Biography

Georg Von Peuerbach

            Georg Von Peuerbach was an Austrian astronomer and mathematician of whom was key in the revival of the geocentric model of cosmetology known as the Ptolemaic system. Born in Peuerbach, Austria in 1421, Georg was not really put onto the theoretical radar until about 1446 upon which time he had entered the University of Vienna. Not two years later was he on the road across northern Italy, lecturing on astronomy in places such as Padua. He travelled from 1448-1451 before returning to the University where he got a masters in arts and taught Latin poetry. Though to be honest, no one really took note of his poetic interests. Of course, it does help being the court astronomer, on a few different occasions. Such as his first position with King Ladislas V around 1457, which of course led to him working under his uncle who was the Holy Roman Emperor Frederick III. Together with his student Johannes Muller, he observed multiple interesting observations including some lunar eclipses and two comets which included Halley’s comet. But in the end, Georg will always be best known for his book the Theoricae Novae Planetarum which he wrote in 1454, translating to New Theories of the Planets. This book, interestingly enough, actually started as notes taken by Regiomontanus during his lectures at the Viennese Citizens’ School. This book was so popular in fact, that it actually ended up replacing the former textbook Theorica Planetarum Communis or the Theory of the Planets, which had been widely used in the field of Astronomy for a very long time.

            Now, by the 17^th century, the New Theory of the Planets had become the textbook standard. It had been made into more than 50 Latin and vernacular variants, and distributed far and wide. It even gave notable figures such as Copernicus and Galileo better and more simplified explanations of the Ptolemaic system. It also helped giving Ptolemy’s Almagest a better physical interpretation of his complicated mathematical problems and models. Beyond that, Georg also created the Tabulae Eclipsium around 1459, which was an amazing set of eclipse tables, which ended up becoming another widely used and respected text. And in the end, his best achievement of all was the fact that he was able to keep all of this relatively simple, restricting it to things like sine tables and basic arithmetic, along with enabling the ease of use of the calculating devices while constructing some of his own, like quadrants, astrolabes and gnomons. This man influenced us, some of the astronomical giants in history, and astronomy in general, helping bridge the gap between the average person and the understanding of space and its structure.