A Muñoz Biography

Abstract

This book, by a well-known Spanish historian of science, traces the scientific biography of an influential Iberian 16th-century astronomer and mathematician, Valencian Jerónimo Muñoz. Among other aspects of his life and work, Muñoz lectured on mathematics and Hebrew at the universities of Valencia and Salamanca and published a noted treatise on the nova (seen as a ‘comet’ in spite of its star-like appearance) of 1572, the Libro del nuevo Cometa (Valencia, 1573).1 This book, one of the three he published during his lifetime, was also printed the following year in French (Paris). Broton’s narrative derives mainly from his careful and erudite study, over more than four decades, of a few printed and several manuscript sources, the later preserved in a number of European libraries (Naples National Library; Vatican Apostolic Library; Bavarian State Library, Munich; Arnamagnæan Manuscript Collection, Copenhagen; National Library, Madrid; Library of the University of Salamanca). The effort included the translation, study and preparation of modern editions of some of these texts, single-handedly or in collaboration with colleagues. Strangely, although presented as a biography, in this volume no details are given regarding the birth of Muñoz, apart from the fact he was a native of Valencia (p. 21). This is probably the result of the lack of sources on this particular aspect, but the author might have informed the reader about the reasons for his laconic text on the origins of Jerónimo Muñoz. As a humanistic scholar Muñoz nurtured several interests, including some parts of mixed mathematics. For instance, Brotons shows that the map of the kingdom of Valencia published by Abraham Ortelius in the Theatrum Orbis Terrarum (1584–1585) most likely used a detailed description and topographic survey of the same region crafted by Muñoz. Concerning astronomy there are several points of interest not only on the Spaniard’s writings but also deriving from his observational activities. In addition to the European circulation of the Libro del nuevo Cometa, Muñoz’s observations of the nova were included in Tycho’s Astronomiae instauratae progymnasmata (1602), which promoted and expanded the reception and circulation of his astronomical accomplishments. This publication had resulted from the correspondence Muñoz maintained with Bartholomaeus Reisacher in Vienna, and in particular from a letter that reached Tycho’s hands through Thaddeus Hagecius, of which Brotons reproduces a Spanish translation in the Appendix, together with other relevant parts of Muñoz’s printed and manuscript works. 1092362 JHA0010.1177/00218286221092362Journal for the History of AstronomyBook Reviews book-review2022