Despite his influence, Ptolemy himself is an enigmatic figure.
Ptolemy’s Mathematical Treatises, a.k.a. Almagest, is remembered today as the most famous work of ancient mathematical astronomy. We argue that this is a misunderstanding, and that Almagest is better understood as a reference for ancient mathematical astrologers – a manual for crafting an ephemeris.
While Ptolemy’s geometric constructs of the heavens are viewed today as an historical curiosity, the Star Catalogue at the center of the Mathematical Treatises remains at the core of the modern northern sky.
In which we argue that Ptolemy miscounted his stars in a manner which suggests the influence of the Pythagoreans, who at times blurred the lines between mathematics and mysticism.
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If you are counted among the initiate, on the path of the golden ratio, click on the link.
Almagest VII.i
An introduction to mostly-neglected chapter of Ptolemy’s Mathematical Treatises.
The Garbled Text of VII.i
The experiment of Hipparchus (LINK) lists dozens of star alignments. However, when we compare the text with the sky, we find that the text is riddled with errors. Errors of a particular sort. . .
In this chapter, we identify a number of these mistakes, linking to chapters in our comprehensive picturebook display of the Starlines of VII.i.
Ptolemy’s methods seem strange today. But from a mathematical perspective, epicycles could have been used to very accurately describe the motions of the planets
A brief essay about a very modern aspect of Ptolemy’s Star Catalogue.
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