Scientist Wilhelm Schickard (a photo of his portrait is given later in the article) is a German astronomer, mathematician and cartographer of the early 17th century. In 1623 he invented one of the first calculating machines. He proposed to Kepler his mechanical means for calculating ephemerides (the positions of celestial bodies at regular intervals) and contributed to improving the accuracy of maps.
Wilhelm Schickard: biography
The photo of the portrait of Wilhelm Schickard, placed below, shows us an imposing man with a penetrating look. The future scientist was born on April 22, 1592 in Herrenberg, a small town located in Württemberg in southern Germany, about 15 km from one of the oldest university centers in Europe, Tübinger-Stift, founded in 1477. He was the first child in the family of Lukas Schickard (1560- 1602), a carpenter and master builder from Herrenberg, who in 1590 married the daughter of a Lutheran pastor, Margarethe Gmelin-Schikkard (1567-1634). Wilhelm had a younger brother Lukas and a sister. His great-grandfather was a famous woodcarver and sculptor whose works have survived to this day, and his uncle was one of the most prominent GermanRenaissance architects.
Wilhelm began his education in 1599 at the elementary school in Herrenberg. After the death of his father in September 1602, he was taken care of by his uncle Philipp, who served as a priest in Güglingen, and in 1603 Schickard studied there. In 1606, another uncle placed him in a church school at the Bebenhausen monastery near Tübingen, where he worked as a teacher.
The school had connections with the Protestant theological seminary in Tübingen, and from March 1607 to April 1609 young Wilhelm studied for a bachelor's degree, studying not only languages and theology, but also mathematics and astronomy.
Masters
In January 1610, Wilhelm Schickard went to Tübinger-Stift to study for a master's degree. The educational institution belonged to the Protestant church and was intended for those wishing to become pastors or teachers. Students received a stipend that included meals, accommodation and 6 guilders a year for personal needs. This was very important to Wilhelm, because his family apparently did not have enough money to support him. In 1605, Schickard's mother married a second time to a pastor from Mensheim, Bernhard Sik, who died a few years later.
Besides Schickard, other famous students of Tübinger-Stift were the well-known humanist, mathematician and astronomer of the 16th century. Nicodemus Frischlin (1547-1590), the great astronomer Johannes Kepler (1571-1630), the famous poet Friedrich Hölderlin (1770-1843), the great philosopher Georg Hegel (1770-1831) and others.
Church and family
Having received his master's degree in July 1611, Wilhelm continued his studies of theology and Hebrew in Tübingen until 1614, working simultaneously as a private teacher of mathematics and oriental languages, and even as a vicar. In September 1614, he passed his final theological examination and began church service as a Protestant deacon in the city of Nürtingen, about 30 kilometers northwest of Tübingen.
24 January 1615 Wilhelm Schickard married Sabine Mack of Kirchheim. They had 9 children, but (as usual at that time) only four survived by 1632: Ursula-Margareta (1618), Judith (1620), Theophilus (1625) and Sabina (1628).
Schikkard served as a deacon until the summer of 1619. Church duties left him much time for study. He continued to study ancient languages, worked on translations and wrote several treatises. For example, in 1615 he sent Michael Maestlin an extensive manuscript on optics. During this time, he also developed his artistic skills by painting portraits and making astronomical instruments.
Teaching
In 1618, Schickard applied and in August 1619, on the recommendation of Duke Friedrich von Württemberg, was appointed professor of Hebrew at the University of Tübingen. The young professor created his own method of presenting the material and some auxiliary aids, and also taught other ancient languages. In addition, Shikkard studied Arabic and Turkish. His Horolgium Hebraeum, a textbook for learning Hebrew in 24 hours, was reprinted many times over the next two centuries.
Innovative Professor
His efforts to improve the teaching of his subject were innovative. He firmly believed that part of a teacher's job was to make it easier to learn Hebrew. One of Wilhelm Schickard's inventions was the Hebraea Rota. This mechanical device showed verb conjugations by means of 2 rotating disks superimposed on each other, with windows in which the corresponding forms appeared. In 1627 he wrote another textbook for German Hebrew students, Hebräischen Trichter.
Astronomy, mathematics, geodesy
Schikkard's research circle was wide. In addition to Hebrew, he studied astronomy, mathematics and geodesy. For sky maps in the Astroscopium, he invented the conic projection. His 1623 maps are presented as cones cut along the meridian with a pole at the center. Schickard also made significant progress in the field of cartography, in 1629 writing a very important treatise in which he showed how to create maps much more accurate than those available at that time. His most famous mapping work Kurze Anweisung was published in 1629
In 1631 Wilhelm Schickard was appointed teacher of astronomy, mathematics and geodesy. By the time he succeeded the famous German scientist Mikael Mestlin, who died the same year, he already had significant achievements and publications in these areas. He lectured on architecture, fortification, hydraulics and astronomy. Shikkard spentstudy of the movement of the moon and in 1631 published ephemeris, which made it possible to determine the position of the Earth's satellite at any time.
At the time, the Church insisted that the Earth was at the center of the universe, but Schickard was a staunch supporter of the heliocentric system.
In 1633 he was appointed Dean of the Faculty of Philosophy.
Collaboration with Kepler
An important role in the life of the scientist Wilhelm Schickard was played by the great astronomer Johannes Kepler. Their first meeting took place in the autumn of 1617. Then Kepler passed through Tübingen to Leonberg, where his mother was accused of witchcraft. An intense correspondence began between the scientists and several other meetings took place (during the week in 1621 and later for three weeks).
Kepler used not only the talent of his colleague in the field of mechanics, but also his artistic skills. An interesting fact: the scientist Wilhelm Schickard created an instrument for observing comets for a fellow astronomer. He later took care of Kepler's son Ludwig, who was studying in Tübingen. Schickard agreed to draw and engrave the figures for the second part of the Epitome Astronomiae Copernicanae, but the publisher stipulated that the printing be done in Augsburg. At the end of December 1617, Wilhelm sent 37 engravings for Kepler's 4th and 5th books. He also helped engrave figures for the last two books (one of his cousins did the work).
In addition, Shikkard created, perhaps at the request of the great astronomer, an original computing tool. Kepler expressed his gratitude by sending him several of his papers, two of which are preserved in the library of the University of Tübingen.
Wilhelm Schickard: contribution to computer science
Kepler was a great admirer of Napier's logarithms and wrote about them to a colleague from Tübingen, who in 1623 designed the first "counting clock" Rechenuhr. The machine consisted of three main parts:
- multiplier device in the form of 6 vertical cylinders with numbers of Napier sticks printed on them, closed in front by nine narrow plates with holes that can be moved left and right;
- mechanism for recording intermediate results, composed of six revolving pens, on which numbers are applied, visible through the holes in the bottom row;
- decimal 6-digit adder made of 6 axles, each of which is fitted with a disk with 10 holes, a cylinder with numbers, a wheel with 10 teeth, on top of which a wheel with 1 tooth is fixed (for transfer) and additional 5 axles with 1 tooth wheels.
After entering the multiplicand by rotating the cylinders with the knobs, opening the windows of the plates, you can sequentially multiply ones, tens, etc., adding the intermediate results using the adder.
However, the design of the machine was flawed and could not work in the form in which the design has been preserved. The machine itself and its blueprints were forgotten for a long time during the Thirty Years' War.
War
In 1631year, the life of Wilhelm Schickard and his family was threatened by hostilities that approached Tübingen. Before the battle in the vicinity of the city in 1631, he fled to Austria with his wife and children and returned a few weeks later. In 1632 they again had to leave. In June 1634, hoping for quieter times, Schickard bought a new house in Tübingen suitable for astronomical observations. However, his hopes were in vain. After the Battle of Nordlinged in August 1634, Catholic troops occupied Württemberg, bringing with them violence, famine and plague. Schickard buried his most important notes and manuscripts to save them from being robbed. They are partially preserved, but not the scientist's family. In September 1634, while sacking Herrenberg, soldiers beat his mother, who died from her injuries. In January 1635, his uncle, the architect Heinrich Schickard, was killed.
Plague
From the end of 1634, the biography of Wilhelm Schickard was marked by irreparable losses: his eldest daughter Ursula-Margareta, a girl of unusual intellect and talent, died of the plague. The disease then claimed the lives of his wife and two younger daughters, Judith and Sabina, two servants and a student who lived in his house. Shikkard survived this epidemic, but the next summer the plague returned, taking his sister who lived in his house with him. He and his only surviving 9-year-old son Theophilus fled to the village of Dublingen, located near Tübingen, with the intention of leaving for Geneva. However, on October 4, 1635, fearing that his house and especially his library would be ransacked, he returned. On October 18, Shikkard fell ill with the plague and died on October 23, 1635. In a day thatthe same fate befell his son.
Interesting facts from life
Scientist Wilhelm Schickard, in addition to Kepler, corresponded with other famous scientists of his time - mathematician Ismael Buyo (1605-1694), philosophers Pierre Gassendi (1592-1655) and Hugo Grotius (1583-1645), astronomers Johann Brenger, Nicolas-Claude de Peiresc (1580-1637), John Bainbridge (1582-1643). In Germany, he enjoyed great prestige. Contemporaries called this universal genius the best astronomer in Germany after the death of Kepler (Bernegger), the most important Hebraist after the death of the elder Buxtorf (Grotius), one of the greatest geniuses of the century (de Peyresque).
Like many other geniuses, Shikkard's interests were too broad. He managed to finish only a small part of his projects and books, passing away in his prime.
He was an outstanding polyglot. In addition to German, Latin, Arabic, Turkish and some ancient languages such as Hebrew, Aramaic, Chaldean and Syriac, he also knew French, Dutch, etc.
Schikkard undertook a study of the Duchy of Württemberg, which pioneered the use of Willebrord Snell's triangulation method in geodetic measurements.
He suggested to Kepler to develop a mechanical tool for calculating ephemeris and created the first manual planetarium.
