This issue commemorates the birth of Pedro Nunes in 1502, one of the greatest mathematicians and astronomers of his time. He made important contributions to navigation, and hence to the Portuguese period of Discoveries. His two best known achievements are the proposal of the loxodrome, the spiral line along the globe obtained if a ship keeps a straight bearing, and the nonius, a measurement system and device named after Nunes’ Latin name.
Aged 27, Nunes was appointed Royal Cosmographer by King John III of Portugal. Nunes was also a professor of Mathematics at the University of Coimbra (1544-62). Nunes was an adept of the wide dissemination of knowledge, and as such wrote not only in Latin, the scholarly language of the time, but also in Portuguese and Spanish.
- Loxodrome
- Pedro Nunes
- Nonius
The stamps were designed by Luiz Duran, lithographed by the Mint on enamelled paper sheets of 5×10 stamps with perforation 12×12½, and issued on 6 March 2002.
| Stamp | Print run | Afinsa | Gibbons | Michel | Scott | WNS | Yvert |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| loxodrome | 1,000,000 | 2853 | 2926 | 2577 | 24 | ||
| nonius | 1,000,000 | 2854 | 2927 | 2578 | 25 | ||
| portrait | 350,000 | 2855 | 2928 | 2579 | 26 |
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