Jungius

Joachim Jungius

Born: 22 Oct 1587 in Lübeck, Germany
Died: 23 Sept 1657 in Hamburg, Germany

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As well as mathematics, Jungius was interested in natural science. In mathematics he proved that the catenary is not a parabola (Galileo assumed it was). He was one of the first to use exponents to represent powers and he used mathematics as a model for the natural sciences.

The Logica Hamburgensis (1638) of Jungius presented late medieval theories and techniques of logic. He discussed valid oblique cases of arguments that do not fit into simpler forms of inference. For example

The square of an even number is even, 6 is even, therefore, the square of 6 is even.

The oblique case of an even number had to be put into the subject position so that standard arguments could be used. Aristotle had also dealt with this type of logical argument.

References elsewhere in this archive:

Tell me about the catenary.

References:

  1. Dictionary of Scientific Biography
  2. M Fogel, Historia vitae et mortis Joachimi Jungii (Strasbourg, 1658).
  3. C Meinel, Joachim Jungius (1587-1657) : empirisme et reforme scientifique au seuil de l'epoque moderne, Archives Internationales d'histoire des sciences 37 (1987), 297-315. 
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JOC/EFR February 1996