Nunez, Pedro
NUNEZ, PEDRO (PETRUS NONIUS) (1492-1577), Portuguese mathematician and geographer, was born at Alcacer do Sal, and died at Coimbra, where he was professor of mathematics. He published several works, including a copiously-annotated translation of portions of Ptolemy (1537), and a treatise in two books, De arte atque ratione navigandi (1546). His clear statement of the scientific equipment of the early Portuguese explorers has become famous. A complete edition of all his writings appeared at Basel in 1592.
See F. de B. Garcao-Stockler, Ensaio historico sobre a origem e progressos das mathematicas em Portugal (Paris, 1819) ; R. H. Major, Prince Henry the Navigator (London, 1868, p. 55).
Note - this article incorporates content from Encyclopaedia Britannica, Eleventh Edition, (1910-1911)
