Historical Figures Codexery

Isidore of Miletus

Byzantine mathematician, physicist, and co-architect of Hagia Sophia

Isidore of Miletus

Hubertl · via Wikipedia: Isidore of Miletus · CC BY-SA 4.0

Isidore of Miletus was a Byzantine Greek mathematician, physicist, and architect commissioned by Emperor Justinian I to design the Hagia Sophia in Constantinople from 532 to 537.[1] The compilation of Archimedes' works is attributed to Isidore, and he is credited with partial authorship of the spurious Book XV of Euclid's Elements.[2]

Quick Facts

Born
c. 475 AD
Field
  • Mathematics
  • physics
  • architecture
Nationality
Byzantine Greek

Facts from the source article.

Life and work

He studied Archimedes' work together with Eutocius.[3] Isidore and Anthemius of Tralles originally planned the Hagia Sophia's main hall to measure 70 by 75 metres.[4] They obtained stone from Egypt, Syria, and Libya, and columns from temples in Rome.[5] The architects combined the longitudinal structure of a Roman basilica with a drum-supported dome to withstand earthquakes.[6]

At the universities in Alexandria and Constantinople, Isidore instructed students in stereometry and physics, and he authored a commentary on a pre-existing vaulting treatise.[3] Eutocius recorded that Isidore devised a specialized compass for drawing parabolas with enhanced precision.[7]

What the cited sources add

Eutocius mentions that Isidore did not publish much of his own work, instead teaching and not seeing a need to write down material once he understood it.[8] According to Alan Cameron's 1990 study, Isidore was already a famous scientist and mathematician prior to being employed by Emperor Justinian I.[3] Eutocius indicates that a notable application of Isidore's compass was to solve the cube-doubling problem graphically by drawing two parabolas and locating their intersection.[7][9] The dome design now visible in the Hagia Sophia was introduced by Isidore's nephew, Isidore the Younger.[10]

References

  1. Wikipedia, "Isidore of Miletus" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Beaton, "The Greeks: A Global History", Faber and Faber, 2021 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  2. Wikipedia, "Isidore of Miletus" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Cameron, "Isidore of Miletus and Hypatia: On the Editing of Mathematical texts", 1990, p. 106; Reviel Netz, "The Works of Archimedes: Volume 1, The Two Books On the Sphere and the Cylinder: Translation and Commentary", Cambridge University Press, 2004; Boyer, "A History of Mathematics", 1991, p. 130–131 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  3. Wikipedia, "Isidore of Miletus" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Krautheimer, page 215; Alan Cameron, "Isidore of Miletus and Hypatia: On the Editing of Mathematical Texts", 1990, p. 127 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  4. Wikipedia, "Isidore of Miletus" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Watkin, page 76 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  5. Wikipedia, "Isidore of Miletus" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Cavendish, "Church of Hagia Sophia reconsecrated", History Today, December 2013; Mango, page 75; Podles, "A Thousand Words Hagia Sophia, Church of the Holy Wisdom", Touchstone: A Journal of Mere Christianity, May 2021, p. 54–55 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  6. Wikipedia, "Isidore of Miletus" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Cakmak, page 693 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  7. Wikipedia, "Isidore of Miletus" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Cameron, "Isidore of Miletus and Hypatia: On the Editing of Mathematical Texts", 1990, p. 120,121; Giangiacomo 2014, p. 286 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  8. Wikipedia, "Isidore of Miletus" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Cameron, "Isidore of Miletus and Hypatia: On the Editing of Mathematical texts", 1990, p. 106; Cameron, "Isidore of Miletus and Hypatia: On the Editing of Mathematical texts", 1990, p. 119; Cameron, "Isidore of Miletus and Hypatia: On the Editing of Mathematical texts", 1990, p. 119 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  9. Wikipedia, "Isidore of Miletus" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Giangiacomo 2014, p. 286; Giangiacomo 2014, p. 286 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  10. Wikipedia, "Isidore of Miletus" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Podles, "A Thousand Words Hagia Sophia, Church of the Holy Wisdom", Touchstone: A Journal of Mere Christianity, May 2021, p. 54–55 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org

Each numbered sentence above was checked against the source it cites before publication. Sentences citing Wikipedia adapt text from the English Wikipedia article Isidore of Miletus (contributors), used under CC BY-SA 4.0; this entry is available under the same licence. Other sources were used for facts only; no text or images are copied from them.

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