1572-1625

German Astronomer and Lawyer

Johann Bayer produced the most comprehensive pre-telescopic star catalog and introduced the nomenclature still in use for designating stars visible to the naked eye. His was also the first celestial atlas to represent the stars around the South Pole and to cover the entire sky.

Bayer was born in Rhain, Bavaria, in 1572. In 1592 he matriculated at Ingolstadt University as a philosophy student and later obtained a law degree. Though a lawyer by profession, he maintained a keen interest in astronomy and after moving to Augsburg, published his comprehensive celestial atlas Uranometria on September 1, 1603. He dedicated the volume to two of Augsburg's leading citizens. The city council responded with an honorarium of 150 gulden. Bayer was later appointed legal advisor to the city counsel of Augsburg with an annual salary of 500 gulden.

The significance of Bayer's work lies in his innovative method for...