Willebrord Snellius, Date of Birth, Place of Birth, Date of Death

Willebrord Snellius

Dutch astronomer and mathematician

Date of Birth: 13-Jun-1580

Place of Birth: Leiden, County of Holland, Netherlands

Date of Death: 30-Oct-1626

Profession: astronomer, physicist, mathematician, university teacher

Nationality: Kingdom of the Netherlands

Zodiac Sign: Gemini

Willebrord Snellius (born Willebrord Snel van Royen) (13 June 1580 – 30 October 1626) was a Dutch astronomer and mathematician, known in the English-speaking world as Snell.
In the west, especially the English speaking countries, his name is attached to the law of refraction of light.
(It is now known that this law was already known to Ibn Sahl in 984.
The same law was also investigated by Ptolemy and in the Middle Ages by Witelo, but due to lack of adequate mathematical instruments (trigonometric functions) their results were saved as tables, not functions.) The lunar crater Snellius is named after Willebrord Snellius.
The Royal Netherlands Navy has named three survey ships after Snellius, including a currently-serving vessel.