Johan Ludvig Heiberg

Johan Ludvig Heiberg (27 November 1854 – 4 January 1928) was a Danish philologist and historian. He is best known for his discovery of previously unknown texts in the Archimedes Palimpsest, and for his edition of Euclid's Elements that T. L. Heath translated into English. He also published an edition of Ptolemy's Almagest. Early life and education Heiberg was born in Aalborg, the son of medical doctor Emil Theodor Heiberg (1820–93) and Johanne (Hanne) Henriette Jacoba Schmidt (1821–83). He was related to 19th-century Danish poet Johan Ludvig Heiberg (1791-1860). His sister, Johanne Louise Heiberg (1860–1934), married biochemist Max Henius (1859–1935). Heiberg matriculated from Aalborg Cathedral School in 1871. He and acquired a degree in classical philology from the University of Copenhagen in 1876 and spent the next few years teaching. He acquired a doctorate degree with the dissertation Quæstiones Archimedeæ in 1879. Career From 1884 to 1896, alongside first Søren Georg Møller (1834–1890) and then Søren Ludvig Tuxen (1850-1919), he was principal of Borgerdyd School in Østerbro. Heiberg was Professor of Classical Philology at the University of Copenhagen from 1896 until 1924 and Professor of Archeology from 1896 until 1911. He became a member of the Royal Danish Academy of Sciences and Letters in 1893 and served as its editor in 1902–13. He was president of Rask-Ørstedfondet from 1919 until his death. Among his more than 200 publications were translations of the works of Archimedes (1880 and 1912), Euclid (with Heinrich Menge) (1883–1916), Apollonius of Perga (1891–93), Serenus of Antinouplis (1896), Ptolemy (1898/1903), and Hero of Alexandria (1899). Many of his editions are still in use today.