Alessandro Piccolomini

Alessandro Piccolomini ( born June 13, 1508 Siena, † March 12, 1578 ibid; Latin: Alexander Piccolomineus ) was a poet and philosopher, but gained particular notoriety as an astronomer.

Life

In his youth he wrote a number of comedies: Amor costante ( 1536), L' Alessandro ( 1544) and Ortensio. He translated Ovid's Metamorphoses, the poetics and the rhetoric of Aristotle. He wrote hundreds of sonnets ( Cento Sonetti, 1549 ), and other poems. In Siena, he was a member of the Accademia Intronati.

1540 he became professor of philosophy at Padua, in his treatise Della grandezza della terra et dell'acqua (Venice, 1558 ) he fought against the view expressed by Aristotle and Ptolemy believed that the water surface is larger than the land mass of the earth.

He also wrote on the improvement of the calendar ( 1578). Pope Gregory XIII. 1574 appointed him Titular Archbishop of Patras. He died on March 12, 1578 in Siena.

Astronomical works

• Della grandezza della terra et dell'acqua, 1558 ( digitized version of the Venice edition 1561)
• Della filosofia naturale, Venice 1560 ( digitized )
• In mechanicas quaestiones Aristotelis, Paraphrasis paulo quidem plenior eivsdem commentarivm de certitudine mathematicarum disciplinarum, Venice 1565 ( digitized )
• Sfera del Mondo (area of ​​the world), 1540
• Delle stelle fisse ( From the fixed stars ), 1540
• Speculazioni de ' pianeti ( speculation on the planet - Piccolomini took in the view of Ptolemy )

Honors

The lunar crater Piccolomini was named after him.