She authored a book Urania propitia, in which she provided new tables, new ephemera, and a simpler working solution to Kepler's second law for determining the position of a planet on its elliptical path.

[5] Maria Cunitz was born in Wohlau (now Wołów, Poland), as the eldest daughter of a Baltic German, Heinrich Cunitz,[6][7] a physician and landowner who had lived in Schweidnitz for most of his life, and Maria Scholtz from Liegnitz,[8][9] daughter of German scientist Anton von Scholtz[10] (1560–1622), a mathematician and counselor to Duke Joachim Frederick of Liegnitz.

The proof that Maria was actually born in 1610 is furnished by an anthology with congratulation poems on her first wedding, in connection with a letter of Elias A Leonibus to Johannes Hevelius from the year 1651, noted by Ingrid Guentherodt.

[3] Other areas of study that Maria was proficient in included medicine, poetry, painting, music, mathematics, ancient languages, and history.

[3] During the outbreak of the Thirty Years' War from 1618 to 1648 Maria and Elias von Löwen[20] took refuge in the Cistercians convent of Olobok, Poland.

[3] In 1650, Maria privately published of her own expense Urania propitia in German and Latin as a dedication to Holy Roman Emperor Ferdinand III.

[1] Urania propitia provided new tables, new ephemera, and a more elegant solution to Kepler's Problem, which is to determine the position of a planet in its orbit as a function of time.

A large contribution to this fact has to do with Cunitz publishing her work in an isolated printing establishment in Olesnica, and there were only a few copies of the Urania propitia made.

Despite the negative connotation of teaching women about the natural sciences that often prevailed in 17th century Germany, Heinrich and Mary educated Maria in a multitude of subjects, including mathematics, medicine, history, and the fine arts.

[citation needed] One of Maria's tutors, Elias von Löven, a physician and amateur astrologist like her father, would later become her second husband.

[citation needed] Due to her many talents and accomplishments, Cunitz was called the "Silesian Pallas" by J.B. Delambre, who also compared her to Hypatia of Alexandria during his study of history in astronomy.

[citation needed] In 1727 the book Schlesiens Hoch- und Wohlgelehrtes Frauenzimmer, nebst unterschiedenen Poetinnen..., Johan Caspar Eberti wrote that "(Maria) Cunicia or Cunitzin was the daughter of the famous Henrici Cunitii.

[12] Urania propitia had a lasting effect in the world of astronomy, inspiring her fellow astronomers and correspondents to eliminate errors and eir on the side of simplicity when deriving calculations.

However, a fire broke out in the streets of Byczyna, Poland and destroyed Maria Cunitz and her husband Elias von Löwen's house and her vast collection astronomy equipment, academic books and papers, and her detailed correspondence with relevant astronomers.

Prior to 10 June 2004 the first edition of Urania propitia was located at The Library of The Earls of Macclesfield in the Shirburn Castle: Part 2 Science A-C section.

[16] She was born and spent most of her life in the Holy Roman Empire, which included non-German minorities, ruled by the Austrian Habsburg monarchy.

[citation needed] During Maria's lifetime, nationality did not play as significant a role in determining person's identity as it does today.