Astronomical Images : Paper instrument

Johann Stoeffler

Astronomical Images

<p style='text-align: justify;'>Johann Stoeffler (1452-1531) was a mathematician, astronomer and instrument-maker who was appointed to the chair of mathematics and astronomy at the University of Tuebingen. He taught both Philipp Melanchthon and Sebastian Muenster and published amongst other things an almanac and work on calendar revision, as well as a book on the construction and use of the astrolabe. A celestial globe made in Stoeffler's workshop for the Bishop of Konstanz is preserved in the Landesmuseum Wuerttemberg in Stuttgart. Books like Stoeffler's <i>Tabulae astronomicae</i>, or <i>Astronomical Tables</i>, facilitated the calculation of planetary positions, phases of the Moon, eclipses and so on. Paper instruments like the one on this page allowed the computation of calendrical information without the need for sophisticated mathematics. Peter Apian's <i>Astronomicum Caesareum</i> is frequently cited as the most impressive example of this approach in the Renaissance.</p>