On July 13 in 1527 a fantabulous man was born, John Dee.  He was a philosopher, magician, astrologer, and consultant to my favorite Queen, Elizabeth I.

Like most brilliant minds, past and present, he was Welsh, and went to Cambridge and Trinity. He was fascinated by building mechanical things and navigating the sea, and it is rumoured that he was accused of witchcraft for building a mechanical flying beetle while at Cambridge. [ref.1]

He was a formost expert on Astrology and in 1555 incurred the wrath of the Catholic Church for forcasting the lot of Queen Mary and Princess Elizabeth.  He managed to wiggle out of trouble and by 1558 he was chosen by Elizabeth to be the court scientist and astrologist, and even chose her coronation date. [ref.1] Some even say she used him as a spy at times [ref.3]

He compiled one of Englands largest libraries, over 4,000 books [ref. 4], some of his books are treasured to this day and kept in museums and at Yale.

It is said that he himself did not forcast the future, but consulted with God's Angels.  He studied "Cabalistic Angel Magic", ref. 1, 2.  He also hired two "Crystal Gazers" to gaze into special stones (which can be seen in the British museum), ref.2, to assist him in predicting the future.   He was greatly fascinated by dreams.

There is a John Dee society which has an incredible list of his mathematical accomplishments and little known facts about his life.  They state that he was the inspiration for Shakespeare's Prospero; that he cursed the Spanish fleet's Armada, causing English victory, and that he founded the secret Rosicrucian Order.

After Queen Elizabeth's death, misfortune befell him.  He was cast as an evil magician - although he was a very strong Christian, and died in poverty in 1608.  No one even knows where his headstone is [ref.1]

ref. 1 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Dee

ref. 2 http://www.occultopedia.com/d/dee.htm

ref. 3 http://www.crystalinks.com/dee.html

ref. 4 http://www.johndee.org/DEE.html