Christian Wurstisen

Christian Wurstisen (Christianus Urstisius) (23 December 1544 – 29 March 1588) was a mathematician, theologian, historian from Basel. His name is also given as Wursteisen, Wurzticius, Ursticius, Urstisius, or Urstis. In 1565, he became professor of mathematics at the Basel University, and in 1585 professor of theology. The next year, the city magistrate appointed him to the academy as a town historian, a position he held until his death. He was buried in Münster. The second edition of Nicolaus Copernicus's De revolutionibus orbium coelestium had been printed in Basel. Wurstisen is credited to have first introduced Copernicus' work to Galileo Galilei, while Galilei's adoption of heliocentrism was often attributed to Michael Maestlin. Christian Wurstisen is mentioned by name in Galileo's Dialogue. This attribution has been challenged, however, and another similarly named man, Christopher Wursteisen, has been credited with introducing Copernicus's theories to Padua. His mathematical book Elementa arithmeticae was read by John Milton and the Hungarian philosopher Andreas Dudith. In his chronicle of Basel from 1580, Wurstisen named the heraldic tinctures after the initials of the given colours, a principle called tricking. Painter Gregorius Sickinger (1558-?) from Solothurn illustrated it.Wurstisen, Christian, 1544-1628. Bassler Chronik darinn alles was in oberen Teutsche Landen/ nicht nur in der Stadt und Bistumbe Basel...., 1. Auflage 1 Band. Basel Henric Petri um 1580 4° 655 Seiten, und vielen Textholzschnitten, Titelholzschnitt von T.Stimmer. Einband in Blindprägedruck der Zeit mit Buchschliessen. Vorsatzpapier eingefügt, einige Seiten hinterlegt, letze Seiten Wurmlöcher. Textholzschnitt und Titelholzschnitt mit Besitzervermerk. Erstausgabe der ersten gedruckten Basler Chronik, komplett mit der seltenen auf drei Teilen abgezogenen Karte von Christian Wursteisen (1544-1588). In zehnjähriger, eifriger und umsichtiger Arbeit wurden die Quellen zusammengetragen von Basler Historiker und Mathematiker Christian Wursteisen.