Honoré Fabri

Honoré Fabri, Fabry, Latinized Honoratus Fabrius, (* 1608 in France, † March 8, 1688 in Rome) was a French Jesuit, mathematician, astronomer, philosopher and physicist.

Life

He was probably born in 1607 or 1608 near Lyon (eg Le Grand Abergement 80 km northeast Lyon, Belley and Virieu -le- Grand were specified). His godfather was said to be the poet Honoré d' Urfé. He went to school in Belley. 1626 he joined the Jesuit order, was two years in Avignon and studied from 1628 at the Collège de la Trinité in Lyon. One of his teachers was there Boniel Claude ( 1585-1666 ). 1630-1632 taught Fabri in Roanne and then went to Rome to study at the Collegio Romano. In Rome, he was ordained in 1635 and took his degree in 1636. After that, he taught philosophy and natural science at the Jesuit College in Arles, where he also taught the new discovery of blood circulation by William Harvey. 1638 he taught logic in Aix -en- Provence, where he became friends with Pierre Gassendi, and was from 1640 professor of logic and mathematics at his old school Collège de la Trinité in Lyon. His students there included Pierre Mousnier, Philippe de La Hire, François de Raynaud and Jean Dominique Cassini. He corresponded with Christian Huygens, Constantijn Huygens, Marin Mersenne, René Descartes, Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz and other famous scientists.

1646 published his students Mousnier his logic lecture ( Philosophiae tomus primus ) and his natural philosophy or physics lectures ( Tractatus de motu locali physicus ). His publications found in the Jesuit Order no response; he was sent first to Fréjus and in 1648 to Rome, where he was entrusted with administrative tasks. The Order is said to have tried even after Mersenne unsuccessfully to exclude him, and to prevent further releases. It was assumed, for example, objected to his departure from the teaching of Aristotle. 1648 published Mousnier nor his metaphysics lecture ( Metaphysica demonstrativa ). In Rome he worked indeed for the Inquisition, but was in 1669 temporarily even in jail. The reason seems its anonymous publication on identified by Christian Huygens Saturn's rings to be ( Fabri suspected instead of rings moons and settled only after five years of discussion to Huygens view convert ), in which he expressed the view in a passage, the experiment would be about the question of the movement of the earth and ultimately decide the church adopt an open attitude in this respect. It was felt that he passed his skills here, especially since he was a member of the Inquisition. In addition, he was suspected to be followers of René Descartes. Through the mediation of Michelangelo Ricci and Leopoldo de ' Medici, he was released after a month and a half.

He is one of the early pioneers of calculus, especially in his main mathematical work Opusculum geometricum de linea sinuum et Cycloide of 1659th His integration of the cycloid had an influence on Leibniz, with whom he corresponded on Analysis and other issues.

Fabri was a friend of François d' Aix de Lachaise.

In addition, he was concerned with optics, magnetism, astronomy and developed a theory of the tides, dealt with mechanics ( parallelogram of forces, kinematics of an impact), vibrations and elasticity. Isaac Newton also knew his writings and was told by its own account first on the theory of diffraction by Francesco Maria Grimaldi through the writings of Fabri. He also tried to explain the sky blue.

1669 appeared another math book Synopsis geometrica and his Summula Theologica. In it, he advocated conservative views ( which earned him the criticism of Leibniz ), as well as in his physics book Dialogi physici of 1665, which earned him the criticism of Galileo 's supporters among physicists such as Giovanni Alfonso Borelli. He was an opponent of Jansenism.

In 1657 he became a corresponding member of the Accademia del Cimento in Florence.