Christoph Clavius Encyclopedia Article

Christoph Clavius

The following sections of this BookRags Literature Study Guide is offprint from Gale's For Students Series: Presenting Analysis, Context, and Criticism on Commonly Studied Works: Introduction, Author Biography, Plot Summary, Characters, Themes, Style, Historical Context, Critical Overview, Criticism and Critical Essays, Media Adaptations, Topics for Further Study, Compare & Contrast, What Do I Read Next?, For Further Study, and Sources.

(c)1998-2002; (c)2002 by Gale. Gale is an imprint of The Gale Group, Inc., a division of Thomson Learning, Inc. Gale and Design and Thomson Learning are trademarks used herein under license.

The following sections, if they exist, are offprint from Beacham's Encyclopedia of Popular Fiction: "Social Concerns", "Thematic Overview", "Techniques", "Literary Precedents", "Key Questions", "Related Titles", "Adaptations", "Related Web Sites". (c)1994-2005, by Walton Beacham.

The following sections, if they exist, are offprint from Beacham's Guide to Literature for Young Adults: "About the Author", "Overview", "Setting", "Literary Qualities", "Social Sensitivity", "Topics for Discussion", "Ideas for Reports and Papers". (c)1994-2005, by Walton Beacham.

All other sections in this Literature Study Guide are owned and copyrighted by BookRags, Inc.

Christoph Clavius

1537-1612

German astronomer and mathematician who supported Ptolemaic geocentricism over Copernican heliocentrisim, arguing the latter was physically impossible and contradicted scripture (1581). As Papal Astronomer, Clavius's recommended improvements to the Julian calendar (1582) and confirmed Galileo's telescopic discoveries but rejected his interpretation (1611). Known as the Euclid of the sixteenth century, he attempted to prove the parallel postulate; worked on fractions, algebra, and trigonometry; and was one of the first to use parentheses for aggregating mathematical terms.