Metius

Adriaan Adriaanszoon, called Metius, (9 December 1571 – 6 September 1635), was a Dutch geometer and astronomer. He was born in Alkmaar. The name Metius comes from the Dutch word meten ("measuring"), and therefore means something like "measurer" or "surveyor."

Father and brother

Metius was born at Alkmaar, North Holland. His father, Adriaan Anthonisz, was also a mathematician, land-surveyor, cartographer, and military engineer who from 1582 served also as burgomaster of Alkmaar.

Metius' brother, Jacob Metius, worked as an instrument-maker and a specialist in grinding lenses. Also born in Alkmaar, Jacob died between 1624 and 1631. Not much of him is known besides the fact that in October 1608, the States General discussed his patent application for an optical telescope of his own invention described as a device for "seeing faraway things as though nearby", consisting of a convex and concave lens in a tube, and the combination magnified three or four times.

Education

Metius attended a Latin school in Alkmaar and studied philosophy in 1589 at the University of Franeker, which had been recently founded. He continued his studies at Leiden in 1594, where he studied under Rudolph Snellius. He worked for a brief time under Tycho Brahe on the little island of Hven, where Brahe had built two observatories, and subsequently worked at Rostock and Jena, where he gave lectures in 1595. Subsequently, he returned to Alkmaar and assisted his father for a time as a military engineer inspecting fortifications, and also worked as a teacher of mathematics at Franeker in Frisia, his teaching especially geared towards the training of surveyors.

Metius (disambiguation)

Metius (1571–1635) was a Dutch geometer and astronomer.

Metius may also refer to:

Metius (crater)

Metius is a lunar impact crater located in the rugged highlands to the southeast of the Moon's near side. To the southwest the rim is attached to the crater Fabricius. Offset to the east-northeast is the heavily worn crater Brenner. Further away to the northeast is the crater Rheita and the long gorge Vallis Rheita.

The rim of Metius does not protrude prominently into the surroundings and has an insignificant rampart. A few small craters mar the outer wall, but generally it has a smoothed down appearance that is almost free of terraces. The floor is relatively flat with low central peaks. The most prominent crater on the floor is Metius B, located near the northeast rim.

The eponym for this crater is the Dutch geometer and astronomer Adriaan Adriaanszoon, who went by the name of Metius.

Satellite craters

By convention these features are identified on lunar maps by placing the letter on the side of the crater midpoint that is closest to Metius.

References