Tycho Brahe

Tycho was born in 1546. He was an astronomer and writer. Tycho was known for his accurate and comprehensive astronomical observations. His family wanted him to be a lawyer but he wanted to be an astronomer. Although his family wanted him to be a lawyer they still supported him. Tycho became partners with Kepler. He would teach Kepler about astronomy.

Mercator

Mercator was born in 1512. Mercator was a geographer. He is most known for the Mercator projection map. He is a great role model because he was hard working, charitable and had high quality work. Google earth and other similar software carry on Mercator map projection. His map projection became the standard until the 20th century. A favorable memorial was built in Germany 50 years after he died.

Mercator Projection Map

The Mercator projection is a cylindrical map projection. The Mercator projection became standard by the 1600s. By the 20th century the Mercator projection became standard in classrooms. The Mercator projection was very helpful in sailing because you need to know where you are going. Sailing was very big because they didn’t have planes to fly. Since they only had boats this helped a lot.

The Backstaff

The backstaff is a navigational instrument that was used to measure the altitude of the sun or moon. It was made for sailing. This helped because it would measure the height of the sun. The inventor, John Davis, became a master of sailing and an explorer for England. It was also part of a long line of capital inventions.

My favorite thing I learned about this week was Tycho Brahe. I found his life fascinating because what he was expected to be was not what he turned out to be. He ended up an astronomer not a lawyer following his own dreams.

Instead of me just talking about inventions I am going to talk about inventors and inventions.

Double-Entry Bookkeeping

Double-entry bookkeeping is a way to keep track of how much money your spending and getting. Double- entry was made for merchants and for merchants to teach their sons. Double-entry bookkeeping helped businessmen increase their capital. This also revolutionized business finances. Soon Italian merchants began thinking of better accounting methods.

Leonardo da Vinci

Da Vinci was a famous artist and inventor. Da Vinci was talented but was not a good inventor.He also struggled to finish what he started. He was described as a renaissance man. A renaissance man is suppose to have knowledge and skills. Da Vinci was born in a rich family and was a naturally gifted artist. He is mostly remember by The Mona Lisa

Luca Pacioli

His biggest impact on history is popularization of double-entry bookkeeping . He made mistakes but they led to further discoveries. When he was writing a book about chess strategy he was friends da Vinci and he asked him illustrate the pictures in his book. Luca was also a mathematician and teacher.

Mariner’s Astrolabe

The marine astrolabe was an inclinometer used to determine the latitude of a ship. The device made it easier to use in windy conditions. The device spread largely because of the book The Art of Navigation. It also was very helpful in the winter when you could not see the sun because before they would use the sun for navigation.

The thing I found most interesting was learning about Leonardo da Vinci. I found learning about life and career was very interesting. I would love to learn more about him.

The inventions I normally talk about have had huge impacts on history, and this week one of the inventions is a game.

The Mainspring

The mainspring is a metal coil that stores energy. The mainspring was a main function in the working clock. The mainspring made portable clocks possible. Watch accuracy became an increasingly important issue during the 1800s. A mainspring can still be useful in certain particular applications.

The Printing Press

The printing press is a machine for printing text or pictures. The printing press increased book circulation because it would not take so long to write a book. The printing press was invented by Jonathan Gutenberg and because of him it was made popular.

Chess

Chess is a player board game, played on checker patterned board. Chess became a sport in 1886. In the middle ages there were lots of games and chess was particularly liked among the nobility.

The Arquebus

The arquebus was the first fired gun from the shoulder. The arquebus led to refined firearms and tactics. It brought on the rise of a new era of the nation state. The arquebus evolved from the hand cannon out of its ability to penetrate knightly armor.

What I found most interesting was how if you had a power outage you can use a mainspring for some power.