Claudius Ptolemy, Greek-Roman Polymath

Claudius Ptolemy, Greek-Roman Polymath

Ptolemy using a quadrant and being guided by the muse Astronomy. Claudius Ptolemy (90-168 AD), was a Greek-Roman citizen of Egypt (Claudius is a Roman name and Ptolemaeus is a Greek name). He was a mathematician, astronomer, geographer, astrologer, and poet of a single epigram in the Greek Anthology. Ptolemy was the author of several scientific treatises. His astronomical treatise, the Almagest, is the only surviving comprehensive ancient treatise on astronomy. Ptolemy's other main work is his Geographia, a compilation of what was known about the world's geography in the Roman Empire during his time. His astrological treatise, a work in four parts, is known by the Greek term Tetrabiblos, or the Latin equivalent Quadripartitum: Four Books in which he attempted to adapt horoscopic astrology to the Aristotelian natural philosophy of his day. It was used and consulted for over 1000 years. Ptolemy also wrote an influential work, Harmonics, on music theory and the mathematics of music. Few details of Ptolemy's private life are known for certain. From the Margarita philosophica (Pearl of Wisdom) of Gregor Reisch (1467 - 1525). The first edition was published in 1503.

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