Andreas OsianderDied 17 Oct 1552 at age 53 (born 19 Dec 1498). Andreas Osiander, born as Andreas Hosemann was a German theologian who pursued mathematical sciences as a hobby. He replaced Rheticus as editor of Nicolaus Copernicus’ De revolutionibus. However, Osiander refused to accept the theories as truth, which he regarded as coming only from divine revelation. Therefore, going against what he knew were the wishes of Rheticus and Copernicus, Osiander imposed his views, and provided the printer with his own anonymous preface (that he had written) presenting the Coperican theories as mere hypotheses, without certainty. In consequence, though, it helped delay controversy, and the work was not added to the Index of Forbidden Booksuntil the following century. Osiander also editted Cardano's Artis Magnae, which introduced the theory of algebraic equations.« |
