# A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z
Astro*Dictionary by Michael Erlewine

 

 

 

 

1 article for "Stevinus, Simon"

Stevinus, Simon [Astro*Index]

(steh-vee'nus)

(1548-1620) Belgian-Dutch mathematician.

He introduced the use of decimal fractions, and was first to translate Diophantus into a modern language. He was first to give numerical values for magnetic declination for various places on the earth. He demonstrated the factors which determine the pressure of a liquid upon a given surface (hydrostatics), showed the impossibility of one type of 'perpetual' motion, and experimented by dropping two weights, observing that they reached the ground at the same time.

The latter experiment is erroneously credited to Galileo.

See also: ♦ Diophantus ♦ Galileo Galilei

 

Astro*Index Copyright © 1997 Michael Erlewine