Johann Gabriel Doppelmayr(1677-1750), a mathematician and physicist, was born into a merchant family from Nuremberg. In 1696 Doppelmayr began to study law in Altdorf, but soon turned focused on mathematics and physics. In 1700 he traveled to the Netherlands and England in order to elaborate his scientific training. Due to a professorship for mathematics at the Aegidien-Gymnasium he returned to Nuremberg. His major work, the Atlas Novus Coelestis, a celestial atlas equipped with a magnificent engraved map, was published in 1742. When it comes to the history of science and technology his 'Historische Nachricht der Nürnbergischen Mathematicis und Künstlern' (1730) is of particular importance.