Georg Joachim Rheticus | Biography

Born in Feldkirch, Austria to the town physician, Rheticus was exposed to science throughout his childhood. However, in 1528, his father was tried and convicted on a charge of sorcery, and subsequently beheaded. This family tragedy did not discourage Rheticus, for he continued his studies and ultimately received his degree from the University of Wittenberg on 27 April 1536. Shortly thereafter, through the influence of Philip Melanchthon, the great German educational reformer and close associate of Martin Luther, Rheticus was appointed to a chair of mathematics and astronomy at the University. It was here that he became familiar and highly intrigued with Nicolaus Copernicus' theory that the Earth revolves around the Sun. So impressed was he over this new concept, that in 1539 Rheticus called upon Melanchthon once again to make arrangements to travel to Frauenberg in Ermland (now Frombork, Poland) to study with Copernicus for two years.

Deeply impressed by the Copernican system, Rheticus committed himself to getting the astronomer's theory published. However, in Copernicus' eyes, a complete explanation of the theory still needed to be conceived. Undaunted, Rheticus proposed to publish an introduction of the theory under his own name. With permission from Copernicus and financial assistance from the mayor of Danzig, Rheticus published under his own name the first account of the new views in his Narratio Prima (1540; "The First Account of the Book on the Revolutions by Nicolaus Copernicus").

With Rheticus' work well received, he persuaded Copernicus to complete his work under the title De revolutionibus orbium coelestium ("On the revolutions of the heavenly spheres"). Shortly thereafter, Rheticus received permission from Duke Albert of Prussia to publish De Revolutionibus. The Duke also requested that Rheticus return to his chair at the University of Wittenberg, and in 1541, Rheticus returned to the University where he was elected dean of the Faculty of Arts.

From his stay at Wittenberg until his death, Rheticus also worked on his great treatise, which was completed and published in two volumes after his death by his pupil Valentin Otto as Opus Palatinum de triangulis (1596; "The Palatine Work on Triangles"). Many historians consider this work to be where trigonometry came of age.

This classic work challenged the geocentric cosmology that has been accepted since the time of Aristotle. In an age of religious intolerance, coupled with the fate of his father, it is a testament to his courage and commitment to knowledge that Rheticus enthusiastically supported such a volatile theory. Copernicus' heliocentric theory of planetary motion was not only in sharp scientific contrast to the prevailing geocentric Ptolemaic system, but was also a volatile theological issue -- as Galileo was to discover when he faced the Inquisition on charges of heresy in 1615.