John of Tynemouth (geometer) facts for kids
John of Tynemouth was an important mathematician and geometer who lived in England during the 1200s. A geometer is someone who studies geometry, which is a branch of mathematics dealing with shapes, sizes, positions, and properties of space. John of Tynemouth helped share important mathematical ideas from ancient times with scholars in the Middle Ages.
Contents
Who Was John of Tynemouth?
Not much is known about John of Tynemouth's early life. However, we know he was a skilled scholar who focused on geometry. His work was very important for keeping ancient mathematical knowledge alive and passing it on to new generations of thinkers.
His Main Work: De curvis superficiebus
John of Tynemouth's most famous work is called De curvis superficiebus. This Latin title means "On Curved Surfaces." It is also sometimes known as Liber de curvis superficiebus Archimenidis, which means "Book on the Curved Surfaces of Archimedes."
What is De curvis About?
This book is all about the measurements of spheres, which are perfectly round 3D shapes like a ball. John's work was based on the ideas of Archimedes, a famous ancient Greek mathematician. Archimedes had figured out how to measure the surface area and volume of spheres. John of Tynemouth's book explained these complex ideas in a way that medieval scholars could understand.
Why Was This Work Important?
De curvis superficiebus was a very important book in the history of medieval geometry. It helped to spread Archimedes' amazing ideas about spheres to many other scholars. Historians believe that John's work was based on an older Greek text. This shows how knowledge from ancient times was passed down and used in new ways during the Middle Ages.
Many copies of De curvis still exist today, with over 12 manuscripts found. This shows how popular and influential it was. Other famous medieval thinkers, like Robert Grosseteste, Jordanus de Nemore, Gerard of Brussels, and Roger Bacon, used John's work in their own studies.
Other Important Writings
Besides De curvis superficiebus, John of Tynemouth likely wrote several other important mathematical works. These books also helped to explain and share ancient mathematical knowledge.
Some of these other works include:
- De circulo quadrando: This was a new version of another work by Archimedes, called De quadratura circuli. It dealt with the challenge of squaring the circle. A copy of this work is now in the Biblioteca Nazionale in Florence, Italy.
- De quadratura circuli: Another work about squaring the circle.
- De figuris isoperimetris: This book is about shapes that have the same perimeter (the distance around their edge). A copy can be found in the Bodleian Library at Oxford University.
- A paraphrase of Euclid's Elementa: This was a simpler explanation of Euclid's famous book on geometry, based on a translation by Adelard of Bath. Roger Bacon later mentioned this work.
- Quaelibet media proportionalia: This work likely dealt with finding numbers that are proportional between two other numbers.
