Jan Marek Marci

Jan Marek Marci
Jan Marek Marci

Born June 13, 1595
Died April 10, 1667
Nationality Czech
Fields Medicine, Mechanics, Optics, Mathematics
Institutions Charles University, Prague
Alma mater University of Olomouc, Olomouc
Charles University, Prague

Jan Marek Marci (13 June 1595 – 10 April 1667), or Johannes (Greek: Ioannes) Marcus Marci, was a Bohemian doctor and scientist, rector of the University of Prague, and official physician to the Holy Roman Emperors.[1] The crater Marci on the far side of the Moon is named after him.

Contents

Career

Marci was born in Lanškroun, near the border between historical lands Bohemia and Moravia (presently parts of the Czech Republic). He studied under Athanasius Kircher,[1] and spent most of his career as a professor of Charles University in Prague, where he served eight times as Dean of the medical school and once as Rector in 1662. He was also the personal doctor of Emperors Ferdinand III and Leopold I, and distinguished himself in the defense of Prague against the Swedish armies in 1648. In October 1654 he was given the nobility title (falckrabě) "de Kronland" (anagram of "Landskron", German name for the city of Lanškroun). In 1667, he was elected as a member of the British Royal Society.[1]

Work

Marci's studies covered the mechanics of colliding bodies, epilepsy, and the refraction of light, as well as other topics.

Marci at some time came into possession of the Voynich Manuscript, apparently upon the death of its former owner, the alchemist Georg Baresch. He sent the book to his longtime friend Athanasius Kircher, with a cover letter dated 19 August 1666, or possibly 1665.[1]

Books

  • Operatricum Idea (1635)
  • Idearum operaticum idea (1636)
  • De proportione motus seu regula sphygmica (1639)
  • Thaumantias. Liber de arcu coelesti deque collorum apparentium natura ortu et causis (Pragae: typis Academicis, 1648)
  • Dissertatio de natura iridis (1650)
  • De longitudine seu differentia inter duos meridianos (1650)
  • Labyrinthus, in quo via ad circuli quadraturam pluribus modis exhibetur (1654)
  • Philosophia vetus restituta (1662)
  • Othosophia seu philosophia impulsus universalis (1683)

References

  1. ^ a b c d Tiltman, John H. (Summer 1967). The Voynich Manuscript: "The Most Mysterious Manuscript in the World". XII. NSA Technical Journal. http://www.nsa.gov/public_info/_files/tech_journals/Voynich_Manuscript_Mysterious.pdf. Retrieved October 30, 2011. 

External links


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