Peurbach, Georg

(1423-1461)

   German astronomer and mathe-matician. He was educated at the University of Vienna (B.A. 1448, M.A. 1453) and then began teaching in the faculty of arts. He proba-bly knew the writings of a noted professor of astronomy at Vienna who died shortly before his arrival, John of Gmunden. Between 1448 and 1453, Peurbach travelled in Germany, France, and Italy. He be-came court astrologer to King Ladislaus V of Hungary and subse-quently to the Emperor Frederick III, though his teaching at the uni-versity seems to have dealt with humanistic rather than mathematical studies. He collaborated with his student Regiomon-tanus in astronomical observations, and in 1454 he completed Theo-ricae novae planetarum / New Theory of the Planets, a traditional Ptolemaic work that was repeatedly reprinted. At the urging of Car-dinal Johannes Bessarion, Peurbach began work on an Epitome of the Almagest, a Latin summary of Ptolemy's Hellenistic astronomical treatise, since he knew no Greek and could not provide the fresh Latin translation that Bessarion wanted. His pupil Regiomontanus completed the Epitome after his death.