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Ptolemy

File:Ptolemy_1476_with_armillary_sphere_model.jpg · Wikimedia Commons · See Wikimedia Commons

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Also known as Claudius Ptolemaeus, Claudius Ptolemeus, Claudius Ptolemy, Klaudios Ptolemaios

Claudius Ptolemy (; , ; ; – 160s/170s AD), better known mononymously as Ptolemy, was a Greco-Roman mathematician, astronomer, astrologer, geographer, and music theorist 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'). 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 a

AI overview

Ptolemy was a Greco-Roman scholar from the 2nd century AD who wrote influential scientific works on astronomy, geography, and astrology that shaped scientific thought in Byzantine, Islamic, and medieval European cultures. His most important surviving treatises are the Almagest (on astronomy), the Geography (on maps and world geography), and an astrological work—all of which had lasting impact on how later civilizations understood the cosmos and the world.

AI-generated from the Wikipedia summary — may contain errors.

Person · Open Library

Born
2nd cent.
Died
ca.178
Works
131

Top works

  • Cosmographia
  • Liber Quadripartiti Ptholomei ...
  • Opus geographię noviter castigatū & emaculatū additiōbus raris et invisis
  • Geōgraphikē hyphēgēsis / Klaudios Ptolemaios = Geographia / Claudius Ptolemaeus
  • Ptolemy's Tetrabiblos, or Quadripartite

via Open Library + Wikidata

Music · MusicBrainz

Type
Character

via MusicBrainz · CC0

Listeners · Last.fm

Listeners
173
Total plays
788

Tags

idm

Similar artists

pinzaStartslowSadacoreFugue StateThe Kandis Project

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via Last.fm · Ptolemy

Quotes

  • I know that I am mortal by nature and ephemeral, but when I trace at my pleasure the windings to and fro of the heavenly bodies, I no longer touch earth with my feet. I stand in the presence of Zeus himself and take my fill of ambrosia.
  • We consider it a good principle to explain the phenomena by the simplest hypothesis possible.
  • πᾶν μὲν τὸ δυσέφικτον παρὰ τοῖς πολλοῖς εὐδιάβλητον ἔχει φύσιν
  • The length of lifetakes the leading place among inquiries about events following birth.
  • As material fortune is associated with the properties of the body, so honor belongs to those of the soul.
  • There are three classes of friendship and enmity, since men are so disposed to one another either by preference or by need or through pleasure and pain.

via Wikiquote · CC BY-SA

Key facts

Scientist.name
Ptolemy
Scientist.native_name
Κλαύδιος Πτολεμαῖος
Scientist.image
Ptolemy 1476 with armillary sphere model.jpg
Scientist.caption
Portrait of Ptolemy by Justus van Gent or Pedro Berruguete (1476)
Scientist.birth_date
AD 100
Scientist.birth_place
Unknown
Scientist.death_date
160s/170s
Scientist.death_place
Alexandria, Egypt, Roman Empire
Scientist.citizenship
possibly Roman

via Wikipedia infobox

Wikidata facts

Image
Claudio Ptolomeo.png
Show 10 more facts
Commons gallery
Κλαύδιος Πτολεμαῖος
date of birth
0085-00-00
date of death
0165-00-00
Commons Creator page
Ptolemy
name in native language
Κλαύδιος Πτολεμαῖος
birth name
Κλαύδιος Πτολεμαῖος
P13311
Derval
Commons category
Ptolemy
Sources (6)

via Wikidata · CC0

Works in European collections

36 objects attributed to Ptolemy, held across European museums, libraries & archives · via Europeana

~32 min read

Article

24 sections
Contents
  • Biography
  • Naming and nationality
  • Astronomical writings
  • ''Mathēmatikē Syntaxis''
  • Modern reassessment
  • ''Handy Tables''
  • ''Planetary Hypotheses''
  • Other astronomical works
  • Other writings
  • ''Geography''
  • ''Tetrabiblos''
  • ''Harmonics''
  • Optics
  • Philosophy
  • Named after Ptolemy
  • See also
  • Notes
  • Footnotes
  • Citations
  • Bibliography
  • Works of Ptolemy
  • References
  • Further reading
  • External links

Claudius Ptolemy (; , ; ; – 160s/170s AD), better known mononymously as Ptolemy, was a Greco-Roman mathematician, astronomer, astrologer, geographer, and music theorist 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'). 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 '''' (, 'On the Effects') but more commonly known as the '''' (from the Koine Greek meaning 'four books'; ).

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. 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. His work on epicycles is now seen as a very complex theoretical model built in order to explain a false tenet based on faith.

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