Kim said:"Great graphics & content. It was very easy to navigate & Adopt A Star & the Astronomy pages loaded fast. Great site!". http://maxsdiscounts.com
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Leon said:"Great site! Learned something new! Keep up the great job"... http://www.stop-dropNshop.com
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Ptolemy: First of the Great Astronomers From the lands of Egypt came one of the greatest figures in ancient astronomy, Ptolemy, a scholar whose theories reigned supreme for over 14 centuries. In fact, Ptolemy's theories and doctrines stood the test of time for over 60 generations and were rarely challenged. His famous book, "The Almagest," was considered to be the final authority on planet movement throughout this span of time.
We now know that Ptolemy's theories contained serious flaws, yet it is important to realize the brilliance behind such theories from a man who had no base knowledge of the subject. In fact, children today have more of an understanding of the actual truths of the celestial motions than Ptolemy knew as a child, but his work exercised such an astonishing effect on the human intellect for so long that we must look into the career of this wonderful man to discover the secret to his success that made him the unchallenged instructor of the human race for such a long period of time. Ptolemy Biography: Ptolemy's Early Life Unfortunately, we know very little as to the personal history of Ptolemy. He was a native of Egypt, and though some have thought that he might have belonged to the royal families of the same name, there is nothing to support this belief. The name "Ptolemy" appears to have been a common one in Egypt in those days. The time at which he lived has been pinpointed to the times of his first and last recorded works, 127 A.D. and 151 A.D., respectively. In Ptolemy's own words, he lived "on the parallel of Alexandria."
In the absence of any accurate knowledge of the science of mechanics, philosophers in early times were forced to fall back on certain principles, which they derived from their imagination as to what the natural fitness of things ought to be. Ptolemy gathered up the wisdom of the philosophers who had preceded him and incorporated this with the results of his own observations and cemented it with his theories. His speculations, even when they were, as we now know, quite erroneous, had such an astonishing reality to the actual facts of nature that they commanded universal assent. Even today we frequently find lovers of paradox who maintain that Ptolemy's doctrines not only seem true but actually are true. Famous Findings: The Earth is Round Ptolemy's genius is evident to us today as he proved the Earth to be globular, rather than flat. He noted that the sun set at different times in different locations. The farther east a location was, the sooner the sun would set; the farther west a location was, the later that sun would set. This led to a realization that if the Earth were one big sphere, nothing was supporting it in space, thus, concluding that the Earth is a globular body freely lying in space and surrounded above, below and on all sides by the glittering stars of heaven.
Where Ptolemy goes wrong, however, is in his theory that the Earth did not rotate, remaining stationary at the center of a vast celestial sphere so big that the Earth was an insignificant grain of sand in comparison. In order to support this theory, Ptolemy needed to make other theories that were, in turn, incorrect. This includes his stance on the planetary movement of what we now know as our solar system. But even though he came up short, Ptolemy is still considered one of the most important and famous ancient philosophers on the subject.
Resources
Ball, R.S. (2000).Avoid Great Astronomers. Retrieved March 14, 2008, from the Gutenburg Project Web site: http://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/etext00/grast11.txt
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ReplyDeleteHi Bob!
ReplyDeleteKim said:"Great graphics & content. It was very easy to navigate & Adopt A Star & the Astronomy pages loaded fast. Great site!".
http://maxsdiscounts.com
"very intriguing and interesting! i like that you have the page explaining astronomy"...
http://bit.ly/T5qwX
Leon said:"Great site! Learned something new! Keep up the great job"...
http://www.stop-dropNshop.com
Mike said:"interesting....."
http://linkreferral.blogspot.com
Thanks Bob!
Very interesting to know ...
ReplyDeleteby www.satellite-orbits.info
Ptolemy: First of the Great Astronomers
From the lands of Egypt came one of the greatest figures in ancient astronomy, Ptolemy, a scholar whose theories reigned supreme for over 14 centuries. In fact, Ptolemy's theories and doctrines stood the test of time for over 60 generations and were rarely challenged. His famous book, "The Almagest," was considered to be the final authority on planet movement throughout this span of time.
We now know that Ptolemy's theories contained serious flaws, yet it is important to realize the brilliance behind such theories from a man who had no base knowledge of the subject. In fact, children today have more of an understanding of the actual truths of the celestial motions than Ptolemy knew as a child, but his work exercised such an astonishing effect on the human intellect for so long that we must look into the career of this wonderful man to discover the secret to his success that made him the unchallenged instructor of the human race for such a long period of time.
Ptolemy Biography: Ptolemy's Early Life
Unfortunately, we know very little as to the personal history of Ptolemy. He was a native of Egypt, and though some have thought that he might have belonged to the royal families of the same name, there is nothing to support this belief. The name "Ptolemy" appears to have been a common one in Egypt in those days. The time at which he lived has been pinpointed to the times of his first and last recorded works, 127 A.D. and 151 A.D., respectively. In Ptolemy's own words, he lived "on the parallel of Alexandria."
In the absence of any accurate knowledge of the science of mechanics, philosophers in early times were forced to fall back on certain principles, which they derived from their imagination as to what the natural fitness of things ought to be. Ptolemy gathered up the wisdom of the philosophers who had preceded him and incorporated this with the results of his own observations and cemented it with his theories. His speculations, even when they were, as we now know, quite erroneous, had such an astonishing reality to the actual facts of nature that they commanded universal assent. Even today we frequently find lovers of paradox who maintain that Ptolemy's doctrines not only seem true but actually are true.
Famous Findings: The Earth is Round
Ptolemy's genius is evident to us today as he proved the Earth to be globular, rather than flat. He noted that the sun set at different times in different locations. The farther east a location was, the sooner the sun would set; the farther west a location was, the later that sun would set. This led to a realization that if the Earth were one big sphere, nothing was supporting it in space, thus, concluding that the Earth is a globular body freely lying in space and surrounded above, below and on all sides by the glittering stars of heaven.
Where Ptolemy goes wrong, however, is in his theory that the Earth did not rotate, remaining stationary at the center of a vast celestial sphere so big that the Earth was an insignificant grain of sand in comparison. In order to support this theory, Ptolemy needed to make other theories that were, in turn, incorrect. This includes his stance on the planetary movement of what we now know as our solar system. But even though he came up short, Ptolemy is still considered one of the most important and famous ancient philosophers on the subject.
Resources
Ball, R.S. (2000).Avoid Great Astronomers. Retrieved March 14, 2008, from the Gutenburg Project Web site: http://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/etext00/grast11.txt