Marinus of Tyre

Marinus of Tyre, (c. 70 – 130 A.D., Greek: Μαρίνος ο Τύριος, also rendered as Marinos of Tyre) was a Greek^[1] geographer, cartographer and mathematician, who founded mathematical geography.

Biography and historical context

Originally from the Roman province of Syria,^[2] Marinus is thought to have lived both in the city of Tyre and in Rhodes. He and his work were a precursor to that of the great Greek geographer Claudius Ptolemy (90 - 168 AD), who used Marinus' work as a source for his Geographia, and acknowledges his great obligations to him.^[3] Later, Marinos is also cited by the Arab geographer al-Masudi. Beyond this little is known of his life.

Contribution to geography

He introduced improvements to the construction of maps and developed a system of nautical charts. His chief legacy is that he first assigned to each place a proper latitude and longitude; he used a "Meridian of the Isles of the Blessed (Canary Islands or Cape Verde Islands)" as zero meridian, and the parallel of Rhodes for measurements of latitude. Works used by Ptolemy include Marinus' Geography, as well as his "Corrected Geographical Tables", which are often dated to AD 114, though he may have been a near-contemporary of Ptolemy. Marinus estimated a length of 90,000 stadia for the parallel of Rhodes, corresponding to a circumference of the Earth of 33,300 km, about 17% less than the actual value. (Both numbers depend upon the length assigned to the Greek stade).

He also carefully studied the works of his predecessors and the diaries of travellers. His maps were the first in the Roman Empire to show China. Around 120 AD, Marinus wrote that the habitable world was bounded on the west by the Fortunate Islands. The text of his geographical treatise however is lost. He also invented the equirectangular projection, which is still used in map creation today. A few of Marinus' opinions are reported by Ptolemy. Marinus was of the opinion that the Okeanos was separated into an eastern and a western part by the continents (Europe, Asia and Africa). He thought that the inhabited world stretched in latitude from Thule (Shetland) to Agisymba (Tropic of Capricorn) and in longitude from the Isles of the Blessed to Shera (China). Marinus also coined the term Antarctic, referring to the opposite of the Arctic Circle.

See also

• List of Graeco-Roman geographers

References

1. ^ Hubert Cancik and Helmuth Schneider (ed.): "Marinus", Brill's New Pauly, Brill, 2010:

   M. of Tyre (Μαρῖνος; Marînos), Greek geographer, 2nd cent. AD

2. ^ George Sarton (1936). "The Unity and Diversity of the Mediterranean World", Osiris 2, p. 406-463 [430].
3. ^ Harley, J. B. (John Brian); Woodward, David. The History of cartography. Humana Press. pp. 178–. ISBN 9780226316338. http://books.google.com/books?id=uJaP4i7-_MIC&pg=PA178. Retrieved 4 June 2010. 

• A. Forbiger, Handbuch der alien Geographie, vol. i. (1842);
• E. H. Bunbury, Hist. of Ancient Geography (1879), ii. p. 519;
• E. H. Berger, Geschichte der wissenschaftlichen Erdkunde der Griechen (1903).
•  Chisholm, Hugh, ed (1911). "Marinus of Tyre". Encyclopædia Britannica (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. 

External links

• Jones, Alexander (2008) [1970-80]. "Marinus of Tyre". Complete Dictionary of Scientific Biography. Encyclopedia.com. http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1G2-2830905894.html. 
• http://www.tmth.edu.gr/en/aet/3/66.html
• http://www.dioi.org/gad.htm

Persondata
Name	Marinus Of Tyre
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Date of birth
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Date of death	130
Place of death