Jan Marek Marci

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Jan Marek Marci, in Latin Ioannes (or Johannes) Marcus Marci, (June 13, 1595 – April 10, 1677), was a Bohemian doctor and scientist.

The Marci crater on the far side of the Moon has been named after him.

Contents 1 Biography 2 Work 3 Books 4 See also

[edit] Biography

Marci was born in Lanškroun, on the border between Bohemia and Moravia (presently parts of the Czech Republic). He spent most of his career as a professor of Charles University in Prague, where he served eight times as Dean of the medical school and once as Rector in 1662. He was also the personal doctor of Emperors Ferdinand III and Leopold I, and distinguished himself in the defense of Prague against the Swedish armies in 1648. In October, 1654 he was given the nobility title (falckrabe) "de Kronland" (anagram of Landskron, German name for the city of Lanškroun).

[edit] Work

Marci's studies covered the mechanics of colliding bodies, epilepsy, and the refraction of light, as well as other topics.

Marci at some time came into possession of the Voynich Manuscript, apparently upon the death of its former owner, the alchemist Georg Baresch. He sent the book to his longtime friend Athanasius Kircher, with a cover letter dated August 19, 1666, or possibly 1665.

[edit] Books

• Idearum operaticum idea (1636)
• De proportione motus seu regula sphygmica (1639)
• Thaumantias. Liber de arcu coelesti deque collorum apparentium natura ortu et causis (1648)
• Dissertatio de natura iridis (1650)
• De longitudine seu differentia inter duos meridianos (1650)
• Labyrinthus, in quo via ad circuli quadraturam pluribus modis exhibetur (1654)
• Philosophia vetus restituta (1662)
• Othosophia seu philosophia impulsus universalis (1683)

[edit] See also

• Galileo Project
• Voynich Manuscript Biographies