Abstract
IT is a tradition of the Society of Jesus that St. Ignatius, its founder, was wont to watch the heavens in order that his heart might be inflamed with the love of God from the consideration of the wonders of His work; and from almost its earliest days the Society has included men who have devoted themselves to astronomy and other sciences. Clavius, Schemer, Grimaldi, Hell, Mayer, Boscovich, Secchi, and Perry are but a few of the men of science who have belonged to the Society. One of the first, however, was Christopher Borrus, who was born in Milan in 1583, joined the Society in 1601, and died on May 24, 1632, three hundred years ago. Like Fathers Trigault, Rhò, and Schall, he was sent as a missionary to the Far East, and wrote a valuable account of Cochin China. He made observations on the variation of the compass, and, according to Kircher, drew up the first charts of the Atlantic and Indian Oceans, showing the spots where the magnetic needle makes the same angles with the meridian. He was thus a forerunner of Halley. His explanation of the chart is contained in a manuscript which belongs to the Royal Academy of Lisbon. He also made suggestions as to a new method for determining longitude at sea. After some years spent in the East, he returned to Europe, and taught mathematics at Coimbra. His death took place at Rome shortly after he had entered the order of Cistercians.
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Christopher Borrus. Nature 129, 752 (1932). https://doi.org/10.1038/129752a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/129752a0