanics, and hydrostatics.
From The Columbia Encyclopedia
Greek astronomer and mathematician of the Alexandrian school. He is said to have been the first to propose a heliocentric or sun-centered theory of the universe. Of his writings only a treatise, The Sizes and Distances of the Sun and Moon, remains.
From Astronomy Encyclopedia
Indian mathematician and astronomer who wrote three astronomical treatises, only one of which, the Āryabhatīya (AD 499), survives.
From <i>Chamber's Biographical Dictionary</i>
Born in Wan (Nanyang), he was the astronomer royal at the court of the later Han emperors. Although none of his actual works has survived there are detailed accounts extant of several of his inventions.
From The Columbia Encyclopedia
Greek astronomer, mathematician, and physician. From the accounts of various ancient writers, he appears to have studied with Plato in Athens, spent some time in Heliopolis, Egypt, founded a school in Cyzicus, and spent his later years in Cnidus, where he had an observatory.
From Chambers Biographical Dictionary
It is reported that he was the first to propose that the Earth spins from west to east, thinking it highly improbable that the stars and planets could rotate once every 24 hours.
From Astronomy Encyclopedia
Greek astronomer, geographer and mathematician who made observations from Nicea (in what is now modern Turkey), Alexandria, Egypt and the Greek island of Rhodes.
Persian poet and mathematician. As astronomer to Sultan Malikshah, he was one of a group that undertook to reform the calendar.
Greek astronomer, mathematician, and geographer. His Geography was the standard geographical textbook until the discoveries of the 15th century.
From Astronomy Encyclopedia
Islamic Turkish ruler of Maverannakhr (now Uzbekistan) and astronomer, whose name means ‘great prince’; his real name was Muhammad Taragi ibn Shah-Rukh ibn-Timur. In 1420 Beg built a madrasa (university) equipped with a three-story observatory at Samarkand.
Danish astronomer, sometimes known by his first name only, who is most noted for his remarkably accurate measurements of the positions of stars and the movements of the planets.
French astronomer, born in Italy. He discovered (1675) Cassini's division, the gap that divides Saturn's rings into two parts, and four of Saturn's moons.
Polish astronomer who promulgated the now accepted theory that the earth and the planets move about the sun (the Copernican system).
Great Italian astronomer, mathematician, and physicist.
English mathematician, physicist, and astronomer who not only identified the comet later to be known by his name, but also compiled a star catalogue, detected stellar motion using historical records, and began a line of research that – after his death – resulted in a reasonably accurate calculation of the astronomical unit.
German-born English astronomer and musician. He took up astronomy in the 1770s, making his own telescopes and mirrors.
Dutch physicist and astronomer who discovered Saturn's rings (1655), pioneered the use of pendulums in clocks (1657), and formulated Huygens' principle.
German astronomer who combined great mathematical skills with patience and an almost mystical sense of universal harmony.
From The Hutchinson Dictionary of Scientific Biography
French astronomer whose work on the discovery of comets led to a compilation of the locations of nebulae and star clusters - the Messier catalogue - that is still of some relevance 200 years later.
English mathematician and scientist who invented differential calculus and formulated the theory of universal gravitation.
From Chambers Biographical Dictionary
English mathematician. Born probably in Halifax, West Yorkshire, he is said to have studied at Oxford and taught mathematics at Paris, where he died in 1244 or 1256.
From The Columbia Encyclopedia
Pope (999–1003), a Frenchman (b. Auvergne) named Gerbert; successor of Gregory V. In his youth he studied at Muslim schools in Spain and became learned in mathematics and astronomy.
From The Hutchinson Unabridged Encyclopedia
Arabian scientist. He was the author of the Kitab al-Manazir/Book of Optics, translated into Latin as Opticae thesaurus (1572). For centuries it remained the most comprehensive and authoritative treatment of optics in both East and West.
Greek mathematician, physicist, and inventor. He is famous for his work in geometry (on the circle, sphere, cylinder, and parabola), physics, mechanics, and hydrostatics.
From The Columbia Encyclopedia
Greek astronomer and mathematician of the Alexandrian school. He is said to have been the first to propose a heliocentric or sun-centered theory of the universe. Of his writings only a treatise, The Sizes and Distances of the Sun and Moon, remains.
From Astronomy Encyclopedia
Indian mathematician and astronomer who wrote three astronomical treatises, only one of which, the Āryabhatīya (AD 499), survives.
From Chamber's Biographical Dictionary
Born in Wan (Nanyang), he was the astronomer royal at the court of the later Han emperors. Although none of his actual works has survived there are detailed accounts extant of several of his inventions.
From The Columbia Encyclopedia
Greek astronomer, mathematician, and physician. From the accounts of various ancient writers, he appears to have studied with Plato in Athens, spent some time in Heliopolis, Egypt, founded a school in Cyzicus, and spent his later years in Cnidus, where he had an observatory.
From Chambers Biographical Dictionary
It is reported that he was the first to propose that the Earth spins from west to east, thinking it highly improbable that the stars and planets could rotate once every 24 hours.
From Astronomy Encyclopedia
Greek astronomer, geographer and mathematician who made observations from Nicea (in what is now modern Turkey), Alexandria, Egypt and the Greek island of Rhodes.
Persian poet and mathematician. As astronomer to Sultan Malikshah, he was one of a group that undertook to reform the calendar.
Greek astronomer, mathematician, and geographer. His Geography was the standard geographical textbook until the discoveries of the 15th century.
From Astronomy Encyclopedia
Islamic Turkish ruler of Maverannakhr (now Uzbekistan) and astronomer, whose name means ‘great prince’; his real name was Muhammad Taragi ibn Shah-Rukh ibn-Timur. In 1420 Beg built a madrasa (university) equipped with a three-story observatory at Samarkand.
Danish astronomer, sometimes known by his first name only, who is most noted for his remarkably accurate measurements of the positions of stars and the movements of the planets.
French astronomer, born in Italy. He discovered (1675) Cassini's division, the gap that divides Saturn's rings into two parts, and four of Saturn's moons.
Polish astronomer who promulgated the now accepted theory that the earth and the planets move about the sun (the Copernican system).
Great Italian astronomer, mathematician, and physicist.
English mathematician, physicist, and astronomer who not only identified the comet later to be known by his name, but also compiled a star catalogue, detected stellar motion using historical records, and began a line of research that – after his death – resulted in a reasonably accurate calculation of the astronomical unit.
German-born English astronomer and musician. He took up astronomy in the 1770s, making his own telescopes and mirrors.
Dutch physicist and astronomer who discovered Saturn's rings (1655), pioneered the use of pendulums in clocks (1657), and formulated Huygens' principle.
German astronomer who combined great mathematical skills with patience and an almost mystical sense of universal harmony.
From The Hutchinson Dictionary of Scientific Biography
French astronomer whose work on the discovery of comets led to a compilation of the locations of nebulae and star clusters - the Messier catalogue - that is still of some relevance 200 years later.
English mathematician and scientist who invented differential calculus and formulated the theory of universal gravitation.
From Chambers Biographical Dictionary
English mathematician. Born probably in Halifax, West Yorkshire, he is said to have studied at Oxford and taught mathematics at Paris, where he died in 1244 or 1256.
From The Columbia Encyclopedia
Pope (999–1003), a Frenchman (b. Auvergne) named Gerbert; successor of Gregory V. In his youth he studied at Muslim schools in Spain and became learned in mathematics and astronomy.
Instrument for measuring the altitude of the sun or another celestial body; such measurements can then be used to determine the observer's geographical position or for other navigational, surveying, or astronomical applications.