Petrus Plancius: Difference between revisions

Browse history interactively ← Previous edit Next edit →Content deleted Content addedVisual WikitextInline

Revision as of 05:05, 17 February 2019 editBaden-Paul (talk \| contribs)Extended confirmed users, Rollbackers9,236 edits Undid revision 883720930 by 119.30.38.19 (talk)Tag: Undo ← Previous edit		Revision as of 14:44, 7 September 2019 edit undoAdam37 (talk \| contribs)Extended confirmed users26,653 edits Arctic Sea infancy in mapping alluded to mentioned in WP:LEAD; ditto East India Company which actually he co-founded with many others as the article in fact unwittingly I see mentionsNext edit →
Line 3:		Line 3:
	'''Petrus Plancius''' (1552 – May 15, 1622) was a ]-] ], ] and ]. He was born as '''Pieter Platevoet''' in ], now in ], ]. He studied ] in Germany and England. At the age of 24 he became a ] in the ].		'''Petrus Plancius''' (1552 – May 15, 1622) was a ]-] ], ] and ]. He was born as '''Pieter Platevoet''' in ], now in ], ]. He studied ] in Germany and England. At the age of 24 he became a ] in the ].

	Because of fear of religious prosecution by the ] Plancius fled from ] to ] after the city fell into Spanish hands in 1585. There he became interested in ] and ] and, being fortunate enough to have access to nautical charts recently brought from Portugal, he was soon recognized as an expert on ~~the~~ ~~shipping~~ routes to ]. He strongly believed in the idea of a ] until the failure of ]'s third voyage in 1597 ~~seemed~~ to ~~preclude~~ ~~the~~ possibility ~~of such a~~ ~~route~~.		Because of fear of religious prosecution by the ] Plancius fled from ] to ] after the city fell into Spanish hands in 1585. There he became interested in ] and ] and, being fortunate enough to have access to nautical charts recently brought from Portugal, he was soon recognized as an expert on safe maritime routes to ] and the nearby "spice islands" enabling colonies and port trade in both, including what would become the ], named after the ] set up in 1602. He was among the cohort which saw strong potential in the little-mapped ] and strongly believed in the idea of a ] until the failure of ]'s third voyage in 1597 in common consensus precluded its possibility or viability.

	For ], Plancius is considered to be one of the notable figures in the ] (c. 1570s–1670s).		For ], Plancius is considered to be one of the notable figures in the ] (c. 1570s–1670s).

Revision as of 14:44, 7 September 2019

Petrus Plancius by J. Buys/Rein. Vinkoeles (1791)

Petrus Plancius (1552 – May 15, 1622) was a Dutch-Flemish astronomer, cartographer and clergyman. He was born as Pieter Platevoet in Dranouter, now in Heuvelland, West Flanders. He studied theology in Germany and England. At the age of 24 he became a minister in the Dutch Reformed Church.

Because of fear of religious prosecution by the Inquisition Plancius fled from Brussels to Amsterdam after the city fell into Spanish hands in 1585. There he became interested in navigation and cartography and, being fortunate enough to have access to nautical charts recently brought from Portugal, he was soon recognized as an expert on safe maritime routes to India and the nearby "spice islands" enabling colonies and port trade in both, including what would become the Dutch East Indies, named after the Dutch East India Company set up in 1602. He was among the cohort which saw strong potential in the little-mapped Arctic Sea and strongly believed in the idea of a Northeast Passage until the failure of Willem Barentsz's third voyage in 1597 in common consensus precluded its possibility or viability.

For his pioneering contributions in the history of celestial cartography, Plancius is considered to be one of the notable figures in the Golden Age of Dutch/Netherlandish cartography (c. 1570s–1670s).

Cartography

In 1592 Plancius published his best known world map titled "Nova et exacta Terrarum Tabula geographica et hydrographica". Apart from maps, he published journals and navigational guides and developed a new method for determining longitude. He also introduced the Mercator projection for navigational maps.

Plancius was one of the founders of the Dutch East India Company for which he drew over 100 maps.

Plancius was closely acquainted with Henry Hudson, an explorer of the New World.

Plancius prepared the map, Exacta & accurata delinatio… regionibus China, Cauchinchina, Camboja, sive Champa, Syao, Malacca, Arracan & Pegu, published in Jan Huygen van Linschoten’s popular book, Itinerario (1596).

Uranography

In 1589 Plancius collaborated with the Amsterdam cartographer Jacob Floris van Langren on a 32.5-cm celestial globe, which, using the sparse information available about southern celestial features, for the first time depicted: Crux the southern cross, Triangulum Australe the southern triangle, and the Magellanic Clouds, Nubecula Major and Minor.

In 1595 Plancius asked Pieter Dirkszoon Keyser, the chief pilot on the Hollandia, to make observations to fill in the blank area around the south celestial pole on European maps of the southern sky. Keyser died in Java the following year – the expedition had many casualties – but his catalogue of 135 stars, probably measured up with the help of explorer-colleague Frederick de Houtman, was delivered to Plancius. These stars appear as 12 new southern constellations, on a 35-cm celestial globe designed by Plancius in late 1597 (or early 1598) and produced in collaboration with the Amsterdam cartographer Jodocus Hondius the Elder. The 12 new constellations (mostly referring to animals and subjects described in natural history books and travellers' journals of his day) are Apis the Bee (later changed to Musca by Lacaille), Apus the Bird of Paradise, Chamaeleon, Dorado the Goldfish (or Swordfish), Grus the Crane, Hydrus the Small Water Snake, Indus the Indian, Pavo the Peacock, Phoenix, Triangulum Australe the Southern Triangle, Tucana the Toucan, and Volans the Flying Fish. (The Southern Triangle and Southern Cross were reported as asterisms by earlier navigators and appear on earlier charts, but the globe of 1598 is the first surviving source that plots their locations reasonably accurately.) Also notable is the inclusion of Achernar as Alpha Eridani.

These constellations, together with the constellation Columba illustrated by Plancius on his large wall map of the world of 1592, were then incorporated in 1603 by Johann Bayer in his sky atlas, the Uranometria.

In 1612 (or 1613) Plancius introduced the following eight constellations on a 26.5-cm celestial globe published in Amsterdam by Pieter van der Keere: Apes the Bee, Camelopardalis the Giraffe (often interpreted as a Camel), Cancer Minor the Small Crab, Euphrates Fluvius et Tigris Fluvius the Rivers Euphrates and Tigris, Gallus the Cock, Jordanis Fluvius the River Jordan, Monoceros the Unicorn and Sagitta Australis the Southern Arrow. Of the latter constellations, only Camelopardalis and Monoceros are still found on modern star charts, and recognized by the IAU.