and in 1551 Ramus was appointed professor of philoso-
phy at the Collège Royal in Paris. Much of his later work
was concerned with the reform of traditional logic,
thought, and education (see RAMIST CONTROVERSY). His
views were widely disseminated in his best-known work,
Dialectique (1555), the first work on logic to be published
in French, and his books on arithmetic and geometry ap-
peared in many editions.
After converting to Calvinism in 1561 Ramus aban-
doned France for some time to avoid the dangers of the
religious wars. He settled once more in Paris in 1570
and died as one of the victims of the MASSACRE OF ST.
BARTHOLOMEW.
Further reading: Walter J. Ong, Ramus: Method, and
the Decay of Dialogue: From the Art of Discourse to the Art
of Reason (Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press,
1958; repr. 1975).Ramusio, Giovanni Battista (1485–1557) Italian writer
and geographer
Born at Treviso, Ramusio was raised in an environment of
discovery and innovation. He worked in the Venetian pub-
lic service, rising steadily to become secretary of the
Council of Ten by 1533. Around 1520 he became friends
with Girolamo FRACASTORO, who inspired him to collect a
diversity of geographical material, much of it gathered44004 4 RRaammuussiioo,, GGiioovvaannnnii BBaattttiissttaaAgostino RamelliAn engraving from Le
diverse et artificiose machine(1588)
illustrating a water wheel and associated
gearing. This book contains a number of
remarkable illustrations depicting the
state of hydraulic and military
engineering toward the end of the 16th
century.