Jost Bürgi (nonfiction)

Portrait of Jost Bürgi.

Jost Bürgi (also Joost, Jobst; Latinized surname Burgius or Byrgius; 28 February 1552 – 31 January 1632), active primarily at the courts in Kassel and Prague, was a Swiss clockmaker, a maker of astronomical instruments and a mathematician.

Although an autodidact, he was already during his lifetime considered as one of the most excellent mechanical engineers of his generation. His employer, William IV, Landgrave of Hesse-Kassel, in a letter to Tycho Brahe praised Bürgi as a "second Archimedes" (quasi indagine Archimedes alter est).

Some authors consider Bürgi as one of the inventors of logarithms.

His legacy also includes the engineering achievement contained in his innovative mechanical astronomical models.

Nonfiction cross-reference

External links:

• Jost Bürgi (nonfiction) @ Wikipedia