Loading AI tools
Domenico Maria Novara (1454–1504) was an Italian scientist.
 | This article includes a list of references, related reading, or external links, but its sources remain unclear because it lacks inline citations. (June 2011) |
Domenico Maria Novara | |
|---|---|
| Born | 29 July or 1 August 1454 |
| Died | 15 August or 18 August 1504 |
| Nationality | Italian |
| Alma mater | University of Florence |
| Scientific career | |
| Fields | Astronomy |
| Institutions | University of Bologna |
| Academic advisors | Regiomontanus Luca Pacioli |
| Notable students | Nicolaus Copernicus |
Born in Ferrara, for 21 years he was professor of astronomy at the University of Bologna, and in 1500 he also lectured in mathematics at Rome. He was notable as a Platonist astronomer, and in 1496 he taught Nicolaus Copernicus astronomy. He was also an astrologer.
At Bologna, Novara was assisted by Copernicus, with whom he observed a lunar occultation of Aldebaran. Copernicus later used this observation to disprove Ptolemy's model of lunar distance.
Copernicus had started out as Novara's student and then became his assistant and co-worker. Novara in turn declared that his teacher had been the famous astronomer Regiomontanus, who was once a pupil of Georg Purbach. Novara was initially educated at the University of Florence, at the time a major center of Neoplatonism. He studied there under Luca Pacioli, a friend of Leonardo da Vinci.
Novara's writings are largely lost, except for a few astrological almanacs written for the university. But Copernicus De revolutionibus orbium coelestium (published in 1543, long after Novara's death) records that on 9 March 1497 Novara witnessed Copernicus first observation. Both men were described as "free minds and free souls," and Novara believed that his[citation needed] findings would have shaken Ptolemy's "unshakable" geocentric system.
Novara died in 1504 in Bologna.
- A. Romer, "The welcoming of Copernicus's de revolutionibus: The commentariolus and its reception" Physics in Perspective, 1(2): 157–183, 1999.
Wikiwand in your browser!
Seamless Wikipedia browsing. On steroids.
Every time you click a link to Wikipedia, Wiktionary or Wikiquote in your browser's search results, it will show the modern Wikiwand interface.
Wikiwand extension is a five stars, simple, with minimum permission required to keep your browsing private, safe and transparent.
