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'On The Origins of Dee's Mathematical Programme' The John Dee-Pedro Nunes Connection
'On The Origins of Dee's Mathematical Programme' The John Dee-Pedro Nunes Connection
'On The Origins of Dee's Mathematical Programme' The John Dee-Pedro Nunes Connection
Nunes connection
Bruno Almeida
CIUHCT Centro Interuniversitrio de Histria da Cincia e Tecnologia, Plo da Universidade de Lisboa, Faculdade de Cincias, Edifcio C4, Piso 1,
Gabinete 28, Campo Grande, 1749-016 Lisboa, Portugal
a r t i c l e i n f o
Article history:
Available online 9 January 2012
Keywords:
John Dee
Pedro Nunes
Nautical science
Mathematical programme
a b s t r a c t
In a letter addressed to Mercator in 1558, John Dee made an odd announcement, describing the Portu-
guese mathematician and cosmographer Pedro Nunes as the most learned and grave man who is the sole
relic and ornament and prop of the mathematical arts among us, and appointing him his intellectual
executor. This episode shows that Dee considered Nunes one of his most distinguished contemporaries,
and also that some connection existed between the two men. Unfortunately not much is known about
this connection, and even such basic questions such as What could John Dee know about this Portuguese
cosmographers scientic work? or When, why and where did this interest come about? still lack proper
answers. In this paper I address this connection and examine Nunes inuence on Dees mathematical
work. I argue that Dee was interested in Nunes work as early as 1552 (but probably even earlier). I also
claim that Dee was aware of Nunes programme for the use of mathematics in studying physical phenom-
ena and that this may have inuenced his own views on the subject.
2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
When citing this paper, please use the full journal title Studies in History and Philosophy of Science
1. Introduction
In 1558, John Dee (15271609) published his rst work, Propae-
deumata aphoristica.
1
At the beginning of the book, Dee included a
dedicatory letter (dated 20 July 1558) to his friend, the Flemish car-
tographer Gerard Mercator, in which he recalled the good times they
spent philosophizing together in Louvain. He also justied the delay
in the completion of his awaited scientic work, declaring that had
fallen severely ill in the previous year. Then, he makes an unex-
pected statement:
You should know that, besides the extremely dangerous illness
from which I have suffered during the whole year just past, I
have also borne many other inconveniences (from those who,
etc.) which have very much hindered my studies, and that my
strength has not yet been able to sustain the weight of such
exertion and labor as the almost Herculean task will require
for its completion. And if my work cannot be nished or pub-
lished while I remain alive, I have bequeathed it to that most
learned and grave man who is the sole relic and ornament
and prop of the mathematical arts among us, D. D. Pedro Nues,
of Salcia, and not long since prayed him strenuously that, if
this work of mine should be brought to him after my death,
he would kindly and humanely take it under his protection
and use it in every way as if it were his own: that he would
deign to complete it, nally, correct it, and polish it for the pub-
lic use of philosophers as if it were entirely his. And I do not
doubt that he will himself be a party to my wish if his life
and health remain unimpaired, since he loves me faithfully
and it is inborn in him by nature, and reinforced by will,
0039-3681/$ - see front matter 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
doi:10.1016/j.shpsa.2011.12.004
E-mail address: bjalmeida@gmail.com
1
Dee (1558). This book had one more known edition in the sixteenth century (Dee, 1568), and was recently edited by Wayne Shumaker, with an introductory essay by J. L.
Heilbron: Dee (1978). The text can be considered his rst attempt to bring forward a manifold system of inspection of the true virtues of nature: in the words of Shumaker, this
was in the main, a fully intelligible series of recipes for applying arithmetic and geometry to a standard scholastic physics and astronomy. Dee (1978), Praeface, p. ix.
Studies in History and Philosophy of Science 43 (2012) 460469
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j our nal homepage: www. el sevi er. com/ l ocat e/ shpsa
industry, and habit, to cultivate diligently the arts most neces-
sary to a Christian state.
2
At rst sight, one cannot help but be struck by Dees intention to
appoint the Portuguese cosmographer and mathematician Pedro
Nunes (15021578) as his literary executor in case of premature
debility. Moreover, Nunes would not only have been the executor,
but could have taken Dees works as his own. It is signicant that of
all of the potential candidates existing at the time (including Mer-
cator himself), Dee expresses complete condence in the ability of
his Iberian friend to make his works available to the public and
even, if needed, carry on his unnished studies.
This preliminary reading is signicant enough to catch inves-
tigators attention. Yet as far as I can tell, Dees biographers have
mentioned this passage, if at all, merely as a curiosity: for exam-
ple, Nunes is not discussed by Fell-Smith (1909), while Woolley
(2001) refers to him only briey.
3
In general, other English histo-
rians formulate similar notes or do not go much further. For in-
stance, in Heilbrons General notes (Dee, 1978, p. 205): Dee
submits his unpublished writings to a literary executor, the math-
ematician Pedro Nues, for editing if his own life should be cut
short. Baldwin (2006), in an article devoted to Dees interest in
nautical science and its applications, includes a brief reference to
the cosmographers name and his inuence on the Englishmans
vision:
Dees actions have to be viewed as determined by his own ver-
sion of an interdisciplinary, technological and mathematical
vision of the Habsburg Empires. . . . It was a structured system
of quasi-colonial thought developed initially in the Armazns
da Guin [in Portugal]. . . . The whole notion was brought to its
academic apogee by his great friend and fellow mathematician,
Pedro Nuez. (Ibid., p. 108)
Since Baldwins analysis focuses on Dees impact on British naviga-
tion rather than Nunes (possible) inuence, this passage does not
provide further details of their relationship.
Nevertheless, historians like Taylor (1963, 1968, 1971) and
Waters (1958), highlighted the link between the two men in their
important work on the history of navigation. Taylor, for example,
wrote:
John Dee had formed (under circumstances that are quite
unknown) a close friendship with his great Portuguese contem-
porary Pedro Nunes, and throughout his career as mathematical
adviser to a long succession of English explorers he is found to
be applying the principles laid down in Nunes important works
upon nautical science. Three of Nunes books, De Erratis Orontii,
De Crepusculis, and De Navigatione were in Dees library, and it is
possible that the ve-foot Quadrant and ten-foot cross-staff
which he describes as in his possession were graduated on
the principle of the Nonnius (Taylor, 1938, p. 8).
Taylor thus highlighted an existing friendship (of which, as far
as I know, there is no conrmation from Nunes side), and went
further by stating that Dee applied some of Nunes ideas on nauti-
cal science, and suggesting important clues to follow.
4
Interest-
ingly, however, the connection between Dee and Nunes has not
been missed in popular culture: Umberto Eco, in his novel Foucaults
pendulum, develops a ction in which Dee plays a signicant role in a
conspiracy theory referred to as The Plan, and sets Nunes working
as his cosmographer (Eco, 1989).
Among Portuguese scholars, the connection has been high-
lighted by Costa (1933), and the letter was translated into Portu-
guese by Rua (2004). Although Ruas study is more oriented
towards Dee and Nunes (possibly) shared astrological interests,
the author makes a careful approach to the issue, listing other evi-
dence of the links between both men, some of which will be dis-
cussed below.
Returning to Dees letter, it seems clear that further explanation
is needed as to why Dee addresses Nunes as a friend and literary
executor. Fromhis words, it is possible to infer common intellectual
(andevenmoral) interestsotherwise whywouldhe trust his works
to the Portuguese, and name him the sole relic and ornament and
prop of the mathematical arts? Dees reference to the promotion
of the arts most necessary to a Christian state may reveal a broader
set of shared interests that deserves a deeper study. Nevertheless, if
one compares the works of both men up to 1558, it is not easy to
establish a connection between them. In his letter, Dee lists works
on pure mathematics, astronomy, perspective, cosmography, reli-
gion and other topics that may be classied as occult, but only
one workonnavigation. Hence, it appears that what needs tobe clar-
ied is more than an inuence on nautical science.
The letter raises a number of questions that demand more
thoughtful answers. Was the reference in the letter to Mercator
an isolated episode? How far did John Dees knowledge of Nunes
scientic work did go? When, why and where did this interest
come about? Indeed, does Dees own mathematical programme re-
ect Nunes ideas in any way? In sum, to what extent was the rela-
tionship between both men important in the shaping of Dees
thought? In this paper I address these questions, review what is
known and provide new evidence for the inuence of Pedro Nunes
work on John Dees scientic production.
5
2. The work of the Portuguese cosmographer
As noted above, the work of Dee and Nunes is not obviously
connected, and, judging from his printed works, many of the topics
2
. . . me Scias, praeter periculosissimum, quo toto iam proxime elapso anno laboravi, morbum, alia etiam multa (ab illis, qui. &c.) esse perpessum incommoda, quae mea studia
plurimum retardavere: viresque etiam meas, nondum posse tantum sustinere studii laborisque onus, quantum illud, Herculeum pene (ut perciatur) requiret opus. Unde si mea
haud queat opera, vel absolvi, vel emitti, dum ipse sim superstes, Viro illud legavi eruditissimo, gravissimoque, qui Artium Mathematicarum unicum nobis est relictum et decus et
columen: nimirum D. D. Petro Nonio Salaciensi: Illumque obnixe nuper oravi, ut, si quando posthumum, ad illum deferetur hoc meum opus, benigne humaniterque sibi adoptet,
modisque omnibus, tanquam suo, utatur: absolvere denique, limare. ac ad publicam Philosophantium utilitatem perpolire, ita dignetur, ac si suum esset maxime. Et non dubito.
quin ipse (si per vitam valetudinemque illi erit integrum) voti me faciet compotem: cum et me tam amet deliter, et in artes, Christianae Reip[ublicae] summe necessarias,
gnaviter incumbere, sit illi a natura insitum: voluntate, industria, ususque conrmatum. Dee (1978, pp. 114115). The letter is also cited by Van Durme (1959, pp. 3639).
Excerpts from this letter, in Portuguese, can be accessed in Costa (1933, p. 233), and Tarrio (2002, pp. 96108). For a full Portuguese translation, see Rua (2004).
3
Woolley (2001) includes two brief references to Nunes: Dee also met Pedro Nuez, then the leading navigator in Lisbon, from where Columbus had set off in 1492 in search
for a western passage to the Indies. Nuez evidently became a close and important intellectual friend. When Dee was struck down with a serious illness in the late 1550s, he
appointed Nuez his literary executor (p. 20); He [John Dee] arranged for a draft of Propaedeumata to be published, and handed over the rest of his literary affairs to his friend
Pedro Nuez, (p. 51). There are some mistakes in this appreciation: there is no evidence that the two men ever met in person; Nunes was not the leading navigator in Lisbon,
since he was not a navigator but the kings cosmographer; and Columbus did not set off from Lisbon on his rst voyage, but from Palos de la Frontera (Huelva, Spain).
4
A reference to this connection also appears in Johnson & Nurminen (2007); while Krcken (2002) is a website that presents a deep analysis of Dees work on rhumb lines and
also mentions how this relates to Nunes and Mercators works. Leito & Almeida (2009) provide an English-language website dedicated to Pedro Nunes, including information on
the DeeNunes connection at http://www.pedronunes.fc.ul.pt/episodes/john_dee/john_dee.html.
5
Some of these questions had already been set in Leito (2007).
B. Almeida / Studies in History and Philosophy of Science 43 (2012) 460469 461
that attracted Dee did not catch Nunes attention. By the time the
young Dee was in Louvain in the late 1540s, the Portuguese cos-
mographer had already published three books, establishing a rep-
utation as a ne mathematician throughout Europe.
6
Nunes rst
book, generally known as the Tratado da sphera, was published in Lis-
bon in the end of 1537.
7
This consisted of translations into Portu-
guese of Sacroboscos Tractatus de sphaera, Book I of Ptolemys
Geography, and the chapters on the sun and moon in Peuerbachs
Teoricae novae planetarum. This edition also included two original
treatises on theoretical navigationTratado que ho doutor Pro nunez
fez sobre certas duuidas de nauegao (Treatise made by doctor Pedro
Nunes about certain doubts on navigation), and Tratado que ho dou-
tor pro nunez Cosmographo del Rey nosso senhor fez em defensam da
carta de marear (Treatise made by doctor Pedro Nunes, kings cos-
mographer, defending the nautical chart). While working as a cos-
mographer, Nunes realised that a lack of mathematical knowledge
had resulted in many errors and problems in navigation, and there-
fore claimed that seamen should be trained in mathematics. In these
two vernacular treatises, he pioneered the use of geometrical and
trigonometrical tools to solve navigation problems. This approach
was uncommon in the art of navigation literature of his time, which
presented mostly straightforward sets of rules, tables, mnemonics
and simple introductions to the Sphere.
8
Nunes rst texts already expressed a clear distinction between
what he later termed ars navigandi and ratio navigandi: the ars
denoting common seamanship based on known sets of rules, proce-
dures and instruments, and the ratio referring to nautical activity
based in the understanding and use of mathematical principles,
eventually leading to something similar to what could be called to-
day a scientic seamanship (Leito, 2006, pp. 188189). In the pro-
cess, Nunes also presented a thorough study of the nautical chart,
identifying its problems, and was the rst to develop the concept
of a rhumb line, known today as the loxodromic curve (Fig. 1).
9
However, Nunes did not conne his work to nautical science. In
1542 he published De crepusculis, in which he answered a question
posed by a noble pupil about the problem concerning the length of
twilights for different regions, and showed how an atmospheric
phenomenon could be explained using a deductive Euclidean
structure.
10
As in his previous book, he based his mathematical
explanations on real questions made by real people, expressing his
concern to reconcile mathematics with physical reality.
11
Through-
out the book, he also presented a great deal of relevant information
for astronomers, including an interesting suggestion for a graphical
solution destined to improve instrumental measures, known today
as the nonius scale. Nunes valuable suggestions later led to this book
being highly regarded by, among others, Christopher Clavius (1538
1612) and Tycho Brahe (15461601). In the dedication to the King,
Nunes also announced his intention to complete a translation of
Vitruvius De architectura, while in the nal pages he announced sev-
eral works to be published in the future. These included treatises on
the astrolabe, proportions or globes and nautical charts, establishing
him as an interesting author, worthy of notice by the international
scholarly community.
In 1546, Nunes published the book that would establish his sci-
entic reputation as one of the leading European mathematicians.
De erratis Orontii Finaei
12
revealed errors in the mathematical dem-
onstrations of Oronce Fine (14941555), the famous and highly re-
garded professor of mathematics at the Collge de France, who had
tried to solve three classical problems (to double a cube, to trisect
an arbitrary angle, and to square a circle) as well as some gnomonic
problems. After this, Nunes published twice more. In 1566 he pub-
lished his Opera, which included his most advanced ideas on differ-
ent aspects of navigation, astronomy, mechanics, and other topics,
with a major printer in Basel.
13
In 1567, the Libro de Algebra ap-
peared in Antwerp.
14
These two titles concluded the mathematical
work that Nunes had started to develop in the early 1530s as an
expression of his scientic thought and of his program for the math-
ematization of the real world.
15
As claimed above, this programme
is most apparent in the case of nautical science, since its main pur-
pose was to achieve a full practice of seamanship by art and by rea-
son, in such a way that it would be possible to merge the study and
practice of mathematics with the natural skills and craftsmanship of
seamen. However, the programme also extended to astronomy and
mechanics. The topic of the minimum twilight was mentioned ear-
lier, but Nunes also confronted peripatetic mechanics in a mathe-
matical explanation of the movement of a rowing boat in a text
included in his Opera (Annotationes in Aristotelis Problema Mechani-
cum de Motu nauigij ex remis).
16
3. New evidence
John Dee is now viewed as one of the most interesting person-
alities of the Elizabethan intellectual world. Within the social con-
text of his time, he developed a national and international network
Fig. 1. Difference between a rhumb line or loxodrome (ab) and a great circle (ed),
Nunes (2002, p. 113).
6
Gemma, Mercator and Dee were among the rst to study and apply some of Nunes ideas, but are far from being the only ones. In my Ph.D. research I address the inuence and
transmission of Nunes works and ideas (considering texts in vernacular) on navigation in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, mainly in Portugal, Spain and England. For
more on the European diffusion of Nunes work see Leito (2002) and (2007).
7
First edition, Nunes (1537). The latest edition is Nunes (2002).
8
Three known examples are Faleiro (1535), Medina (1545) and Corts (1551).
9
The word loxodrome was introduced by Willebroord Snell; see Snell (1624).
10
First edition, Nunes (1542). The latest edition is Nunes (2003).
11
As Nunes states in his dedication to the King: I was persuaded to clearly explain this matter [i.e. twilights] with help of the most certain and most evident principles of
mathematics. So, meditating and investigating, I have discovered things that I have read nowhere else and would not be worth of credit, had they not been demonstrated. . . The
translation from Portuguese is mine; see Nunes (2003, p. 142).
12
First edition: Nunes (1546). See the latest edition, Nunes (2005).
13
First edition: Nunes (1566). See the latest edition, Nunes (2008).
14
First edition: Nunes (1567). See the latest edition, Nunes (2010).
15
The Nunes program is presented and discussed in Leito (2006).
16
This text was very inuential at the time. For example, Henri de Monantheuil (1599) and Giuseppe Biancani (1615) included important comments on it.
462 B. Almeida / Studies in History and Philosophy of Science 43 (2012) 460469
of contacts, extending from the Court to the university and to other
institutions that promoted the sharing of knowledge about the sci-
ences. He collaborated with the Muscovy Company, and his train-
ees and collaborators included John Davis, Richard Hakluyt, Walter
Raleigh, Francis Drake, Thomas Digges, Thomas Harriot and others.
At the international level, he established personal and scientic
contacts with many learned men of his time, including Girolamo
Cardano, Oronce Fin, Federico Commandino, Abraham Ortelius,
Gemma Frisius and Gerard Mercator. Considering his own written
indications in the aforementioned letter, the Portuguese Pedro
Nunes may well be included in this list.
It is not clear when Dees interest for Nunes work rst came
about. While a young man, he studied at Cambridge University
and, in his pursuit of knowledge, later headed to mainland Europe
in 1547. The period spent in Louvain was signicant in shaping his
early natural philosophical ideas. In fact, it was during his stay in
the Low Countries, rst in 1547 and then later between 1548 and
1550, that the young Dee must have rst heard of Nunes work.
It is reasonable to speculate that Nunes writings would have
reached Louvainthe city where Gemma Frisius (15081555)
had gathered a group to whom he taught private lessons on geom-
etry and astronomy
17
without difculty. The region had strong
commercial connections with Portugal, and there was also a large
community of Portuguese Jews. One of these, Diogo Pires (or Didacus
Pyrrhus Lusitanus), had links to Portuguese intellectuals at Louvain,
such as Amato Lusitano and Damio de Gis. He also wrote a dedica-
tory poem included in Gemmas 1540 edition of Apians Cosmogra-
phy. In the absence of direct evidence, it is not possible to
establish a stronger correlation between Nunes, Gemma and Pires,
but it is interesting to note that Pires also studied at Louvain, and
that he was a friend of the publisher Rutger Ressen (Rutgerus Res-
cius), himself a friend of Gemma.
18
There is little doubt that Gemma
and Gerard Mercator (15121594) would have paid attention to
Nunes writings.
19
Mercator made a globe picturing rhumb lines in
1541, and in 1545 Gemma included a description of a rhumb line
in his edition of Apians Cosmography (Apian, 1545, Ch. XV, fols.
23v25v).
In 1550/1, John Dee was in Paris, where he met Oronce Fin. It is
very likely that Dee became aware of Nunes book on the French-
mans mathematical errors during this period. Even without direct
evidence for this (other than noting that he later had a copy of this
book at Mortlake), we might speculate that a reading of this text
inuenced his interest on the unresolved problems of squaring of
the circle and doubling the cube, and even further work on Euclids
Elements.
Dee owned copies of all of Nunes books, with one exception:
the Tratado da sphera.
20
The reason for his failure to acquire this
book, aside from its linguistic relevance, may relate to a clue recently
found at Cambridge University Library. Clulee (1977, p. 640, n. 27)
mentions the existence of a book on navigation in Dees library, to-
gether with the date 1552. Possible candidates are few in number,
and it is highly likely that either the work referred to is either Portu-
guese or Spanish. It is here worth noting that the catalogue of Dees
library in Roberts and Watson (1990) includes Diogo de Ss De nau-
igatione (Paris, 1549), which is actually one of the most aggressive
attacks on Nunes ideas.
21
Dee acquired his copy of this worknow
at Cambridge University Libraryin 1552, after his return to Eng-
land, and devoted a good deal of study to it (Fig. 2).
22
Despite its allusive title, this work covers much more than nav-
igation. It is composed of three books: in the rst, the author opens
a discussion concerning the certainty of mathematics and its ef-
cacy in producing true knowledge. The subject had an ontological
nature, for it was claimed that mathematics dealt only with acci-
dents of substances, rather than with substances themselves, thus
Fig. 2. Left: Frontispiece of John Dees copy of de Ss De navigatione. It is possible to read Joannes Deeus: 1552: in the centre of the page. Right: highlight of the last page with
an early depiction of Dees monas hieroglyphica inserted into a human representation. By permission of Cambridge University Library.
17
[I]l [Gemma Frisius] donnait depuis 1543 et au moins jusquen 1547, son domicile, des leons prives qui portaient sur la gomtrie et lastronomie. Elles taient
frquentes notamment par Grard Mercator, lEspagnol Juan de Rojas, lAnglais John Dee et le Frison Sixtus ab Hemminga. Hallyn (2008), p. 16.
18
Diogo Pires (15171599) studied medicine in the University of Salamanca, the same place where Nunes had studied years before. He did not nish his medical studies but
became a well known poet. For more on Pires, see Antnio Manuel Lopes Andrade (2005).
19
Mercator knew most of Nunes work, possessing both printed and manuscript copies of his books in his personal library. See Cherton & Watelet (1994).
20
In Roberts & Watson (1990): De erratis Orontii Finaei (entry 100), Petri Nonii Salaciensis Opera (entry 189), De crepusculis (entry 674), Libro de algebra (entry 769).
21
De S (1549). Dees copy of this book is today at Cambridge University Library, shelfmark R