Snell

Willebrord van Roijen Snell

Born: 1580 in Leiden, Netherlands
Died: 30 Oct 1626 in Leiden, Netherlands

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Willebrord Snell was an astronomer and mathematician best known for his law of refraction of light. In 1613 he succeeded his father Rudolph Snell (1546-1613) as professor of mathematics at the University of Leiden.

Snell studied the loxodrome, the path on the sphere that makes constant angle with the meridians. In 1617 he published Eratosthenes Batavus , which contains his methods for measuring the Earth.

He also improved the classical method of calculating approximate values of pi by polygons. Using his method 96 sided polygons give pi correct to 7 places while the classical method yields only 2 places. van Ceulen's 35 places could be found with polygons of 2^3^0 sides rather than 2^6^2.

Although he discovered the law of refraction, a basis of modern geometric optics, in 1621, he did not publish it and only in 1703 did it become known when Huygens published Snell's result in Dioptrica .

Other Web sites:

Rice University, USA

References:

  1. Dictionary of Scientific Biography
  2. C De Waard, Willebrord Snell, Nieuw Nederlandsch biographisch woordenboek 7 (Leiden, 1927), 1155-1163.
  3. P van Geer, Notice sur la vie et les travaux de Willebrord Snellius, Archives néerlandaises des sciences exactes et naturelles 18 (1883), 453-468. 
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JOC/EFR February 1996