Pedro nunes infopedia

Considered one of the greatest mathematicians of his time, [ 5 ] Nunes is best known for being the first to approach navigation and cartography with mathematical tools. Among other accomplishments, he was the first to propose the idea of a loxodrome a rhumb line , and was the inventor of several measuring devices, including the nonius from which the Vernier scale was derived , named after his Latin surname.

Cosmógrafo e matemático português, nasceu em , em Alcácer do Sal, e morreu em , em Coimbra.

He returned to Lisbon c. He continued his medical studies but held various teaching posts within the University of Lisbon , including Moral , Philosophy , Logic and Metaphysics. He obtained his doctorate in medicine in When, in , the Portuguese University located in Lisbon returned to Coimbra , he moved to the re-founded University of Coimbra to teach mathematics, a post he held until Mathematics became an independent post in In addition to teaching he was appointed Royal Cosmographer in and Chief Royal Cosmographer in a post which he held until his death.

Years later Nunes was also charged with the education of the king's grandson, and future king, Sebastian. It is possible that, while at the University of Coimbra, future astronomer Christopher Clavius attended Pedro Nunes' classes, and was influenced by his works. In his Tratado da sphera he argued for a common and universal diffusion of knowledge.

Much of Nunes' work related to navigation. He was the first to understand why a ship maintaining a steady course would not travel along a great circle , the shortest path between two points on Earth, but would instead follow a spiral course, called a loxodrome. In other words, loxodromic curves are directly related to the construction of the Nunes connection —also called navigator connection.

In his Treaty defending the sea chart , Nunes argued that a nautical chart should have its parallels and meridians shown as straight lines.