Ptolemy in Perspective [electronic resource] : Use and Criticism of his Work from Antiquity to the Nineteenth Century /
Caltech Conference "Ptolemy in Perspective"(2007 :Pasadena, Calif.)
Jones, Alexander.editor.
Ptolemy was the most important physical scientist of the Roman Empire, and for a millennium and a half his writings on astronomy, astrology, and geography were models for imitation, resources for new work, and targets of criticism. Ptolemy in Perspective traces reactions to Ptolemy from his own times to ours. The nine studies show the complex processes by which an ancient scientist and his work gained and subsequently lost an overreaching reputation and authority.
Volume gathers most of the papers presented at the Caltech conference "Ptolemy in Perspective", held at The Division of Humanities and Social Sciences at the California Institute of Technology, May 31 through June 2, 2007.
Includes bibliographical references.
An Unpublished Astronomical Papyrus Contemporary with Ptolemy -- Ancient Rejection and Adoption of Ptolemy’s Frame of Reference for Longitudes -- Ptolemy’s Doctrine of the Terms and Its Reception -- The Tradition of Texts and Maps in Ptolemy’s Geography -- Islamic Reactions to Ptolemy’s Imprecisions -- The Use and Abuse of Ptolemy’s Tetrabiblos in Renaissance and Early Modern Europe: Two Case Studies (Giovanni Pico della Mirandola and Filippo Fantoni) -- Tycho, Longomontanus, and Kepler on Ptolemy’s Solar Observations and Theory, Precession of the Equinoxes, and Obliquity of the Ecliptic -- Dunthorne, Mayer, and Lalande on the Secular Acceleration of the Moon.
Ptolemy was the most important physical scientist of the Roman Empire, and for a millennium and a half his writings on astronomy, astrology, and geography were models for imitation, resources for new work, and targets of criticism. Ptolemy in Perspective traces reactions to Ptolemy from his own times to ours. The nine studies show the complex processes by which an ancient scientist and his work gained and subsequently lost an overreaching reputation and authority.
Ptolemy, active 2nd century.
History.
Observations, Astronomical.
Astronomy—Observations.
Philology.
Geographical information systems.
History of Science.
Astronomy, Observations and Techniques.
Classical Studies.
Geographical Information Systems/Cartography.
History, general.