Michael van Langren

Michael Florent van Langren called Langrenus, (* 1598 probably in Amsterdam, † 1675 in Brussels) was a mathematician, astronomer, engineer, and Cosmograph.

He was born the son of a Dutch cartographer Arnold van Langren. His family emigrated on religious grounds. He has not gone through university education. Nevertheless, he was a royal Cosmograph and mathematician at the Spanish court.

In 1645 he published the first printed map of the moon, the Plenilunium on which the visible objects were named. He also used the name for the dark spots or Mare Oceanus.

On the Moon, the crater Langrenus is named after him.

He observed the comet of 1652 and published his observations. As a cartographer, he presented some maps of the area of the Spanish Netherlands ago.

The most common was active as an engineer. He prepared plans for ports in Dunkirk and Ostend. He developed a plan for cleaning the channels of Antwerp and Brussels measures to protect them from flooding. He also planned channels between Brussels and other parts of the Spanish Netherlands. As an engineer in the service of the army, he worked on the fortifications of Brussels and designed a three-barreled cannon. Only a few of his designs were realized, however.

Langren is regarded as one of the first information scientists. In 1644, he presented at the Spanish court to the king probably the first statistical graphics. This chart showed the distances of various cities between prime meridian ( which at that time was through Toledo ) and Rome.