Georg von Peuerbach

Georg von Peuerbach (actually Aunpekh Georg, Johann Purbach ) (* May 30, 1423 in Peuerbach in Upper Austria, † April 8, 1461 in Vienna) was an astronomer at the University of Vienna and a pioneer of the Copernican worldview. He built innovative measurement instruments and is considered the first university professor of astronomy.

Importance

Georg von Peuerbach stood at the beginning of the scientific revolution of the early modern period; this revolution was the new world system of Nicolaus Copernicus and Kepler its conclusion. In the 15th century the planetary motion was intensively discussed by Ptolemy. This was partly necessary because the solar year always more distant from the Julian Calendar, on the other hand, more accurate "Star Books " for ship navigation were necessary. At that time, observational astronomy was revived, and this was embodied by Peuerbach.

Georg Tannstetter added in 1514 his edition of Peuerbach darkness panels also a history of Viennese mathematician and astronomer at: Viri mathematici. This is also an important source on the life and writings of Peuerbach, because here about 20 works of Peuerbach are listed.

Life

Peuerbach came in 1446 to study in Vienna ( 1448 Baccalar ). 1448 to 1451 he lived in Italy in Nicholas of Cusa. He also met the famous mathematician and astronomer Giovanni Bianchini and Toscanelli. He was court astronomer of King Ladislaus of Hungary (later he worked for Frederick III. )

In 1453 he became master of arts; the University of Vienna an outstanding teacher by him had again for Astronomy, as before by John of Gmunden. Peuerbach recognized the defects in the Ptolemaic system, and initially began a revision of the Ptolemaic main font Almagest, the then- standard work. Unlike Sacrobosco he began a new translation of the Greek original and not the Arabic translation. 1460 was the papal legate Cardinal Basil Bessarion to Vienna. He commissioned Peuerbach with an explanation of the Almagest. With his pupil Regiomontanus, he began to write the Epitome Almagest, the consummate after Peuerbach early death of this. This resulted in a new theory of the planets, the Nicolaus Copernicus was the starting point.

Together with Regiomontanus he carried out measurements of occultations of planets by the moon (for example, coverage of Jupiter by the Moon on August 9, 1451 ) and lunar eclipses, in order to verify the astronomical board works. On September 3, 1457, they observed a lunar eclipse in Melk. To determine the time they measured the height of the star Alkione. To check the 1459 calculated darkness panels " Tabulae eclipsium " they observed the lunar eclipses in the year 1460th On December 27, 1460 they used the star Alramech for determining time and found that the eclipse occurred about 5 minutes later than calculated, a good agreement.

The Planetenörter deviated from the calculations. Peuerbach began to develop correction terms for the Alfonsine Tables, but he could not finish the job. Around 1510 Johannes Engel took back to work and related it in his almanac novum atque correctum. The correction terms can be derived from a theory of the planets of the Syrian astronomer Ibn al - Shatir (1304-1375), although the transmission is unknown. Nicolaus Copernicus, who knew Angel almanacs used in its Commentariolus also a mathematical model of the planet, which corresponds to that of Ibn al - Shatir. Halley's Comet appeared in 1456 and all astrologers published writings with predictions coming disaster, including Peuerbach. However, his work was a brief not noticed paragraph in which he tried out his observations on 9 and 13 June, to estimate the size and distance of the comet. He held comets in the tradition of Aristotle, not for celestial bodies, but for meteorological phenomena in the upper atmosphere. Its very rough calculations confirmed that assumption, but apparently no one had tried before him, to measure the distance. Also from Toscanelli records have survived.

Its corresponding lectures on the planetary motions, but still based on the Ptolemaic theory, were so famous that they were from 1472 novae often under the title Theo Ricae Planetarum ( image ) printed. The first edition took place in 1472 in the Offizin specially founded for the purpose of dissemination of astronomical works of his pupil Regiomontanus and Bernard Walther in Nuremberg. The writings were - together with Sacroboscos Sphaera - throughout Europe to a classic textbook of the 16th century to the early modern period.

Peuerbach also dealt with astronomical observations and the construction of astronomical instruments. He established tools for the identification of the true new and full moons, the most significant are the inventions of the ring and the hinged sundial. He had determined the shape of the sundial to the 18th century. For St. Stephen's Cathedral in 1451, he constructed the vertical sundial on the southern buttresses of the choir ( including a small stoup of 1506). He also still designed geometricum an instrument to height measurement, the quadrate.

Finally, his work is to obtain arithmetic. Peuerbach calculated sine tables and thus simplified the use of astrolabes and quadrants, there were so read off directly from the measured sections, the angle. He also gave out astronomical yearbooks, and his darkness panels Tabulae eclipsium learned many new editions.

Peurbach but also one of the pioneers of Humanism in Central Europe. These new ideas came with Aeneas Silvio Piccolomini ( later Pope Pius II ) to Vienna, who was Secretary in the Reich Chancellery from 1443 to 1455. During this period he held lectures on the highly acclaimed poet of antiquity. Since 1451 the Master of the University read about Roman poets, including Peurbach on the Aeneid of Virgil and Juvenal.

In Linz there are the Georg -von- Peuerbach High School. The asteroid ( 9119 ) Georg Peuerbach and the moon crater Purbach were named after Georg von Peuerbach. In the castle Peuerbach in the Upper Austrian town Peuerbach there is a permanent exhibition under the title Georg von Peuerbach exhibition.