Talk:Christopher Clavius

---

Wiki Education Foundation-supported course assignment

This article was the subject of a Wiki Education Foundation-supported course assignment, between 23 August 2021 and 25 December 2021. Further details are available on the course page. Student editor(s): Maurelius54.

Above undated message substituted from Template:Dashboard.wikiedu.org assignment by PrimeBOT (talk) 17:39, 16 January 2022 (UTC)

Biographical

Much of this page is copyvio of the Mactutor biography. http://www-groups.dcs.st-and.ac.uk/~history/Mathematicians/Clavius.html This needs to be fixed. --Fastfission 04:39, 20 January 2006 (UTC)

• I removed all of it, but now there are big gaps in his life. Somebody should fill them in when they get the chance. --Fastfission 04:41, 20 January 2006 (UTC)

Explicatio

I think the Explicatio deserves a mention in the body, and its own entry in "External Links". And "See Also" should include Computus. 82.163.24.100 (talk) 21:29, 28 October 2008 (UTC)

Early Life

See also in Augustus de Morgan's "A Budget of Paradoxes", reference to early interest in Calendar matters. May well be worth adding. 82.163.24.100 (talk) 22:32, --85.55.138.41 (talk) 10:07, 16 October 2011 (UTC)--85.55.138.41 (talk) 10:07, 16 October 2011 (UTC)--85.55.138.41 (talk) 10:07, 16 October 2011 (UTC)24 January 2009 (UTC)

External links modified

Hello fellow Wikipedians,

I have just modified one external link on Christopher Clavius. Please take a moment to review my edit. If you have any questions, or need the bot to ignore the links, or the page altogether, please visit this simple FaQ for additional information. I made the following changes:

• Added archive https://web.archive.org/web/20120324053652/http://hos.ou.edu/galleries//01Ancient/HeroOfAlexandria/1575//15thCentury/Vespucci/ to http://hos.ou.edu/galleries/

When you have finished reviewing my changes, please set the checked parameter below to true or failed to let others know (documentation at {{Sourcecheck}}).

This message was posted before February 2018. After February 2018, "External links modified" talk page sections are no longer generated or monitored by InternetArchiveBot. No special action is required regarding these talk page notices, other than regular verification using the archive tool instructions below. Editors have permission to delete these "External links modified" talk page sections if they want to de-clutter talk pages, but see the RfC before doing mass systematic removals. This message is updated dynamically through the template {{source check}} (last update: 5 June 2024).

• If you have discovered URLs which were erroneously considered dead by the bot, you can report them with this tool.
• If you found an error with any archives or the URLs themselves, you can fix them with this tool.

Cheers.—InternetArchiveBot (Report bug) 02:58, 24 November 2016 (UTC)

External links modified

Hello fellow Wikipedians,

I have just modified one external link on Christopher Clavius. Please take a moment to review my edit. If you have any questions, or need the bot to ignore the links, or the page altogether, please visit this simple FaQ for additional information. I made the following changes:

• Added archive https://web.archive.org/web/20120508230737/http://mathematics.library.nd.edu/clavius/ to http://mathematics.library.nd.edu/clavius/

When you have finished reviewing my changes, you may follow the instructions on the template below to fix any issues with the URLs.

This message was posted before February 2018. After February 2018, "External links modified" talk page sections are no longer generated or monitored by InternetArchiveBot. No special action is required regarding these talk page notices, other than regular verification using the archive tool instructions below. Editors have permission to delete these "External links modified" talk page sections if they want to de-clutter talk pages, but see the RfC before doing mass systematic removals. This message is updated dynamically through the template {{source check}} (last update: 5 June 2024).

• If you have discovered URLs which were erroneously considered dead by the bot, you can report them with this tool.
• If you found an error with any archives or the URLs themselves, you can fix them with this tool.

Cheers.—InternetArchiveBot (Report bug) 17:40, 6 August 2017 (UTC)

Mathematics

There is no section on mathematics in this article. I recommend that someone write it. Clavius was an innovator in the subject. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 71.183.110.20 (talk) 11:36, 16 December 2022 (UTC)

Here is a quote (with the link to the source) from a scholarly article online:

As the foremost mathematician of the Jesuit order, Clavius wrote a number of textbooks, all of which went through numerous editions during his life. These include his version of Euclid's Elements, his commentary on the Sphere of Sacrobosco, and books on algebra, the astrolabe, and practical arithmetic and geometry. Clavius was the senior mathemtician on the commission for the reform of the calendar that led, in 1582, to the institution of the Gregorian calendar. Because of his prodigious output of mathematical works, he was called "the Euclid of the sixteenth century." Through his teaching and textbooks, and also through several mathematical curricula drafted by him, Clavius shaped mathematical education in the Jesuit order all over the world. Link: http://galileo.rice.edu/sci/clavius.html — Preceding unsigned comment added by 71.183.110.20 (talk) 11:42, 16 December 2022 (UTC)

And here is the link to the MacTutor Bio on Clavius: https://mathshistory.st-andrews.ac.uk/Biographies/Clavius/

And here below are quoted 2 paragraphs (from MacTutor) regarding the mathematical work of Clavius:

" Although Clavius produced little original mathematics of his own, he did more than any other German scholar of the 16th Century to promote a knowledge of mathematics. He was the first, however, to use the decimal point. He was a gifted teacher and writer of textbooks, producing a version of Euclid's Elements in 1574 which contains ideas of his own. Another well written book was Algebra (1608). His arithmetic books were used by many mathematicians including Leibniz and Descartes. Clavius also produced a number of instruments, perhaps the most interesting being an instrument to measure fractions of angles. It is worth mentioning that he gave an excellent account of dividing a measuring scale into subdivisions which is by far the most sophisticated to be produced until the work of Vernier. He also designed sundials and developed a quadrant for use in surveying. "

" Perhaps the best summary of his work would be to look briefly at the five volumes Christophori Clavii e Scoietate Jesu opera mathematica, quinque tomis distributa Ⓣ which was produced near the end of his life and contains his collected works. The first volume contains his Euclid referred to above and the "Spheric" of Theodosius (Sphaericorum Libri III). The second volume contains his works on geometry and algebra, while the third volume contains his commentary on the "Sphaera" of Johannes de Sacrobosco (also known as John of Holywood) from which we have quoted regarding the two solar eclipses, and his treatise on the astrolabe. The fourth volume contains a fascinating account of the construction of sundials, while the final volume contains his written works on calendar reform. " — Preceding unsigned comment added by 71.183.110.20 (talk) 12:12, 16 December 2022 (UTC)