- Francesco Barozzi
Francesco Barozzi (in Latin, "Franciscus Barocius") (
August 9 ,1537 -November 23 ,1604 ) was an Italian mathematician and astronomer.Life
Barozzi was born on the island of
Crete , at Candia (nowIraklion ), at the time a Venetian possession, the son of Iacopo Barozzi, a Venetian nobleman. He was educated atPadua , and studied mathematics at theUniversity of Padua . The estate on Crete, inherited from his father, yielded him an income of 4,000ducat s, though he seems to have lived in Venice for most of his life. He was thus able to function as an independent scholar, and does not appear to have held any academic posts, although he did lecture on the sphere ofSacrobosco at the University of Padua in 1559.Barozzi translated many works of the ancients, including Proclus’s edition of
Euclid's Elements (published in Venice in 1560), as well as mathematical works byHero ,Pappus of Alexandria , andArchimedes .Mathematics
Barozzi helped in the general reappraisal of the geometry of
Euclid , and corresponded with numerous mathematicians, including the GermanJesuit Christopher Clavius . His original works include "Cosmographia in quatuor libros distributa summo ordine, miraque facilitate, ac brevitate ad magnam Ptolemaei mathematicam constructionem, ad universamque astrologiam institutens" (1585), which he dedicated to the Duke ofUrbino . This work concerns the cosmography and mathematic systems ofPtolemy . Barozzi also discussed 13 ways of drawing a parallel line in his "Admirandum illud geometricum problema tredecim modis demonstratum quod docet duas lineas in eodem plano designare, quae nunquam invicem coincidant, etiam si in infinitum protrahantur: et quanto longius producuntur, tanto sibiinuicem propiores euadant" (1586).In his "Opusculum: in quo una Oratio et due Questiones, altera de Certitude et altera de Medietate Mathematicarum continentur", Barozzi stressed that "the certitude of mathematics is contained in the syntactic rigor of demonstrations." [http://www.nexusjournal.com/Sbacchi.html]
Other works
He also wrote "Rythmomachia" (1572), which he dedicated to Camille Paleotti, a Senator of
Bologna , a work that is based on the mathematical game of the same name, also known as "The Philosophers' Game."As an antiquarian, he copied many Greek inscriptions on Crete. His collection of inscriptions was later inherited by his nephew Iacopo Barozzi (1562-1617), who edited and expanded it. This collection was later acquired in 1629 by the
University of Oxford . They are wide-ranging in date and subject-matter and can still be found in theBodleian Library .Charges of sorcery
Barozzi was accused of being a sorcerer, a charge that he did not help refute by publishing his "Pronostico Universale di tutto il mondo" (
Bologna , 1566), a collection of the prophecies ofNostradamus for the years 1565-1570. He also published a special edition of "Oracula Leonis" in 1577, a collection cryptic prophecies attributed to the Byzantine EmperorLeo VI the Wise and dedicated to the Cretan governor, Giacomo Foscarini.Around 1583, Barozzi was tried by the
Inquisition on an unknown charge and found guilty. In 1587, he was charged withapostasy ,heresy , and for engaging in theoccult . He was accused of causing a torrential rain storm in Crete. Found guilty, he was forced to donate silver crosses at the cost of 100 ducats and received a suspended prison sentence.Death and legacy
He died in
Venice . Thelunar crater Barocius is named after him.External links
*MacTutor Biography|id=Barocius
* [http://galileo.rice.edu/Catalog/NewFiles/barocius.html The Galileo Project]
* [http://archimedes.mpiwg-berlin.mpg.de/cgi-bin/toc/toc.cgi?dir=baroc_heron_052_la_1572;step=thumb Text of Barozzi's Translation of Hero]
* [http://www.nexusjournal.com/Sbacchi.html Michele Sbacchi, Euclidism and Theory of Architecture]
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