Federico Commandino (nonfiction)

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Federico Commandino.

Federico Commandino (1509 – 5 September 1575) was an Italian humanist and mathematician.

Born in Urbino, he studied at Padua and at Ferrara, where he received his doctorate in medicine.

He translated the works of ancient mathematicians and was responsible for the publication of the works of Archimedes.

He also translated the works of Aristarchus of Samos (On the sizes and distances of the Sun and the Moon), Pappus of Alexandria (Mathematical collection), Hero of Alexandria (Pneumatics), and Euclid (Elements).

Among his pupils was Guidobaldo del Monte and Bernardino Baldi. Commandino maintained a correspondence with the astronomer Francesco Maurolico.

The proposition known as Commandino's theorem first appears in his work on centers of gravity.

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External links:

  • Federico Commandino @ Wikipedia
  • Commandino's Theorem @ Wolfram - the four medians of a tetrahedron concur in a point which divides each tetrahedron median in the ratio 1:3, the longer segment being on the side of the vertex of the tetrahedron.