Certainly, you have heard of some famous mathematicians, such as Pythagoras, Archimedes, Tales, Euclid, Fermat, Descartes, but… there are also Portuguese mathematicians on this list, such as the case of Pedro Nunes, a 16th century mathematician, who for us it has great significance, since it has been scientifically renowned across borders.
Pedro Nunes was born in 1502, in Alcácer do Sal, at the height of Portuguese discoveries and navigations. This socio-political-cultural situation will have influenced the way in which he pursued his scientific activity. In fact, much of his work is dedicated to navigation science, but he has also worked and published texts on algebra, geometry and spherical trigonometry.
As real cosmographer since 1529, Pedro Nunes also devoted himself to the invention and improvement of measuring instruments, namely, one that allowed measuring fractions of the degree in the astrolabe: the Nónio.
Pedro Nunes on stamp
With the work “Pedro Nunes: mathematician and cosmographer of the 16th century”, the scientists of a hand and a half obtained in 2003 an Honorable Mention in the Contest “Pedro Nunes. Being and knowing”, promoted by the Instituto de Inovação Educacional, to mark the 500th anniversary of the birth of this Portuguese mathematician.
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