Mathematician:Nicholas of Cusa

Mathematician

German philosopher, theologian, jurist, and astronomer.

Believed he had calculated $\pi$ exactly, as $3 \cdotp 1423$, but then also gave a good trigonometrical approximation later used by Willebrord van Royen Snell

Nationality

German

History

• Born: 1401 in Kues, Trier, Holy Roman Empire (now Germany)
• Died: 11 August 1464 in Todi, Papal States (now Italy)

Publications

• De Docta Ignorantia (Of Learned Ignorance)
• De Visione Dei (On the Vision of God)
• On Conjectures

• 1445: De geometricis transmutationibus
• 1445: De arithmeticis complementis
• 1450: De circuli quadratura
• 1450: Quadratura circuli
• 1453: De mathematicis complementis
• 1457: Dialogus de circuli quadratura
• 1457: De caesarea circuli quadratura
• 1458: De mathematica perfectione
• 1459: Aurea propositio in mathematicis

• Declaratio rectilineationis curvae
• De una recti curvique mensura

Sources

• John J. O'Connor and Edmund F. Robertson: "Nicholas of Cusa": MacTutor History of Mathematics archive

• 1986: David Wells: Curious and Interesting Numbers ... (previous) ... (next): $3 \cdotp 14159 \, 26535 \, 89793 \, 23846 \, 26433 \, 83279 \, 50288 \, 41972 \ldots$
• 1997: David Wells: Curious and Interesting Numbers (2nd ed.) ... (previous) ... (next): $3 \cdotp 14159 \, 26535 \, 89793 \, 23846 \, 26433 \, 83279 \, 50288 \, 41971 \ldots$