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Mathematical Treasure: Augustin Hirschvogel’s Geometria

Author(s): 
Frank J. Swetz (The Pennsylvania State University)

Augustin Hirschvogel (1503–1553) was a German artist and geographer. He was noted mainly for his engravings, but in 1543 he produced a manuscript, Geometria, consisting entirely of geometrical constructions and figures. All illustrations were numbered for reference, but no text corresponding to the diagrams is known.

Title page for Augustin Hirschvogel's 1543 Geometria.

Some sample illustrations:

Diagrams 1-7 from Augustin Hirschvogel's 1543 Geometria.

Diagrams 8-12 from Augustin Hirschvogel's 1543 Geometria.

Diagrams for solid geometry from Augustin Hirschvogel's 1543 Geometria.

Additional diagrams for solid geometry from Augustin Hirschvogel's 1543 Geometria.

Diagrams of cubes from Augustin Hirschvogel's 1543 Geometria.

The images above are provided courtesy of Bamberg State Library. A full digitization of this text is available here.

Index to Mathematical Treasures

Frank J. Swetz (The Pennsylvania State University), "Mathematical Treasure: Augustin Hirschvogel’s Geometria," Convergence (April 2022)

Convergence
Tags: 
History of Mathematics
Geometry
Mathematics and Architecture