Johan Gabriel Doppelmayr

Johan Gabriel Doppelmayr (1671–December 1st, 1750) was a German mathematician, astronomer, and cartographer. (His surname is also spelled Doppelmayer and Doppelmair, and his personal name Johann.)

He was born in Nuremberg, Germany, the son of a merchant. He entered the Aegidien Gymnasium in Nuremburg in 1689, then the University of Altdorf in 1696. His studies included mathematics, physics, and jurisprudence. He spent a brief time studying at the University of Halle, then, after giving up his legal studies he spent two years travelling and studying. In addition to his native Germany, he is known to have passed through Holland and England, spending time at Utrecht, Leyden, Oxford, and London.

His career was academic, and he became professor of mathematics at the Aegidien Gymnasium from 1704 until his death. He is not noted for any discoveries, but he did publish several works of a scientific nature. His publications covered topics on mathematics and astronomy, including sundials, spherical trigonometry, and celestial maps and globes. One of his works also included useful biographical information on several hundred mathematicians and instrument makers of Nuremberg. In 1742 he completed the Atlas Coelestis of Johann Batiste Homann.

Johan became a member of several scientific societies, most notably the Berlin Academy, the Royal Society in 1733, and the St. Petersburg Academy.

The Doppelmayer crater on the Moon is named for him.

External links

• Galileo Project entry on which part of this biography is based.