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1911 Encyclopædia Britannica/Nunez, Pedro

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22194391911 Encyclopædia Britannica, Volume 19 — 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. Garcão-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).