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Ludwik Antoni Birkenmajer (18 May 1855 - 20 November 1929), Polish historian of science, physicist, astronomer, professor of the Jagiellonian University.
Descended from the German family settled in Galicia (Southern Poland) during the time of the Napoleon wars, later a part of the Austrian Habsburg Empire. He was the son of Józef Herman and Petronela de domo Stefanowski. Educated in the Franz Joseph High School (so called Gymnasium at that time) in Lvov (1865–1873), than studied physics, chemistry and mathematics at the Kraków University till 1878. Supplementary studies in Vienna (1879–1880). In 1879 he defended his Ph. D. thesis in Kraków based on the study: On general methods of integration of the algebraic and transcendental functions (in Polish: O ogólnych metodach całkowania funkcyj algebraicznych i przestępnych). Since 1878 for nearly two decades was a teacher of mathematics and physics in the renowned agricultural school in Czernichów near Kraków. In 1897 he started his academic career at the Jagiellonian University, where he continued to work till the end of his life. At the beginning he was an extraordinary professor, than - since 1919 – he became an ordinary professor and lecturer of the history of mathematics, physics, astronomy and physical geography, simultaneously being a Chair of the History of Exact Sciences. In 1893 he was elected the correspondent member of Kraków Academy of Sciences and Letters, and in 1927 became its regular member. He was one of the organizers of the Library Commission of the Academy (1901). In 1910-1913 he held the post of the secretary of its Commission for the History of Mathematical and Natural Sciences. Since 1918 the Academy was renamed into the Polish Academy of Sciences and Letters. Birkenmajer was also the member of Scientific Society in Toruń (Thorn) and of the International Astronomical Union in Oxford. In 1923 took significant part in the jubilee celebration of the 450 anniversary of the Copernicus birth with the series of lectures presented in Kraków, Toruń, Poznań and Warsaw.
He analyzed the Copernicus main work De revolutionibus orbium coelestium , and came to the conclusion that the Heliocentric Theory was created by Copernicus before he became acquainted with the Ptolemy Almagest . [1] [2] He also elaborated the biographical materials and records of the Copernicus life till 1500, as well discovered - an unknown earlier - letter of the astronomer to the king Sigismund I the Old concerning the Teutonic Order. He also studied scientific output of Marcin Bylica of Olkusz, and prepared the history of geodesy and gravimetry. Prepared the scientific edition of Tito Livio Burattini Misura universale (1897), the Practical geometry of Marcin Król (1895), as well as the Commentariolum super theoreticas planetarum of Albert of Brudzewo (1900). Moreover in his academic interests he studied theoretical physics, astronomy, algebraic functions and geophysics. In 1883 he won the prize of the Kraków Academy in geometry for solving what would (17 years) later be known as Hilbert's third problem, and later received Swedish Order of the Polar-Star, and Polish Commander Cross of the Republic of Poland (1924).
Ludwik was the founder of the renown Polish family of scholars. He was married Zofia (Sophie), the daughter of Franciszek Karliński, the professor of astronomy in the Jagiellonian University, and inherited his library embracing mostly the books on mathematics and physics. They had three sons: Aleksander Ludwik (historian of culture and exact sciences, and bibliologist), [3] Józef (poet, interpreter and literature historian), and Wincenty (Polish philologist, teacher and renown Tatra Mountains-climber). His grandson is Krzysztof Birkenmajer (professor of geology, member of the Polish Academy of Sciences). In 2011 the Institute for the History of Science of the Polish Academy of Sciences received the name of father and son: Ludwik & Aleksander Birkenmajer.
· O rozszerzalności ciał (1876)
· O całkowaniu algebraicznem funkcyj algebraicznych (1879)
· O przezroczystości powietrza (1879)
· O kształcie i grawitacyi sferoidu ziemskiego (1885)
· Tables des syzygies, calculées à Cracovie pour l'an 1379 et 1380 : contribution à l'histoire de l'astronomie en Pologne du XIVe siècle (1890)
· Marcin Bylica z Olkusza oraz instrumenta astronomiczne, legowane przez niego Uniwersytetowi Jagiellońskiemu w roku 1493 (1892–1893)
· Mikołaj Kopernik. Studya nad pracami Kopernika oraz materyały biograficzne (1900)
· Marco Beneventano, Kopernik, Wapowski a najstarsza karta geograficzna Polski (1901)
· Nicolas Copernic (1902)
· Niccolò Copernico e l'Università di Padova (1922)
· Mikołaj Kopernik jako uczony, twórca i obywatel (1923)
· Stromata Copernicana (1924)
· Mikołaj Wodka z Kwidzyna, zwany Abstemius (1926)
· Nicolaus Copernicus und der Deutsche Ritterorden (1937)
· Tito Livio Burattini, Misura universale (1897)
· Giovanni Bianchini, Flores Almagesti : ein angeblich verloren gegangener Traktat Giovanni Bianchini's, Mathematikers und Astronomen von Ferrara aus dem XV. Jahrhundert (1911)
· Barthélemy Berp de Valentia, De diebus naturalibus earumque aequatione (1912)
· Marcin Biem, Martini Biem de Olkusz Poloni nova calendarii Romani reformatio: opusculum ad requisitionem V-ti Concilii Lateranensis A. D. 1516 compositum (1918)
· Mikołaj Kopernik, Wybór pism w przekładzie polskim (1920)
· Mikołaj Kopernik, O obrotach ciał niebieskich i inne pisma (2004)
The Jagiellonian University is a public research university in Kraków, Poland. Founded in 1364 by King Casimir III the Great, it is the oldest university in Poland and the 13th oldest university in continuous operation in the world. It is regarded as Poland's most prestigious academic institution. The university has been viewed as a vanguard of Polish culture as well as a significant contributor to the intellectual heritage of Europe.
Nicolaus Copernicus was a Renaissance polymath, active as a mathematician, astronomer, and Catholic canon, who formulated a model of the universe that placed the Sun rather than Earth at its center. In all likelihood, Copernicus developed his model independently of Aristarchus of Samos, an ancient Greek astronomer who had formulated such a model some eighteen centuries earlier.
Olkusz is a town in southern Poland with 36,607 inhabitants (2014). Situated in the Lesser Poland Voivodeship, previously in Katowice Voivodeship (1975–1998), it is the capital of Olkusz County. Olkusz is known for its abundance of silver, which is mined and extracted in the vicinity.
Sonderaktion Krakau was a German operation against professors and academics of the Jagiellonian University and other universities in German-occupied Kraków, Poland, at the beginning of World War II. It was carried out as part of the much broader action plan, the Intelligenzaktion, to eradicate the Polish intellectual elite, especially in those centers that were intended by the Germans to become culturally German.
The Kraków School of Mathematics and Astrology was an influential mid-to-late-15th-century group of mathematicians and astrologers at the University of Kraków.
The Nicolaus Copernicus Monument in Warsaw is one of the Polish capital's notable landmarks. It stands before the Staszic Palace, the seat of the Polish Academy of Sciences on Krakowskie Przedmieście. Designed by Bertel Thorvaldsen in 1822, it was completed in 1830. Thorvaldsen's original plaster model from 1822 and a smaller study from 1821 are both held by the Thorvaldsen Museum in Copenhagen.
Copernicus is a 1973 Polish historical film directed by Ewa Petelska and Czesław Petelski. The film was entered into the 8th Moscow International Film Festival where it won the Silver Prize. It was also selected as the Polish entry for the Best Foreign Language Film at the 46th Academy Awards, but was not accepted as a nominee.
The Institute for the History of Science was established in 1954 as an institution of the Polish Academy of Sciences in Poland.
Aleksander Ludwik Birkenmajer was a Polish historian of exact sciences and philosophy, bibliologist, professor of the Jagiellonian University in Kraków and of the Warsaw University.
Astronomer Copernicus, or Conversations with God is a painting by the Polish artist Jan Matejko completed in 1873, in the collection of the Jagiellonian University, Kraków. It depicts Nicolaus Copernicus observing the heavens from a balcony in a tower with the cathedral in Frombork in the background. The canvas was purchased from a private owner by public subscription in Poland and hangs in the aula of the Collegium Novum of the university. Matejko produced the painting as part of a series of paintings intended to capture and represent key moments in the history of Poland to inspire the public.
Marcin Bylica, also known as Martin Bylica and Marcin z Olkusza, was a Polish astrologer, astronomer, and physician at the court of Matthias Corvinus, King of Hungary.
Jan Morawski was a Jesuit, theological writer.
Petrus Gaszowiec, was a Polish astrologer, doctor and professor at the Kraków Academy.
Roman Stanisław Ingarden was a Polish physicist, specialised mainly in optics and statistical mechanics, son of the Polish philosopher Roman Witold Ingarden.
Rectors of the Jagiellonian University – List of rectors of the Jagiellonian University, known also as the Cracow Academy, University of Cracow, and Szkoła Główna Koronna. The list begins in 1400 at the restoration of the university under Jadwiga of Poland and Władysław II Jagiełło.
Jerzy Sikorski is a Polish historian, Copernicologist, medievalist, museologist, author, publisher, journalist, and encyclopedist, who writes and publishes primarily in Polish. He is a resident of Olsztyn, Poland.
Jan Muscenius, was a Polish astronomer, theologian, and the rector of Kraków Academy.
Franciszka "Niusia" Szymakowska-Birkenmajer was a Polish geologist. He worked at the Polish Geological Institute in Warsaw, and an important figure in the development of Carpathian geology. Her main research interests were the stratigraphy and tectonics of the Carpathians. Franciszka Szymakowska was best known for her detailed geological drawings that are still used today. Most geological maps at her time were drawn by with pencil and colours, and Szymakowska was able to capture the most complex geological features in accurate and detailed images.
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