Claudius Ptolemy is a famous ancient scholar.Ptolemy is famous for his works and specialization in astronomy, geography, cartography, mathematics, and astrology. His works range from the Almagest, a series of thirteen books dedicated to astronomy. The use of mathematics to was used to prove his theories and observations of an Earth-centered universe. His works on astronomy, such as the Geocentric model, are well renowned for their Earth-centered theories. Ptolemy’s theories and works lasted for thousands of years until astronomers such as Galileo, Copernicus, and Kepler came into the picture to test their theories against the longstanding theory of Ptolemy’s geocentric model. Not only was ...view middle of the document...
The Greeks were obsessed with the perfection of nature and believed their Earth belonged in the center of the universe; however, this theory had questions on why planets would have a backwards or retrograde motion. Questions such as why some planets and the Sun are brighter or dimmer during parts of the day had left people like Ptolemy performing in depth observations.
The geocentric model is a model of the universe with the Earth in the middle. Ptolemy's epicycle showed that the celestial bodies orbiting around Earth also exhibited their own circular orbit. The Earth did not move while all of the other planets orbited around Earth in a uniform circular motion. Ptolemy’s use of epicycles explains the retrograde motion of why planets seemed to orbit backwards to the Greeks. This claim by Ptolemy allowed the Greeks to continue on their Geocentric theory using Ptolemy’s observations as a basis for answering previous questions.
Over time Ptolemy began to answer some questions that were associated with the Greeks view of their universe by incorporating epicycles into his work within a revelation of books and reports. Epicycles are defined as a combination of circular movements in which a planet or object use as a pathway. Imagine Earth being the center of the universe like the Greeks assumed. Mars orbits Earth and exhibits a retrograde motion in which Greek astronomers could not explain. Ptolemy comes into the picture and explains that Mars goes retrograde because it runs on an epicycle, a small circle while orbiting Earth; in addition, the small epicycle that Mars runs on is orbiting a deferent or larger circle.
Ptolemy combined his astronomy, mathematical calculations, and theories into The Almagest. His thirteen book series was compiled at about 150 AD. The Almagest consisted of previous and older studies of the Babylonians and Greek works that Ptolemy used. The early works of Greek astronomer Hipparchus are included as well. Ptolemy modified Hipparchus’ explanation of planetary motions by inventing the equant and the eccentric to provide a more accurate explanation. Ptolemy simplified those works of the two cultures by including mathematics such as trigonometry. He also reached further into their studies by applying his principles and theories.
Ptolemy divided the Almagest into thirteen volumes. He explains the Geocentric model as a basis for continuing the other books but Ptolemy also introduces the readers to trigonometry and the trigonometry tables associated with his observations of planetary movements. The Almagest covers what people see above the skies such as the rise and setting of moon and sun. Ptolemy explains the Sun and the Moons movements with the addition of defining precession of equinoxes and epicycles to readers. The observation of the distances of our Sun and moon from the Earth are also covered in Volumes IV and V.
The Almagest's dominance and popularity overshadowed that of Ptolemy's Tetrabiblos. Ptolemy's...