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Willebrord Snellius | |
|---|---|
 Willebrord Snel van Royen (1580–1626) | |
| Born | 13 June 1580 |
| Died | 30 October 1626 (aged 46) |
| Nationality | Dutch |
| Alma mater | University of Leiden |
| Known for | Snell's law Snellius' triangulation Snellius–Pothenot problem |
| Scientific career | |
| Fields | Astronomy and mathematics |
| Institutions | University of Leiden |
| Academic advisors | Ludolph van Ceulen Rudolph Snellius |
| Notable students | Jacobus Golius |
Willebrord Snellius[1][2] (born Willebrord Snel van Royen)[3] (13 June 1580[4] – 30 October 1626) was a Dutch astronomer and mathematician, commonly known as Snell. His name is usually associated with the law of refraction of light known as Snell's law.[5]
The lunar crater Snellius is named after Willebrord Snellius. The Royal Netherlands Navy has named three survey ships after Snellius, including a currently-serving vessel.
- ^ Willebrord Snellius at the Leiden Digital Family Tree.
- ^ Eerste Nederlandse Systematisch Ingerichte Encyclopaedie
- ^ Encarta Winkler Prins, Grote Oosthoek, Eerste Nederlandse Systematisch Ingerichte Encyclopaedie
- ^ Sometimes mistakenly noted as 1590 or 1591; Cf. P.C. Molhuysen; P.J. Blok, eds. (1927). "Snellius, Willebrord". Nieuw Nederlandsch biografisch woordenboek. Leiden..
- ^ For a reconstruction of this discovery see Hentschel 2001. It is now known that this law was already known to Ibn Sahl in 984. The same law was also investigated by Ptolemy and in the Middle Ages by Witelo, but due to lack of adequate mathematical instruments (i.e. trigonometric functions) their results were saved as tables, not functions.