Oronce Fine (or Finé, [1]. In Latin, Orontius Finnaeus or Finaeus; Italian: Oronzio Fineo) (December 20, 1494-August 8, 1555) was a French mathematician and cartographer.

Life

Born in Briançon, the son and grandson of physicians, he was educated in Paris (Collège de Navarre), and obtained a degree in medicine in 1522.

He was imprisoned in 1524, probably for practicing judicial astrology.

In 1531, he was appointed to the chair of mathematics at the Collège Royal (the present Collège de France), founded by Francis I of France, where he taught until his death.[2]

Mathematics

Although primarily a populariser, Fine was one of the most prolific authors of mathematical books of his age. He worked in a wide range of mathematical fields, including practical geometry, arithmetic, optics, gnomonics, astronomy, and instrumentalism.[3]

He gave the value of pi to be (22 2/9)/7 in 1544. Later, he gave 47/15 and, in De rebus mathematicis (1556), he gave 3 11/78.

Astronomy and geography

Fine wrote on astronomical instruments and astronomy. On how to determine the longitude of places, he suggested that eclipses of the moon could be used to determine it, and described an instrument he called a méthéoroscope, an astrolabe modified by adding a compass.

In 1542 appeared his De mundi sphaera (On the Heavenly Spheres), a popular astronomy textbook whose woodcut illustrations Fine also produced.[4]
Heart shaped map

He also invented a heart-shaped (cordiform) map projection, frequently utilized by other cartographers, such as Peter Apian and Gerardus Mercator.[5] Fine attempted to reconcile discoveries in the New World with old medieval legends and information (derived from Ptolemy) regarding the Orient. Thus, on one of his two world maps, the legend marked Asia covers both North America and Asia, which were represented as one landmass. He used the toponym "America" for South America, and thus Marco Polo's Mangi, Tangut, and Catay appear on the shores of the present-day Gulf of Mexico.

On the same map, Fine drew Terra Australis to the south, including the legend "recently discovered but not yet completely explored," by which Finé meant the discovery of Tierra del Fuego by Ferdinand Magellan.

He also published a woodcut map of France (1525), one of the first of its kind, and also constructed an ivory sundial in 1524, which still exists.[6]

Death and legacy

He died at Paris.

Jean Clouet is said to have painted a portrait of Fine in 1530, when Fine was thirty-six years old, but the portrait is now known only by a print.

The lunar crater Orontius is named after him, using his Latinized name.

See also

* Charles Hapgood

References

1. ^ For the debate over the French spelling of Fine's name see Alexander Marr, 'Introduction', in 'The Worlds of Oronce Fine: Mathematics, Instruments and Print in Renaissance France' (Shaun Tyas, 2009), pp. 1-12
2. ^ Isabelle Pantin, 'Oronce Fine's Role as Royal Lecturer', in Alexander Marr (ed.), 'The Worlds of Oronce Fine: Mathematics, Instruments and Print in Renaissance France' (Shaun Tyas, 2009), pp. 13-30.
3. ^ Alexander Marr, 'Introduction', in Alexander Marr (ed.), 'The Worlds of Oronce Fine: Mathematics, Instruments and Print in Renaissance France' (Shaun Tyas, 2009), pp. 1-12
4. ^ Adam Mosley, 'Early Modern Cosmography: Fine's Sphaera mundi in Content and Context', in Alexander Marr (ed.), 'The Worlds of Oronce Fine: Mathematics, Instruments and Print in Renaissance France' (Shaun Tyas, 2009), pp. 114-136.
5. ^ Jean-Jacques Brioist, 'Oronce Fine and Cartographical Methods', in Alexander Marr (ed.), 'The Worlds of Oronce Fine: Mathematics, Instruments and Print in Renaissance France' (Shaun Tyas, 2009), pp. 137-155.
6. ^ Catherine Eagleton, 'Oronce Fine's Sundials: The Sources and Influences of De solaribus horologiis', in Alexander Marr (ed.), 'The Worlds of Oronce Fine: Mathematics, Instruments and Print in Renaissance France' (Shaun Tyas, 2009), pp. 83-99

Alexander Marr (ed.), 'The Worlds of Oronce Fine: Mathematics, Instruments and Print in Renaissance France' (Shaun Tyas, 2009)

External links

* Mathematicians: Fine
* Monique Pelletier, "The Cordiform World Maps by Oronce Fine," Cartographica Helvetica 12 (1995) 27–37: Summary.
* THE MYSTERIES OF THE PIRI REIS MAP: THE CART OF ORONTIUS FINAEUS (Oronce Fine)