B chapter.indd - Charles Babbage Institute - University of Minnesota

140
Edition: 1st (German)
Language: German
Binding: later vellum over boards
Pagination: pp. [12], 68, 192, [38]
Collation: )( 4 )()( 2 2A–2H 4 2I 2 A–2A 4 2A–2D 4 2E 3
Size: 196x155 mm
Reference: Pogg Vol. I, p. 183
Johann Beyer was not only a well-known Frankfurt
physician and mathematician but was also a person of
civic eminence due to his position as Bürgermeister. His
wide contact with the scientific community is illustrated
by a letter he is known to have written to Kepler in 1616
in which he used a combination of both the decimal
point (actually a comma) and the old system of accents
to represent decimal fractions. For example, Beyer wrote
the number 314.15926 (100π) as 314,1’5’’9’’’2’’’’6’’’’’
(using a comma as the decimal indicator but still using
the accents as well) and claimed this system of notation
as his invention. This may well have been true as far as
Beyer was concerned; however, Simon Stevin had used
the decimal point notation years earlier. The same system
of notation, this time with multiple and inconsistent uses
of the decimal point and Roman numerals for the accents,
can be seen in this work.
Erwin Tomash Library
Beyer, Johann Hartmann Beyer, Johann Hartmann
B 148
Accents denoting decimal places, B 148
This book is an early basic work on gauging, with
emphasis on the calculation of the volume contained in
various solid geometric figures. Beyer also discusses
the extraction of cube roots, gives practical examples
of gauging and includes tables for such things as the
circumference and area of circles having diameters from
0.1 to 108 units in steps of 0.1 unit. Unfortunately, the
value of π Beyer used appears to be 3.14172 rather than
3.14159, and this value limits their usefulness (accurate
values for π had been calculated to 35 decimal places
prior to the date of this publication).
Illustrations available:
Title page
Decimal point example
Table page
B 149
Beyer, Johann Hartmann (1563–1625)
B 149
Stereometriae inanium nova et facilis ratio, geometricis
demonstrationibus confirmata & necessariis
obscuriorum quorundam delineationibus illustrata:
Qua corporum regularium omnium, tam rectilineorum
quam curvilineorum capacitates promtissime
explorantur.
Year: 1603
Place: Frankfurt
Publisher: Zacharias Palthenius for Jonas Rhodius
Edition: 1st (Latin)
Language: Latin
Figures: 67 woodcut text diagrams, numerous charts
Binding: contemporary vellum over boards