mathematics

Johannes Praetorius (mathematician)

Johannes Praetorius (mathematician) is a mathematics topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Johannes Praetorius (mathematician) rather than just read about it. In short: Johannes Praetorius or Johann Richter (1537 – 27 October 1616) was a German mathematician and astronomer. Life Praetorius was born in Jáchymov, Bohemia.

Key takeaways

Johannes Praetorius (mathematician) belongs to mathematics; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Johannes Praetorius (mathematician) to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Johannes Praetorius (mathematician) from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

Johannes Praetorius or Johann Richter (1537 – 27 October 1616) was a German mathematician and astronomer.

Life

Praetorius was born in Jáchymov, Bohemia. From 1557 he studied at the University of Wittenberg, and from 1562 to 1569 he lived in Nuremberg. His astronomical and mathematical instruments are kept at Germanisches Nationalmuseum in Nuremberg. In 1571 he became Professor of mathematics (astronomy) at Wittenberg where he met Valentinus Otho and Joachim Rheticus. He died in Altdorf bei Nürnberg, aged about 79. He taught Copernicus' theory of astronomy initially as a means of eliminating the equant from Ptolemy's account, and later moving to a proto-Tychonic system.

Works De cometis, qui antea visi sunt, et de eo qui novissime mense Novembri apparuit, narratio 1578 Problema, quod iubet ex quatuor rectis lineis datis quadrilaterum fieri, quod sit in circulo 1598

References

Sources "Entry". Zedlers Universallexikon. Vol. 29. p. 86. Gerhard Bott (Hrsg.): Focus Behaim Globus. 2 Bde. Nürnberg: Verlag des Germanischen Nationalmuseums 1992 Johann Gabriel Doppelmayr: Historische Nachricht von den Nürnbergischen Mathematicis und Künstlern. Nürnberg: Peter Conrad Monath 1730, S. 83-92 Siegmund Günther (1888). "Praetorius, Johannes" . Allgemeine Deutsche Biographie (in German). Vol. 26. Leipzig: Duncker & Humblot. pp. 519–520. Felix Schmeidler (2001). "Praetorius, Johannes". Neue Deutsche Biographie (in German). Vol. 20. Berlin: Duncker & Humblot. p. 667. Klaus Matthäus: Zur Geschichte des Nürnberger Kalenderwesens. Frankfurt a.M.: Buchhändler-Vereinigung 1969, Sp. 1044-1047 Uwe Müller (Hrsg.): 450 Jahre Copernicus „De revolutionibus“. Astronomische und mathematische Bücher aus Schweinfurter Bibliotheken. Schweinfurt: Stadtarchiv 1993 Zofia Wardeska: Die Universität Altdorf als Zentrum der Copernicus-Rezeption um die Wende vom 16. zum 17. Jahrhundert. Sudhoffs Archiv 61/2, 1977, S. 156-164 Georg Andreas Will: Nürnbergisches Gelehrtenlexikon Bd. 3. Nürnberg: Lorenz Schüpfel 1757, S. 225-231 Helmar Junghans: Verzeichnis der Rektoren, Prorektoren, Dekane, Professoren und Schloßkirchenprediger der Leucorea vom Sommersemester 1536 bis zum Wintersemester 1574/75. In Irene Dingel, Günther Wartenberg: Georg Major (1502-1574) - Ein Theologe der Wittenberger Reformation. Evangelische Verlagsanstalt, Leipzig, 2005, ISBN 3-374-02332-0

External links Johannes Praetorius at the Mathematics Genealogy Project Astronomie in Nürnberg Archived 27 September 2007 at the Wayback Machine Vorfahren des Pantometrums

Illustrations

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Johannes Praetorius (mathematician)

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Johannes Praetorius (mathematician) claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In mathematics, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Johannes Praetorius (mathematician) before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Johannes Praetorius (mathematician) ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Johannes Praetorius (mathematician)

In research: Johannes Praetorius (mathematician) appears in mathematics research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Johannes Praetorius (mathematician) in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Johannes Praetorius (mathematician) is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics 1537 births, 1616 deaths, 16th-century German astronomers, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Johannes Praetorius (mathematician) outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study Johannes Praetorius (mathematician) in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Johannes Praetorius (mathematician) means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Johannes Praetorius (mathematician) out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Johannes Praetorius (mathematician) in simple terms?

Johannes Praetorius or Johann Richter (1537 – 27 October 1616) was a German mathematician and astronomer. Life Praetorius was born in Jáchymov, Bohemia.

Why does Johannes Praetorius (mathematician) matter?

Because it connects several mathematics ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Johannes Praetorius (mathematician)?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Johannes Praetorius (mathematician).