Gemma Frisius

Under the guidance of Gemma Frisius, the leading theoretical mathematician in the Low Countries, who was also a physician and astronomer, Mercator mastered the essentials of mathematics, geography, and astronomy. Frisius and Mercator also frequented the workshop of Gaspar à Myrica, an engraver and goldsmith. The combined work of…

…1533 by the Dutch mathematician Gemma Frisius (1508–55): one chooses a base line of known length, and from its endpoints the angles of sight to a remote object are measured. The distance to the object from either endpoint can then be calculated by using elementary trigonometry. The process is then…

…was disclosed in 1533 by Gemma Frisius, a Flemish mathematician. In 1569 Gerardus Mercator solved the projection problem by producing his famous world map with the meridians vertical and parallels having increased spacing in proportion to the secant (a trigonometric function) of the latitude. Edward Wright published mathematical tables (1599)…