Regiomontanus biography of martin

(b. Konigsber, Franconia, Germany, 6 June 1436; d. Rome, Italy, ca.

Regiomontanus square root

8 July 1476)

astronomy, mathematics.

Nothing is known of Regiomontanus before he enrolled in the University of Vienna on 14 April 1450 as “Johannes Molitoris de Künigsperg.”¹ Since the name of his birthplace means “King’s Mountain,” he sometimes Latinized his name as “Joannes de Regio monte,” from which the standard designation Regiomontanus was later derived.

He was awarded the bachelor’s degree on 16 January 1452 at the age of fifteen; but because of the regulations of the university, he could not receive the master’s degree until he was twenty-one. On 11 November 1457 he was appointed to the faculty, thereby becoming a colleague of Peuerbach, with whom he had studied astronomy.

The two men became fast friends and worked closely together as observers of the heavens.

The course of their lives was deeply affected by the arrival in Vienna on 5 May 1460 of Cardinal Bessarion (1403–