Background
Regiomontanus was born in Königsberg, in the duchy of Coburg on June 6, 1436. He was the son of a miller.
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Regiomontanus was born in Königsberg, in the duchy of Coburg on June 6, 1436. He was the son of a miller.
At the age of 12 he began the study of classical languages and mathematics at the University of Leipzig. In 1452 he moved to Vienna and became the favorite pupil of Georg Peurbach, astronomer and mathematician, who interested Regiomontanus in securing a truly reliable version of Ptolemy's Almagest. In 1452 he was awarded the bachelor degree (baccalaureus), and he was awarded his magister artium (Master of Arts) at the age of 21 in 1457.
In 1461, Regiomontanus went to Italy and established close contacts with Cardinal Bessarion, the leading Greek scholar of the time. Regiomontanus made quick progress in Greek and studied various Greek mathematical and astronomical texts in addition to Ptolemy's Almagest. The study of this latter work enabled him to complete Peurbach's Epitome in Cl. Ptolemaei magnam compositionem, but it saw print only in 1496.
The most important work of Regiomontanus, completed in 1464 but printed in 1533, was the first fullfledged monograph on trigonometry, De triangulis omnimodis libri quinque (Five Books on All Kinds of Triangles). The first two books dealt with plane trigonometry, while the rest were largely devoted to spherical trigonometry. Although Regiomontanus relied heavily on Arabic and Greek sources, such as al-Battani, Nasir al-Din al-Tusi, Menealos, Theodosius, and Ptolemy, his work was the starting point of a new development leading to modern trigonometry.
In 1468 Regiomontanus went to the court of King Matthias Corvinus of Hungary at Buda to serve as librarian of one of the richest collections of codices in existence in Europe. There he completed his Tabulae directionum et projectionum, the first European study of Diophantes' Algebra.
In 1471 Regiomontanus went to Nuremberg at the invitation of Bernhard Walther, a rich citizen who provided him with the means to set up the first observatory in Europe. It was equipped with instruments of Regiomontanus's own making, which he described in Scripta de torqueto, astrolabio armillari, first printed in 1544. His most important observations concerned the great comet of 1472 (probably Halley's comet). Walther also set up a printing press and published Regiomontanus's calendars and pamphlets. Regiomontanus published Peurbach's planetary theory, Theoricae novae planetarum, and his own ephemerides for 1474-1506, which contained a method of calculating longitudes at sea on the basis of the motion of the moon. The book was used by the leading navigators of the times.
At the summons of Pope Sixtus IV, Regiomontanus, a newly appointed titular bishop of Ratisbon, journeyed to Italy in the fall of 1475 to undertake the reform of the calendar. He died on July 6, 1476, probably the victim of an epidemic.
Regiomontanus constructed the first European observatory and established trigonometry as a separate area of study in mathematics. His contributions were instrumental in the development of Copernican heliocentrism in the decades following his death.
The crater Regiomontanus on the Moon is named after him.
Regiomontanus’s religious life is not much popular but his works for various religious peoples comes out to be when he got direction from the local Greek speaker Bessarion, and could read other vital Greek compositions).
Regiomontanus was not politically affiliated person but for his work he kept moving in various places and many politically person to get help in his work.
Quotations: "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."
Regiomontanus had very effective personality, sense of thinking and composing his thoughts and mixing the reality properly. He was almost good writer and his handwriting was very usual that even a simple man could read that. As far, his characterizes were concerned the steadiness and consistency was impressive in attitude, this all made him to achieve high in his life.
Physical Characteristics: Regiomontanus looked like a simple man, limited to his work only and excelling in his field. He used to wear simple dress, and wear turban on his head to cover it properly. He had flashing eyes and attractive face. He had no moustache or beard on his face. Instead he had small hears which were usually covered by the turban as told.
Nothing is mentioned about his partners.
