The Golden Inheritance of Renaissance

Federico Commandino (1509–1575) was born into an influential family from Urbino, Italy. His family’s political connections secured him a position as the private secretary to pope Clement VII in 1534. He dedicated most of his life translating several fundamental works from ancient Greek into Latin, including Archimedes, Ptolemy, Euclid, Aristarchus, Pappus, Apollonius, Eutocius, Heron and Serenus [Rosen, E., Biography in Dictionary of Scientific Biography (New York 1970-1990)]. Most notable is his 1565 work titled  De centro gravitatis, where an interesting novel idea is presented and explored. In this work, one particular element from Euclid’s  Elements is extended to tetrahedra: the center of gravity. In our paper we explore the heritage of his work on tetrahedra and we reflect on the educational value of this cornerstone moment in the history of geometry.