Johann Faulhaber

Johann Faulhaber (1580 to 1635) was a German mathematician and calculator, in German a Rechenmeister, born in Ulm. Trained as a weaver, he became surveyor of the city of Ulm, worked as a fortification engineer in Basel and Frankfurt and for Maurice, Prince of Orange, and built water wheels and geometrical instruments. He worked with Johannes Kepler and Ludolph van Ceulen, made the first German publication of the logarithms of Henry Briggs, and is credited with the first printed solution of equal temperament. His main contribution was calculating sums of powers of integers, now known as Faulhaber formula and cited by Jacob Bernoulli. He also pursued alchemy, astrology and numerology, belonged to the Rosicrucians, and published prophecies about the Great Comet of 1618.