Conrad Dasypodius

Conrad Dasypodius (1532 to 1600), also written Konrad or Cunradus and known by the surname Rauchfuss or Hasenfratz, was a Swiss astronomer, mathematician and writer, born in Frauenfeld in Thurgau and professor of mathematics in Strasbourg. He was the son of the humanist and lexicographer Petrus Dasypodius. In 1564 he edited parts of Euclid Elements, explaining in the preface that his school had required students to learn Book I but that no copies remained, so he brought out a new edition. In 1568 he published a work on the heliocentric theory of Copernicus, the Hypotyposes orbium coelestium, and it is unclear whether he was himself a heliocentrist or followed the Wittenberg interpretation. He designed the astronomical clock of Strasbourg Cathedral, built by Isaac and Josia Habrecht in 1572 to 1574, which brought together the advanced astronomical and mathematical knowledge of its time.