Toscanelli, Paolo

Paolo dal Pozzo Toscanelli ^[3] ( Italian: Paolo dal Pozzo Toscanelli , 1397 - May 10, 1482 ) - Florentine scientist in the field of astronomy, medicine, geography and mathematics. He studied at the University of Padua , was friends with Nikolai Kuzansky , translated the “Geography” of Ptolemy .

Paolo Toscanelli
Paolo dal Pozzo Toscanelli
Date of Birth
Place of Birth	Florence
Date of death
Place of death	Florence
A country
Scientific field	astronomy , medicine , geography , mathematics
Alma mater
Famous students	Leonardo da Vinci

Modern map and version of the Tuscanelli map. North and South America are depicted in light blue.

Reconstruction of the Tuscanelli map.

Most famous for his correspondence with Columbus : it is believed that Toscanelli in 1474 sent a letter to the court of the Portuguese king stating that, since the Earth is a sphere, India can be reached by sea through the Atlantic Ocean , with the application of a map of the Earth for which it was first used degree grid - this letter fell into the hands of Columbus (or Columbus, learning about him, asked Toscanelli to send him a copy). As known , Toscanelli made a mistake in calculations, doubling the length of Asia and accordingly reducing the estimated length of the ocean between Lisbon and Japan - sometimes this mistake is called the greatest mistake in the history of mankind, as it led to the greatest discovery. Perhaps Toscanelli significantly downplayed the size of the Earth when compiling his map. However, there are quite a few versions of the plot with correspondence between Columbus and Toscanelli, and its reliability is called into question.

In the field of astronomy, Toscanelli carried out systematic measurements of the position of comets relative to the stars, dealt with the problems of marine navigation around the stars. Toscanelli built a gnomon in the Cathedral of St. Mary de Fiore in Florence, with the help of which half a second local time was determined - these measurements were needed for him to calculate the length of the earth meridian, and on the basis of these calculations a world map was compiled in claims of reliable proportions .