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Ptolemy
Ptolemy | |
|---|---|
| Κλαύδιος Πτολεμαῖος | |
 | |
| Born | c. AD 100[1] Unknown |
| Died | c. 170 (aged 69–70)[1] Alexandria, Egypt, Roman Empire |
| Citizenship | possibly Roman; ethnicity:Greco-Egyptian or Hellenized Egyptian |
| Known for | Ptolemaic universe Ptolemy's world map Ptolemy's intense diatonic scale Ptolemy's table of chords Ptolemy's inequality Ptolemy's theorem Equant Evection Quadrant |
| Scientific career | |
| Fields | Astronomy, Geography, Astrology, Optics |
Claudius Ptolemy (/ˈtɒləmi/; Ancient Greek: Πτολεμαῖος, Ptolemaios; Latin: Claudius Ptolemaeus; c. 100 – c. 170 AD)[1] was an Alexandrian mathematician, astronomer, astrologer, geographer, and music theorist[2] who wrote about a dozen scientific treatises, three of which were important to later Byzantine, Islamic, and Western European science. The first was his astronomical treatise now known as the Almagest, originally entitled Mathematical Treatise (Greek: Μαθηματικὴ Σύνταξις, Mathēmatikḗ Syntaxis). The second is the Geography, which is a thorough discussion on maps and the geographic knowledge of the Greco-Roman world. The third is the astrological treatise in which he attempted to adapt horoscopic astrology to the Aristotelian natural philosophy of his day. This is sometimes known as the Apotelesmatika (Greek: Αποτελεσματικά, lit. 'On the Effects') but more commonly known as the Tetrábiblos, from the Koine Greek meaning "Four Books", or by its Latin equivalent Quadripartite.
The Catholic Church promoted his work, which included the only mathematically sound geocentric model of the Solar System, and unlike most Greek mathematicians, Ptolemy's writings (foremost the Almagest) never ceased to be copied or commented upon, both in late antiquity and in the Middle Ages.[3] However, it is likely that only a few truly mastered the mathematics necessary to understand his works, as evidenced particularly by the many abridged and watered-down introductions to Ptolemy's astronomy that were popular among the Arabs and Byzantines.[4][5] His work on epicycles has come to symbolize a very complex theoretical model built in order to explain a false assumption.
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- ^ a b c Ptolemy at the Encyclopædia Britannica
- ^ Richter, Lukas (2001). "Ptolemy". Grove Music Online. Oxford: Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/gmo/9781561592630.article.22510. ISBN 978-1-56159-263-0. Retrieved 25 September 2021. (subscription or UK public library membership required)
- ^ Pingree, D. (1994). "The teaching of the Almagest in late antiquity". Apeiron. 27 (4): 75–98. doi:10.1515/APEIRON.1994.27.4.75. S2CID 68478868.
- ^ Jones, A., ed. (2010). Ptolemy in Perspective: Use and criticism of his work from antiquity to the nineteenth century. Archimedes. Springer Netherlands. ISBN 978-90-481-2787-0.
- ^ Cite error: The named reference
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