Regiomontanus (nonfiction)

Regiomontanus. Woodcut from the 1493 Nuremberg Chronicle.

Johannes Müller von Königsberg (6 June 1436 – 6 July 1476), better known as Regiomontanus, was a mathematician and astronomer of the German Renaissance, active in Vienna, Buda and Nuremberg. His contributions were instrumental in the development of Copernican heliocentrism in the decades following his death.

Regiomontanus wrote under the latinized name of Ioannes de Monteregio (or Monte Regio; Regio Monte); the adjectival Regiomontanus was first used by Philipp Melanchthon in 1534.

At eleven years of age, Regiomontanus became a student at the university in Leipzig, Saxony. In 1451 he continued his studies at Alma Mater Rudolfina, the university in Vienna, Austria. There he became a pupil and friend of Georg von Peuerbach.

In 1452 he was awarded his "magister artium" (Master of Arts) at the age of 21 in 1457. It is known that he held lectures in optics and ancient literature.

Regiomontanus continued to work with Peuerbach learning and extending the then known areas of astronomy, mathematics and instrument making until Peuerbach's death in 1461.

Nonfiction cross-reference

• Georg von Peuerbach (nonfiction)
• Mathematics (nonfiction)

External links:

• Regiomontanus @ Wikipedia