Johann Bayer

Johann Bayer was born in Rhain, Germany. He spent most of his life working as a lawyer and was the official legal advisor for Augsburg’s city council. Bayer was an amateur astronomer and took great pleasure in celestial cartography. His books presented the most complete catalogue of pre-telescopic astronomy.

In 1603, he published the ‘Uranometria’, which translates as ‘measuring the heavens’. It communicates Bayer’s interest in uncovering the Divine geometry that was believed to underpin the cosmos. The book includes star charts based on Claudius Ptolemy’s ancient observations of the night’s sky. Bayer combined precise information, such as twelve newly observed constellations in the Southern hemisphere, and artistic beauty through delicately rendered mythological figures.