Sitzfleisch

What a great word! Knowing a little German I was able to look at this word, unfamiliar though it was, and think "sit - flesh" - what the hell? A German borrowing in English, it means something like, The ability to endure or persist in an endeavor through sedentary determination. It's used in chess, apparently, for those people who can just sit staring and thinking until they work their way through to the winning move.

I came across this word in a journal article about Regiomontanus, the 15th century German astronomer and mathematician. He was a bit of a prodigy, at the age of fourteen producing his own table of planetary positions that was more accurate than the published ones of the time. In the time before calculators, Sitzfleisch was an essential attribute for such work. Probably it still is vital in research, although what you sit doing has changed.

Regiomontanus is a major figure in my wee talk at lunchtime today, one of the events for the Ingenious Impressions exhibition at the Hunterian Art Gallery. One of his books is included in this wonderful exhibition of incunabula. The talk's only ten minutes - no need for much Sitzfleisch.

Regiomontanus must have had Sitzfleisch in abundance, even as a boy. I find myself wondering what he looked like as a dancer.