Regiomontanus: His Life and Work

The 500th anniversary of Regiomontanus's birth has occasioned this depiction of his life and work. It is the first English translation of Ernst Zinner's monumental biography, plus a number of specially-written supplementary articles which help paint a more comprehensive picture of the current state of knowledge about Regiomontanus. The articles show the high regard in which the biography is still held by the community of scholars doing work on the mathematics of the Renaissance.

Zinner's biography is a mine of information about early printing, astrolabes, tables of eclipses and the world of Henry of Langenstein, Johann of Gmunden, Georg Peuerbach, Cardinal Bessarion, Nicholas of Cusa and the extraordinary itinerant scholar, Johannes Müller of Königsberg - Regiomontanus. His contributions to mathematics are discussed (for example, he may have discovered the fifth and sixth perfect numbers) as well as the mysteries surrounding his life and death.

Inhalt

Childhood. Kinship. The Leipzig Student Years. The Vienna Student Years. Astronomy in Austria. The Modern Sundial and the Discovery of the Magnetic Declination of the Compass Needle. Georg Peuerbach. Regiomontanus's Works in Vienna. The Years of Travel in Italy. The Epitome of Ptolemy's Almagest. The De triangulis. Correspondence with Giovanni Bianchini. The Padua Lectures. Venetian Works. Works in Rome. The Years of Travel in Hungary. The Tables. The Making of Instruments. The Observations. The Nuremberg Master Years. The Work Plan. Mathematical Works. The Printing of Scientific Works. The Almanacs or Ephemerides. The Ephemerides during the Time of the Discovery of America. The Calendars. The Determination of Cometary Sizes and Distances. The Making of Instruments. The Nuremberg Observations. Minor Works. Regiomontanus's Death in Rome. His Estate. Likenesses of Regiomontanus. His Personality and His Goals. Posterity's Judgment of Regiomontanus. Scientific Works in the Estates of Regiomontanus and Walther.
Notes. Bibliography. Index.
Supplements. Introduction (W. Kaunzer). From Königsberg to Rome (R. Mett). Regiomontanus and Leipzig (H. Wussing). Supplements to Zinner's Book (F. Schmeidler). The Most Recent Results of Research on Regiomontanus (A. Gerl). Problems of Calendar Reform from Regiomontanus to the Present (K. Reich). New Results on the Mathematical Activity of Regiomontanus (M. Folkerts). On Regiomontanus's Arithmetic and Algebra in De triangulis Omnimodis libri quinque (W. Kaunzner). Supplementary Literature on Regiomontanus. Works on Regiomontanus Published in the USSR or Written by Soviet Scholars. Conferences Commemorating Anniversaries of Regiomontanus's Birth or Death.