Ptolemy’s Works (subject by subject)
Ptolemy was born circa 80-100 CE in Egypt, which was part of the Roman Empire during that time. Little is known about Ptolemy’s personal life. However, much is known about his discoveries. [1] His first major work was the Almagest, completed around 150 CE and containing past astronomical information Ptolemy had collected. He has also contributed to math, as he did a lot in trigonometry. He was also a geographer, knowing a bit about the Indian Ocean. However, he had his downside; he had a geocentric view of the universe, which is wrong. The geocentric model was supported for a long time, but a heliocentric model was later created by Copernicus and popularized by Galileo. Still, Ptolemy made significant contributions to academics. He died around 170 CE. [2]
The Almagest by Ptolemy (chronological; book by book)
The Almagest was an astronomical guide composed of 13 books that was used by Islamic and European astronomers up until the 1600s. It was originally titled Mathematike Syntaxis, meaning the Mathematical Arrangement. Book 1 has arguments for a geocentric universe (which was later proven to be false) and contains some trigonometry. It allowed him to predict the movements of cosmic objects. Book 2 uses spherical trigonometry, explaining cartography and astronomical values. Book 3 is about the Sun’s movement. Books 4 and 5 are about the Moon’s motion. Book 6 is about solar and lunar eclipses. Books 7 and 8 are about the stars, such as coordinates. [3] The next few books are about planets with Mercury for Book 9, Venus and Mars for Book 10, and Jupiter and Saturn for Book 11. Book 12 is about retrogradation, which is the movement of a planet from east to west. And finally, Book 13 is about planetary latitudes (latitudes are a type of coordinate). [4] In conclusion, although Almagest has some errors with geocentric views, it still provides some good information.
[1] “Ptolemy.” Maths History, mathshistory.st-andrews.ac.uk/Biographies/Ptolemy.
[2] Jones, Alexander Raymond. "Ptolemy". Encyclopedia Britannica, 21 May. 2024, https://www.britannica.com/biography/Ptolemy. Accessed 9 September 2024.
[3] Britannica, The Editors of Encyclopaedia. "Almagest". Encyclopedia Britannica, 30 Jul. 2024, https://www.britannica.com/topic/Almagest. Accessed 9 September 2024.
[4] PAL: Ptolemy, Almagest (Greek). 9 Aug. 2024, ptolemaeus.badw.de/work/19#:~:text=The%20Almagest%20comprises%2013%20books,and%20planetary%20latitudes%20(XIII).
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