Achilles Gasser | |
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Born | |
Died | 4 December 1577 Mixed Imperial City of Augsburg, Holy Roman Empire | (aged 72)
Known for | Comet observations, research on European history and geography |
Scientific career | |
Fields |
Achilles Pirmin Gasser[1] (3 November 1505 – 4 December 1577)[2] was a German physician and astrologer. He is now known as a well-connected humanistic scholar, and supporter of both Copernicus and Rheticus.
Life
[edit]Born in Lindau, he studied mathematics, history, and philosophy, as well as astronomy.[3] He was a student in Sélestat under Johannes Sapidus ;[4] he also attended universities in Wittenberg, Vienna, Montpellier, and Avignon.[5]
In 1528, German cartographer Sebastian Münster appealed to scientists across the Holy Roman Empire[6] to assist him with his description of Germany. Gassar accepted this and was later recognized by Münster as a close collaborator for his cartography of the country.[7]
Rheticus lost his physician father Georg Iserin in 1528 when he was executed on sorcery charges. Gasser later took over the practice in Feldkirch, in 1538; he taught Rheticus some astrology, and helped his education, in particular by writing to the University of Wittenberg on his behalf.[5][8][9]
When Rheticus printed his Narratio prima—the first published account of the Copernican heliocentric system—in 1540 (Danzig), he sent Gasser a copy. Gasser then undertook a second edition (1541, Basel) with his own introduction[10] in the form of a letter from Gasser to Georg Vogelin of Konstanz.[5] The second edition (1566, Basel) of De revolutionibus orbium coelestium contained the Narratio Prima with this introduction by Gasser.[11]
Works
[edit]![](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/83/Epistola_de_Magnete.jpg)
He prepared the first edition (Augsburg, 1558) of the Epistola de magnete of Pierre de Maricourt.[3][12]
Other works include:
- Historiarum et Chronicorum totius mundi epitome (1532)
- Prognosticon (1544) dedicated to Thomas Venatorius[13]
- Edition of the Evangelienbuch of Otfried of Weissenburg. His edition did not appear until 1571, under the name of Matthias Flacius who had taken over.[14]
- Observations on comets[15]
Gasser belonged with Flacius to the humanist circle around Kaspar von Niedbruck , concerned with the recovery of monastic manuscripts. Others in the group were John Bale, Conrad Gesner, Joris Cassander, Johannes Matalius Metellus, and Cornelius Wauters.[16]
Notes
[edit]- ^ Also Gassar, Gasserus, Gassarus.
- ^ Blendinger, Friedrich (1964), "Gasser, Achilles Pirminius", Neue Deutsche Biographie (in German), vol. 6, Berlin: Duncker & Humblot, p. 79; (full text online)
- ^ a b "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 29 September 2011. Retrieved 22 September 2011.
{{cite web}}
: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link) - ^ Peter G. Bietenholz and Thomas Brian Deutscher, Contemporaries of Erasmus: a biographical register of the Renaissance and Reformation (2003), Volume 3, p. 196; Google Books.
- ^ a b c Danielson, Dennis (2004), "Achilles Gasser and the birth of Copernicanism", Journal for the History of Astronomy, 35 Part 4 (121): 457–474, Bibcode:2004JHA....35..457D, doi:10.1177/002182860403500406, ISSN 0021-8286, S2CID 115298364.
- ^ Burmeister, Karl Heinz (1970). "Achilles Gasser as Geographer and Cartographer". 24. Bregenz: Imago Mundi: 57.
{{cite journal}}
: Cite journal requires|journal=
(help) - ^ Burmeister, Karl Heinz (1970). "Achilles Gasser (1505-1577) as Geographer and Cartographer". Imago Mundi. 24. Bregenz: Imago Mundi, Ltd.: 57–58. doi:10.1080/03085697008592350 – via JSTOR.
- ^ MacTutor page on Rheticus Archived 27 August 2011 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ Repcheck, pp. 113–4.
- ^ "Nicolaus Copernicus". The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy. Metaphysics Research Lab, Stanford University. 2019.
- ^ "NICOLAUS COPERNICUS THORUNENSIS - the history of the editions of de revolutionibus".
- ^ Herbermann, Charles, ed. (1913). Catholic Encyclopedia. New York: Robert Appleton Company. .
- ^ Anthony Grafton, Cardano's Cosmos: the worlds and works of a Renaissance astrologer (1999), p. 56; Google Books
- ^ Dictionaries in Early Modern Europe (PDF)[permanent dead link], p. 122.
- ^ Kokott, W., The Comet of 1533, p. 105.
- ^ Kees Dekker and Cornelis Dekker, The Origins of Old Germanic Studies in the Low Countries (1999), p. 21; Google Books.
References
[edit]- Jack Repcheck (2007), Copernicus' Secret: How the Scientific Revolution Began
- Karl Galle, Scientist of the Day - Achilles Pirmin Gasser[1]
Further reading
[edit]- Karl Heinz Burmeister (1970), Achilles Pirmin Gasser, 1505-1577. Arzt u. Naturforscher, Historiker und Humanist. (3 volumes.)
- Karl Heinz Burmeister, Achilles Pirmin Gasser (1505-1577) as Geographer and Cartographer, Imago Mundi Vol. 24, (1970), pp. 57–62; https://www.jstor.org/stable/1150458
External links
[edit]- (in German) de:s:ADB:Gasser, Achilles Pirminius
- CERL page
- (in French) Old dictionary entry
- ^ Galle, Karl (3 November 2021). "Scientist of the Day - Achilles Pirmin Gasser".