Christian Wurstisen

Christian Wurstisen, in Latin Christianus Urstisius, lived from 1544 to 1588 and was a mathematician, theologian and historian from Basel, born in Liestal. He became professor of mathematics at the University of Basel in 1565 and professor of theology in 1585, and the next year the city magistrate appointed him town historian. His arithmetic textbook Elementa arithmeticae was read by John Milton and by the Hungarian philosopher Andreas Dudith. Some accounts credit him with first introducing Copernicus's De revolutionibus to Galileo, a claim that has been challenged in favour of a similarly named man. His Basel chronicle of 1580 also named the heraldic tinctures after the initials of their colours.