Michael van Langren

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Michael Florentius van Langren (circa 1600 Amsterdam – 1675) was a Dutch astronomer and cartographer.

Michael van Langren was the youngest member of a family of Dutch cartographers. His grandfather, Jacobus Florentius van Langren was born in Utrecht but moved to Amsterdam, where his sons Arnoldus and Henricus were born. Unusually, each member of the family retained the middle name Florentius (son of Florens) rather than a patronym. Jacob and his sons produced globes from 1580, both terrestrial and celestial. A 1586 pair survives, the celestial globe based on astronomical data provided by Rudolf Snellius father of Willebrord Snellius, while Petrus Plancius collaborated on the 1589 edition. In 1592, the States General granted the Van Langren family a monopoly in the production of globes, which led to quarrels with Jodocus Hondius.

Arnold and Henricus produced maps as well. Their world maps of the mid 1590s usually were drawn after maps by Plancius or Ortelius, but sometimes contained novelties based on recent discoveries (e.g. Nova Zembla as an island, Korea as a peninsula).

Arnold moved with his family, which included his sons Jacob and Michael, from Amsterdam to Antwerp around the year 1609. He got the title of "Sphérographe de leurs Altesses" and was awarded a grant of 300 livres towards the expense of his move, making it unlikely that he left the United Provinces for religious differences only.

Michael van Langren did not receive a university education. He became a cartographer and engineer. He would serve as the Royal Cosmographer and Mathematician to the King of Spain.

Among his contributions were attempts to determine longitude by observing the position of the Moon. This led him to make the first ever map of the Moon, and he produced maps of the Moon at thirty different phases. He also assigned names to various lunar features, but few of these names were widely accepted as they were closely linked to the Spanish royal court.

He also observed the comet of 1652 and his observations were published. He made various maps of the Spanish Netherlands, and produced plans for a port near Dunkirk, improvements to the port of Ostend, efforts to clear the canals of Antwerp, flood control concepts, and fortifications.

Langrenus crater on the Moon was named for him.