Willebrord Snellius

Willebrord Snellius
Willebrord Snel van Royen (1580–1626)
Born13 June 1580
Leiden, Dutch Republic
Died30 October 1626(1626-10-30) (aged 46)
Leiden, Dutch Republic
Alma materUniversity of Leiden
Known forSnell's law, Snellius's triangulation, Snellius–Pothenot problem
Scientific career
FieldsAstronomy and mathematics
InstitutionsUniversity of Leiden
Academic advisorsLudolph van Ceulen
Rudolph Snellius
Notable studentsJacobus Golius

Willebrord Snellius (born Willebrord Snel van Royen, also Willebrord van Roijen Snell (13 June 1580 – 30 October 1626), commonly known simply as Snellius and Snell, was a Dutch astronomer and mathematician.

Snell is best known for the law of refraction of light known as Snell's law, his pioneering work in survey known as Snellius's triangulation, and the Snellius–Pothenot problem, a means in planar trigonometry of finding an unknown point from known ones.

Despite being commonly attributed to Snell, the law of refraction was discovered by the Persian scientist Ibn Sahl around 984 AD.

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