Editing Erasmus Reinhold

{{Short description|German astronomer and mathematician (1511–1553)}}
{{Infobox scientist
|name              = Erasmus Reinhold
|image             =  <!--(filename only)-->
|image_size        = 300px
|caption           = Erasmus Reinhold (1511–1553)
|birth_date        = 22 October 1511
|birth_place       = [[Saalfeld]], [[Electorate of Saxony]]
|death_date        = {{death date and age|1553|2|19|1511|10|22|df=y}}
|death_place       = Saalfeld, Electorate of Saxony
|residence         = 
|citizenship       = 
|nationality       = [[Germany|German]]
|ethnicity         = 
|fields            = [[Astronomer]] and [[mathematician]]
|workplaces        = [[University of Wittenberg]]
|alma_mater        = [[University of Wittenberg]]
|academic_advisors = [[Jacob Milich]]
|notable_students  = [[Johann Hommel|Johannes Hommel]]<br>[[Valentine Naibod]]<br>[[Caspar Peucer]]<ref>{{cite web|author=NDSU Department of Mathematics|title=Mathematics Genealogy Project|year=1997|website=Mathematics Genealogy Project|publisher=[[American Mathematical Society]]|access-date=5 April 2016|url=http://genealogy.math.ndsu.nodak.edu/id.php?id=126736}}</ref>
|known_for         = 
|author_abbrev_bot = 
|author_abbrev_zoo = 
|influences        = 
|influenced        = 
|awards            = 
|signature         = <!--(filename only)-->
|footnotes         = 
}}

'''Erasmus Reinhold''' (22 October 1511 &ndash; 19 February 1553) was a German [[astronomer]] and [[mathematician]], considered to be the most influential astronomical [[pedagogue]] of his generation.<ref>[[Owen Gingerich]]: The Role of Erasmus Reinhold and the Prutenic Tables in the Dissemination of the Copernican Theory, 1973, [[Studia Copernicana]], Poland [https://books.google.com/books?id=bR8LAAAAIAAJ&pg=PA27&dq=author:%22Owen+Gingerich%22+%2Bhe+Role+of+Erasmus+Reinhold+and+the+Prutenic+Tables+in+the+Dissemination&sig=JlCddebimY-l-bTTuNQ6uU40Dq4]</ref> He was born and died in [[Saalfeld]], [[Electorate of Saxony|Saxony]].

He was educated, under [[Jacob Milich]], at the [[University of Wittenberg]], where he was first elected dean and later became rector. In 1536 he was appointed professor of higher [[mathematics]] by [[Philipp Melanchthon]]. In contrast to the limited modern definition, "mathematics" at the time also included [[applied mathematics]], especially [[astronomy]]. His colleague, [[Georg Joachim Rheticus]], also studied at Wittenberg and was appointed professor of lower mathematics in 1536.

Reinhold catalogued a large number of stars. His publications on astronomy include a commentary (1542, 1553) on [[Georg Purbach]]'s ''Theoricae novae planetarum''. Reinhold knew about [[Nicolaus Copernicus|Copernicus]] and his heliocentric ideas prior to the publication of his ''[[De revolutionibus]]'', and made a favourable reference to him in his commentary on Purbach.<ref>Owen Gingerich, ''The Book Nobody Read'' (Heinman, 2004, p. 19)</ref> However, Reinhold (like other astronomers before [[Johannes Kepler|Kepler]] and [[Galileo]]) translated Copernicus' mathematical methods back into a geocentric system, rejecting [[heliocentrism|heliocentric]] [[cosmology]] on physical and theological grounds.<ref>[[Hanne Andersen (philosopher)|Hanne Andersen]], Peter Barker, and Xiang Chen. ''The Cognitive Structure of Scientific Revolutions''.  New York: Cambridge University Press, 2006.  pp 138-148</ref>

[[File:Prutenic Tables.png|thumb|''[[Prutenic Tables]]'' (1562 edition)]]
Duke [[Albert, Duke of Prussia|Albert of Brandenburg Prussia]] supported Reinhold and financed the printing of Reinhold's ''[[Prutenicae Tabulae]]'' (1551, 1562, 1571, and 1585) or ''[[Prussian Tables]]''. These astronomical tables helped to disseminate calculation methods of Copernicus throughout the Empire, however, Gingerich notes that they showed a "notable lack of commitment" to heliocentricity and were "carefully framed" to be independent of the movement of the Earth.<ref>Owen Gingerich, ''From Copernicus to Kepler'' (Proceedings of the American Philosophical Society, 1973)</ref> Both Reinhold's ''[[Prutenic Tables]]'' and Copernicus' studies were the foundation for the [[Calendar Reform]] by [[Pope Gregory XIII]] in 1582.

It was Reinhold's heavily annotated copy of ''[[De revolutionibus orbium coelestium|De revolutionibus]]'' in the [[Royal Observatory, Edinburgh]], that started [[Owen Gingerich]] on his search for copies of the first and second editions which he describes in ''The Book Nobody Read''.<ref>Owen Gingerich, ''The Book Nobody Read'' (Heinman, 2004, p. 25)</ref> In Reinhold's unpublished commentary on ''De revolutionibus'', he calculated the distance from the Earth to the Sun. He "massaged" his calculation method in order to arrive at an answer close to that of Ptolemy.<ref>Richard Kremer, Book review of ''On the distances between the sun, moon and earth'' [http://articles.adsabs.harvard.edu/full/seri/JHA../0024//0000149.000.html]</ref>

His [[Reinhold (crater)|name]] has been given to a prominent [[Moon|lunar]] [[impact crater]] that lies to the south-southwest of the crater [[Copernicus (lunar crater)|Copernicus]], on the [[Mare Insularum]].

==References==
{{Reflist}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Reinhold, Erasmus}}
[[Category:1511 births]]
[[Category:1553 deaths]]
[[Category:People from Saalfeld]]
[[Category:German Lutherans]]
[[Category:16th-century German astronomers]]
[[Category:16th-century German mathematicians]]
[[Category:16th-century German writers]]
[[Category:16th-century German male writers]]