10 facts about ptolemy

Claudius ptolemy contribution to astronomy
Ptolemy contribution
Where was ptolemy born

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Claudius Ptolemy lived in Alexandria, inEgypt, in the middle of the second century CE. He was descended from an Egyptian familyand associated with the renowned library situated in the city. He is celebrated for hisgreat work of astronomy, known today as the Almagest. In fact, the very title istestament to its status and its tortuous history. Almagest is a transliterationof the name given to the work when it was rendered into Arabic in the early middle ages.The Islamic scholars, aware of what they possessed, called it The greatest work,and the name stuck when it was later retranslated into Latin. Ptolemy himself, however,had used the more modest Greek title, Syntaxis - Treatise (or System)of mathematics.

The Almagest provided what was asfar as we know the first complete guide to calculating the planetary motions. To achievethis, Ptolemy adopted a number of conceptually simple but mathematically complexprocedures. He reasoned that a planet must move on a combination of circular motions,which must be uniform - but that in

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Ptolemy

Roman astronomer and geographer (c. 100–170)

For other uses, see Ptolemy (disambiguation).

Claudius Ptolemy (; Ancient Greek: Πτολεμαῖος, Ptolemaios; Latin: Claudius Ptolemaeus; c. 100 – 160s/170s 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 Aristoteliannatural 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 Book

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Ptolemy

Born: c. 90 in Egypt

Died: c. 168 (at about age 78) in Alexandria, Egypt

Nationality: Greco-Roman

Famous For: Publishing The Amalgest

Ptolemy can be described as a polymath because his studies ranged across an astonishing array of disciplines, from astronomy and geography, to mathematics, philosophy, literature and poetry.

Ptolemy’s Early Years

The best indications place Ptolemy’s birth at about 90 A.D. in Alexandria, Egypt. He was known to be of Greco-Roman origin and a citizen of Rome, which ruled Egypt at the time. His first name, Claudius, is a marker of his Roman connection. He was either born into or granted Roman citizenship during the reign of the patrician family of Claudius. The Emperors Claudius and Nero ruled during the life of Ptolemy.

Ptolemy’s Works

Ptolemy is most famous for his ground-breaking work The Almagest, which is a treatise on mathematics and astronomy. It described the structure of the heavens as it was understood at the time. In Ptolemy’s day that meant that the earth was the center of the universe, a