Conrad Dasypodius

Conrad Dasypodius (1532 – 26 April 1600)[1] was a professor of mathematics in Strasbourg, Alsace. He was born in Frauenfeld, Thurgau, Switzerland. His first name was also rendered as Konrad or Conradus or Cunradus, and his last name has been alternatively stated as Rauchfuss, Rauchfuß, and Hasenfratz. He was the son of Petrus Dasypodius (Peter Hasenfuss) (1490–1559, or Peter Hasenfratz), a humanist and lexicographer.

In 1564, Dasypodius edited various parts of the Elements of Euclid. In the preface, he says that for 26 years it had been the rule at his school that all who were promoted from the classes to public lectures should learn Book I of the Elements, but there were no longer any copies to be had so he was bringing out a new edition so as to maintain a good and fruitful regulation of his school.[2]

In 1568, Dasypodius published a work about the heliocentric theory of Nicolaus Copernicus, Hypotyposes orbium coelestium congruentes cum tabulis Alfonsinis et Copernici seu etiam tabulis Prutenicis editae a Cunrado Dasypodio.[3] It is unclear whether Dasypodius was a heliocentrist himself or rather followed the "Wittenberg interpretation."[4]

Dasypodius designed an astronomical clock for the Strasbourg Cathedral; that clock was built in 1572-1574 by Isaac Habrecht and Josia Habrecht. This monumental clock represented the synthesis of the most advanced scientific knowledge of the era, in the domains of astronomy, mathematics, and physics. That mechanism remained in the Cathedral until 1842, when it was replaced by a clock built by Jean Baptiste Schwilgué.[5][6]

Dasypodius translated writings of Hero of Alexandria from Greek into Latin: one source says it was Hero's Automata;[7] but more likely it was the Mechanica.[8]

Dasypodius died in Strasbourg.