Johannes von Gmünd is also the name of a 14th century architect, see Basel Münster

Basel Münster

The Basel Münster is one of the main landmarks and tourist attractions of the Swiss city of Basel. It adds definition to the cityscape with its red sandstone architecture and coloured roof tiles, its two slim towers and the cross-shaped intersection of the main roof...

Johannes von Gmunden (Johannes de Gamundia, c. 1380 – February 23, 1442) was a German/Austrian astronomer, mathematician, humanist and early instrument maker.

He received the degree of a master of arts at Vienna University in 1406. From 1408, he was a lecturer at Vienna University, lecturing on Aristotle

Aristotle

Aristotle was a Greek philosopher and polymath, a student of Plato and teacher of Alexander the Great. His writings cover many subjects, including physics, metaphysics, poetry, theater, music, logic, rhetoric, linguistics, politics, government, ethics, biology, and zoology...

's Physics

Physics (Aristotle)

The Physics of Aristotle is one of the foundational books of Western science and philosophy...

 (1408) and Meteora

Meteorology (Aristotle)

Meteorology is a treatise by Aristotle which contains his theories about the earth sciences. These include early accounts of water evaporation, weather phenomena, and earthquakes....

 (1409, 1411), Peter of Spain

Peter of Spain

Peter of Spain or, in Latin, Petrus Hispanus is the Mediaeval author of Tractatus, later known as Summulae logicales magistri Petri Hispani , a standard textbook on logic...

 (1410) and algorismus de minutiis (1412). He fell seriously ill in 1412, and in 1415 and 1416 studied theology, completing a bachelor degree in 1416.
He continued lecturing only in 1419, on algorismus de integris. From 1420, Johannes was permitted to restrict his teaching to the specialized field of the mathematical of astronomy, focusing on Euclid

Euclid

Euclid , fl. 300 BC, also known as Euclid of Alexandria, was a Greek mathematician, often referred to as the "Father of Geometry". He was active in Alexandria during the reign of Ptolemy I...

's Elements and the Sphaera materialis of John Holywood. With the aid of students (Weidler's 1741 Historia astronomiae names Georg Pruneck of Ruspach, Georg of Neuenburg, Johannes Schinkel and Johannes Feldner) he compiled voluminous astronomical tables.
In 1425, he was elected canon

Canon (priest)

A canon is a priest or minister who is a member of certain bodies of the Christian clergy subject to an ecclesiastical rule ....

 at St. Stephen's Cathedral. Georg von Peuerbach succeeded him at Vienna University in 1450.

John's origins are somewhat disputed. He was probably born in Gmunden

Gmunden

Gmunden is a town in Upper Austria, Austria in the district of Gmunden. It has 13,202 inhabitants . It is much frequented as a health and summer resort, and has a variety of goat, lake, brine, vegetable and pine-cone baths, a hydropathic establishment, inhalation chambers, whey cure, etc...

, Upper Austria

Upper Austria

Upper Austria is one of the nine states or Bundesländer of Austria. Its capital is Linz. Upper Austria borders on Germany and the Czech Republic, as well as on the other Austrian states of Lower Austria, Styria, and Salzburg...

, but there were also suggestions connecting him with Gmünd, Lower Austria

Gmünd, Lower Austria

Gmünd is a town in northwestern Waldviertel in the Austrian state of Lower Austria, the capital of the Gmünd district. The municipality consists of the Katastralgemeinden Böhmzeil, Breitensee, Eibenstein, Gmünd and Grillenstein...

, or that he was a Swabian from Schwäbisch Gmünd

Schwäbisch Gmünd

Schwäbisch Gmünd is a town in the eastern part of the German state of Baden-Württemberg. With a population of around 62,000, the town is the second largest in the Ostalbkreis and the whole region of East Württemberg after Aalen...

 who studied in Ulm

Ulm

Ulm is a city in the federal German state of Baden-Württemberg, situated on the River Danube. The city, whose population is estimated at 120,000 , forms an urban district of its own and is the administrative seat of the Alb-Donau district. Ulm, founded around 850, is rich in history and...

in his youth, based on a document written at Ulm in 1404 by one "Johannes Wissbier de gamundia".

Literature

• P. Uiblein, Johannes von Gmunden, in: Beiträge zur Wiener Diözesangeschichte 15, 1974
• E. Prillinger (Hrsg.): Die Zeit kommt vom Himmel: von der Astronomie zum Kalender. Zum Gedächtnis Johannes von Gmunden, 1384-1442, 1984.
• Helmuth Grössing: "Johannes von Gmunden in seiner Zeit, In: Mitteilungen der Österreichischen Gesellschaft für Geschichte der Naturwissenschaften 3-4 (1985) S.66-72
• Ralf Kern. "Wissenschaftliche Instrumente in ihrer Zeit", Band 1: "Vom Astrolab zum mathematischen Besteck". S. 197.