This would indicate that he was descended from a greek family living in egypt and that he was a citizen of rome. Very little is known about his personal life the image above is probably purely the artists imagination he was an astronomer, mathematician and geographer. Ptolemy, a greek astronomer and geographer, lived in around 85 to 165 a. Ptolemy had contributed to science and astronomy by developing the theory of. Then his ideas were disproved by nicolaus copernicus. A polymath of enormous repute with influences across the sciences, ptolemy is identified varyingly as an astronomer, a mathematician, a geographer and cartographer. A mathematical worldview in the 2nd century ce, claudius ptolemy drew on the ideas and technical devicesof his predecessors to create the. Ptolemys contribution was to consolidate all known results, make large improvements to the models, and to write it all down in a way that became a standard for the way to. Ptolemys book, guide to geography, is the most comprehensive and scientific work of antiquity up to about 476 c.
Claudius ptolemaeus, editor, system design, modeling, and simulation using ptolemy ii, 2014. The name claudius is a roman name, belonging to the gens claudia. His main astronomical work, the almagest, was the culmination of centuries of work by hellenic, hellenistic and babylonian astronomers. The tetrabiblos of the famous astronomer and geographer claudius ptolemaeus ca. Several historians have made the deduction that this indicates that ptolemy would have been a roman citizen. Alexandrian astronomer who proposed a geocentric system of astronomy that was undisputed until copernicus 2nd century ad.
Ptolemy offered an original contribution in the field of astronomy. What was ptolemy contributions to astronomy answers. Ptolemy article about ptolemy by the free dictionary. Ptolemy aka claudius ptolemaeus lived and worked in alexandria, egypt during the second century. What was the major contribution that ptolemy gave to the science of astronomy. Ptolemy birthplaceegypt occupation mathematician, geographer, astronomer, astrologer ptolemy claudius ptolemaeus, fl. Ptolemy claudius ptolemaeus of alex andria provided the solid treatise which would give substance and respecta bility tothis science for the next thousand years. His name ptolemy is, in fact, an egyptian name, while claudius is a roman. Claudius ptolemy s contributions claudius ptolemy s fundamental contribution was his model of the universe. Using the telescope, galileo discovered the mountains on the moon, the spots on the sun, and four moons of jupiter. Claudius ptolemy biography childhood, life achievements.
Galileos most important scientific contributions were in the field of physics. Claudius ptolemy who lived in romanized egypt was among the earliest astronomers to make and refine the observations underlying todays astronomy. Ptolemaeus astronomical treatise, an astronomy textbook and star catalogue, is generally referred to as the almagest. Little is known of his life, but he taught in alexandria and quoted the results of. He codified the greek geocentric view of the universe, and rationalized the apparent retrograde motion of the planets using epicycles.
Ptolemy elaborated the geocentric system of the universe, according to which the apparent motions of the heavenly bodies can be explained in terms of the bodies often very complex motion about a stationary earth. Using his knowledge of geometry and historical astronomy, halley linked the comet sightings of 1456, 1531, 1607 and 1682 to the same object which he correctly predicted would return. Ptolemys reputation as an excellent geometer and astronomer made his geographical works more credible than they should have been, and their influence was farreaching. He compiled a star catalog and the earliest surviving table of a trigonometric function and established mathematically that an object and its mirror image must make equal angles to a mirror. Ptolemy simple english wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. Ptolemys legacy the most influential of all ancient roman scientists proved to be the most durable authority on astrology. Mathematical treatise known as the almagest after the arabic version of its name, that remained the reference work on astronomy for about 1500 years. All interested editors are invited to join the project and contribute to the discussion.
He systematically charted the sky to help predict and explain the motions of the planets and stars. Egypt was the center of learning in those times, and it was there that ptolemy got his education. Scientifically the most important contribution was his application of mathematics to the mapping of positions on earth according to latitude and longitude. Japans most expensive book, an edited collection of manuscripts by claudius ptolemaeus 100168, was published in twovolumes by the japanese publisher iwanami shoten in 1984, just before japans infamous economic bubble 19861991, with a retail price of 1,930,000 yen. Ptolemy latinized as claudius ptolemaeus was one of the great scholars of antiquity, and mathematical astronomy was dominated by his ideas for nearly 1500 years following his death. He is famous for his work on astronomy and geography.
This article is within the scope of wikiproject biography, a collaborative effort to create, develop and organize wikipedia s articles about people. Claudius ptolemy was born in egypt around ad 85 and died in alexandria in about ad 165 the date is not precisely known. He applied astronomy to astrology and thus created horoscopes. Claudius ptolemy article about claudius ptolemy by the. The subject is astrology, which in ptolemys time as down to the renaissance was fused as a respectable science with astronomy. Ptolemy aka claudius ptolemaeus, ptolomaeus, klaudios ptolemaios, ptolemeus lived in alexandria in egypt from approx. C this article has been rated as cclass on the projects quality scale.
However, he is believed to have been born in thebaid. Claudius ptolemaeus ad120 180 claudius ptolemaeus ad120 180. He was a greek who probably lived and worked in alexandria, in egypt. Astronomy early works to 1800, mathematics, greek publisher leipzig, b. We know few details of his life, but he made important lasting contributions to astronomy, geography, optics, mathematics, and music. Claudius ptolemaeus ptolemy was an astronomer, mathemetician and geographer in the second century a. He did this by first assuming that the motion of planets were a combination of circular motions, that were not centered on earth and not all the same. This would indicate that he was descended from a greek family living in egypt and that he was a citizen of rome, which would be as a result of a roman emperor giving that. The influential amalgest was accompanied by another volume, tetrabiblos, which assumed an equal authority on the thenserious study of astrology. Ptolemy the culminating work of greek astronomy is the almagest of claudius ptolemaeus 2nd century ce. Claudius ptolemy wrote the almagest, the work that defined astronomy for over 1,000 years the almagest included a catalogue of over a thousand stars, recording their positions, constellations, and relative brightnesses. Learn vocabulary, terms, and more with flashcards, games, and other study tools. Claudius ptolemy was a greek mathematician and astronomer who lived in alexandria, egypt during the second century ce.
Claudius ptolemy was the first to use trigonometry to calculate the positions of the sun, the moon, and the planets. Pronunciation of claudius ptolemaeus with 1 audio pronunciation, 4 synonyms, 1 meaning, 2 translations and more for claudius ptolemaeus. He made his observations in alexandria and was the last great astronomer of ancient times. The team received thd 2011 coach award from the carnegie mellon master of software engineering mse department. Ptolemys is the first known projection of the sphere onto a plane. Claudius ptolemy s fundamental contribution was his model of the universe. Although he discovered the irregularity in the moons motion. Not much is known about the life of the roman scholar claudius ptolemaeus who is more commonly known as ptolemy. Bosch research and the ptolemy project mentored carnegie mellon master of software engineering students on their studio project in the summer of 2010. Claudius ptolemy was a grecoegyptian mathematician, astronomer, astrologer, and writer.
System design, modeling, and simulation using ptolemy ii. Ptolemy is the english name for claudius ptolemaeus. Ptolemy built on the work of his predecessorsnotably hipparchusbut his work was so successful that it made older works of planetary astronomy superfluous, and they ceased to be read. The motions of the planets, the sun, the earth, and the moon, which i studied in my work. It is the only surviving comprehensive ancient treatise on astronomy and includes the calculation of solar and lunar eclipses and contains theories on the sun, moon, planets with epicycles. Ptolemys work the almagest or megale syntaxis tes astronomias is a collection of the writings of earlier greek astronomers he can also be shown to have utilized babylonian astronomical data. Claudius ptolemy often called claudius ptolemaeus, ptolomaeus, klaudios ptolemaios, and simply ptolemeus was one of the earliest of these observers. For instructions on how to use this banner, please refer to the documentation.
Translate ptolemy to english online and download now our free translation software to use at any time. Claudius ptolemy, latin in full claudius ptolemaeus born c. Ptolemy, astronomy and almagest who invented first. He lived in alexandria in the roman province of egypt during the 2nd century and authored several scientific treatises, three of which were of considerable significance to the development of byzantine, islamic and european science in later centuries. However, he was estimated to have lived from approximately 90 to 170 ce and worked in the library at alexandria from 127 to 150. Claudius ptolemys mathematical system of the world waseda university, sils. In addition to his wellknown works in astronomy, claudius ptolemy was important in the history of geography and cartography making maps. The name claudius ptolemaeus is composed of the greek name ptolemaeus and the roman name claudius. His name, claudius ptolemy, is of course a mixture of the greek egyptian ptolemy and the roman claudius. The ptolemaic system, developed by the hellenistic astronomer claudius ptolemaeus in the 2nd century ad finally standardised geocentrism. Edmond halley made enormous contributions to almost every branch of physics and astronomy.
The ptdb project was an effort to use an xml database to manage models. It represented the beginning of modern mapmaking and is arguably the most influential book in the history of mapmaking. Ptolemy made contributions to astronomy, mathematics, geography, musical theory, and optics. What is the contribution of claudius ptolemy answers. The ptolemaic system remained the accepted wisdom until the polish scholar copernicus proposed a heliocentric view in 1543.
Through his map, he contributed to the use of longitude and latitude lines and the specification of places on earth by observing the sphere. Ptolemys portrait of epicycles was the most astute astronomy theory of its time. Although he was born and lived in egypt, ptolemy was of greek ancestry, therefore he is considered an ancient. Ptolemy, claudius ptolemaeus 83168 greek mathematician, astronomer, astrologer, geographer claudius ptolemaeus, known in english as ptolemy, was an important ancient greek mathematician, astronomer, and geographer whose works contributed to building the basis for european and islamic sciences.
Claudius ptolemaeus, known as ptolemy, was a grecoroman citizen in alexandria, egypt, who lived between roughly 100 and 170 a. While little is known about the life of ptolemy, his nomen, or clan name, claudius, indicates that he was a roman citizen while ptolemy is a homeric name appearing in greek mythology. His discoveries provided the evidence to support the theory that the earth and other planets revolved around the sun. Ptolemy definitely made astronomical observations from alexandria in egypt during the years from 127 to 141. One of his early works, the almagest provided a detailed study of the mathematical.
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