Jones is preparing a comprehensive study that will. Ptolemy is the english name for claudius ptolemaeus. Ii by nicholas germanus, best known for his maps for ptolemys geography. It is based on the description contained in ptolemys book geography, written c. He used a system of grid lines to plot the latitude and longitude of some 8,000 places on a map that. Ptolemys geography project gutenberg selfpublishing. A substantial undertaking in scholarship of the day, geographia was written in eight volumes.
The west coast of libya explored, the zero longitude. He is famous for his work on astronomy and geography. In several fields his writings represent the culminating. Alexandria was built by the ancient greeks, but later conquered by the romans. The original work included maps, but due to the difficulties involved in copying them by hand, the original maps have mostly fallen out of the manuscript transmission, with the notable exception of minuscule 3686. Ptolemy authored several scientific papers that resonated for. Most of these methods can be effective only insofar as ptolemys geography is regarded as an example.
Finally the book has a set of 26 beautiful regional maps as well as a world map in three projections, based on the newly constituted text, but drawn in the tradition of the medieval manuscript maps. Ptolemys geography and the tabulae modernae chnt vienna. Geography gained rapid popularity, and there were more than forty editions printed from the fifteenth through sixteenth centuries. He lived in egypt under roman rule, and is believed to have been born in. Ptolemy simple english wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
In his book geographia he gave geographical positions longitude and latitude for some 7,800 cities, villages, peoples, mountains, rivers and. He was a mathematician, astronomer, geographer, astrologer, and poet of a single epigram in the greek anthology. Spatial distribution of ptolemys geographia coordinate differences in north mediterranean eliminating systematic effects. The horoscopes local time is converted to alexandria time anciently standard for ephemerides of celestial objects positions using the longitude e vs. No signs are necessary for b, since no b is west of the bi. His geography was the standard geographical textbook until the discoveries of the 15th century. He was a greek who probably lived and worked in alexandria, in egypt. In his geography, ptolemy gathered all the geographic knowledge possessed by the grecoroman world. Ptolemy explained that anyone could draw such a map by using a swinging ruler and referring to his tables of latitude and longitude in the later books of the geography. Spatial distribution of ptolemys geographia coordinate. The culmination ofgreek cartography in ptolemy part i. A best seller both in the age of luxurious manuscripts and in that of print, ptolemys geography became immensely influential. Loving his father macedonian king of egypt reigned 221205 bc, under whose feeble rule, heavily influenced by favourites, much of ptolemaic syria was lost and native uprisings began to disturb the internal stability of egypt. Ptolemys geography is the only book on cartography to have survived from the classical period and one of the most influential scientific works of all time.
Vignette titlepage, reproducing 27 maps of the codex. As it is known, the importance of ptolemys geographia had declined for almost 10 centuries coming back in th c. Ptolemy made contributions to astronomy, mathematics, geography, musical theory, and optics. Mayjune 244 julyaugust 204 bc, son of ptolemy iii and berenice ii, was the fourth pharaoh of ptolemaic egypt from 221 to 204 bc. His geography remained the main work on the subject until the time of christopher columbus. Ptolemy s geography is the only book on cartography to have survived from the classical period and one of the most influential scientific works of all time. The ptolemy geographical directorys final book 8 is described in the paper as astrologers handiest tables since unlike books 27 it is designed, entirely in hours, for the direct convenience of one casting a horoscope. He goes on to cover africa in book 4 and covers asia and summarizes his findings in books 58. He lived in the metropolis of alexandria on egypts mediterranean coast. Ptolemy stayed away from orthogonal or cylindrical world mapping in favor of three other projection types.
Top american libraries canadian libraries universal library community texts project gutenberg biodiversity heritage library childrens library. Full text of the geography of ptolemy elucidated see other formats. Introduction ptolemys geography is a treatise on cartography, the only book on that subject to have survived from classical antiquity. But for book 6 and 7, which are about assyria to sri lanka, most of the toponyms are still not localised. Geography of claudius ptolemy, originally titled geographia and written in the second century, is a depiction of the geography of the roman empire at the time. For hundreds of years, unscrupulous cartographers of the middle ages printed a variety of atlases with the name ptolemy on. These sovereigns had directed their attention to objects of this kind, particularly ptolemy surnamed philadelphus, who was a lover of science, and on account of bodily infirmities always in search of some new. In the almagest, ptolemy laid out a map of the heavens. Pdf claudius ptolemy, in his geographia, gives a list of geographic. Book i is a treatise on cartography, describing the methods used to assemble and arrange ptolemy s data. Being a translation of the chapters which describe india and central and eastern asia in the treatise on geography written by klaudios ptolemaios, the celebrated astronomer. His system of astronomy see ptolemaic system, as expounded in the almagest, remained. Arabia felix, which is in book 6, only has 17 toponyms out of. And in the fifteenth century, a latin translation of this text, with maps, proved a sensation in the world of the book.
Chapters xi to xv concerning eur ope and book v and. Ptolemy shows magna germania at the vistula river vistula being the gothic name and verifies the recorded history of tacitus who in 98 ad recorded the britons and the germanic people in the agricola and the germania. Written in the second century ad, for more than fifteen centuries it was the most detailed topography of europe and asia available and the best reference on how to gather data and draw maps. The rest of book vii provides details on three projections to be used for the construction of a map of the world, varying in complexity and fidelity. The ptolemy world map is a map of the world known to hellenistic society in the 2nd century. Claudius is a roman name and claudius ptolemy was a roman citizen. In his work geographia, written about ad 150, ptolemy described and compiled all knowledge about the worlds geography in the roman empire of the 2 nd century.
Ptolemy iv philopator macedonian king of egypt britannica. As ptolemy suggested in book 1 ofthe geography, much. In book 4 ptolemy gives hipparchuss epicycle model for the motion of the moon, but he notes that there are small discrepancies between the model and the observed parameters. Ptolemys handy tables, intended for practical computation, were edited by. Book one, a discussion of the data and of the methods used. The maps in surviving manuscripts of ptolemy s geography, however, only date from about 0, after the text was rediscovered by maximus planudes. Key to ptolemys earth map was the notion of latitude and longitude a handy coordinate system for locating points on a round surface. A description of all of libya, following the provinces or prefectures in. Ptolemys geography is the only book on cartography to have survived from the. In the book amalgest, ptolemy provided a blend of mathematics and geography in which he sought to provide a model for astronomical functions and the movement of heavenly bodies using his theory of epicycles. Ptolemys is the first known projection of the sphere onto a plane. This work was published before january 1, 1925, and is in the public domain worldwide because the author died at least 100 years ago. Geography included 26 colorized regional maps as well as one map of the known world.
Claudius ptolemy was born in about the year 100 ad, almost certainly in egypt. Lacuscurtius ptolemys geography book iv, chapter 5. It seems likely that the topographical tables in books 27 are cumulative texts texts which were altered and added to as new knowledge became available in the centuries after ptolemy. The maps in this book are almost impossible to make out. But he had asia extending much too far east, which may have been a factor in columbuss decision to try to reach india by sailing west from europe. Written in the second century ad, for more than fifteen centuries it was the. Like ptolemy s writings on astronomy and optics, the geography is a highly original work, and it had a profound in. Geography ptolemy project gutenberg selfpublishing. Though inaccurate due to ptolemys varying methods of measurement and use of outdated data, geography of claudius ptolemy is nonetheless an excellent example of ancient geographical.
Ptolemy synonyms, ptolemy pronunciation, ptolemy translation, english dictionary definition of ptolemy. Ptolemy didnt come up with the idea he freely borrowed it from a contemporary, marinos of. He conceded that this projection had its drawbacks. Claudius ptolemaeus circa 100circa 170, known as ptolemy, was an astronomer, mathematician, and geographer of greek descent who lived and worked in the egyptian city of alexandria. Based on an inscription in several of the earliest surviving manuscripts, it is traditionally credited to agathodaemon of alexandria. In book 4, chapter 6, the location of interior libya, there is a detailed. A cdrom accompanies the book, offering a searchable database freeware of ptolemys geography. The fourth book contains the following descriptions. Ptolemy geography was not rediscovered until the mid 1500s. Pliny 70 natural history plutarch 100 concerning nature the face in the moon marinus of tyre 120 geography ptolemys source later famous astronomers and ptolemy influenced every one of them. Introduction ptolemy s geography is a treatise on cartography, the only book on that subject to have survived from classical antiquity. The geography consists of three sections, divided among 8 books.
From book ii through the beginning of book vii, a gazetteer provides longitude and latitude values for the world known to the ancient romans the ecumene. This theory proposed that earth was the center of the universe and that all other planets and. He compiled a star catalog and the earliest surviving table of a trigonometric function and established mathematically that an object and its mirror image must make equal angles to a mirror. In book 5 he gives a model which improves markedly on the one proposed by hipparchus. Like ptolemys writings on astronomy and optics, the geography is a highly original work, and it had a profound in. Ptolemy definition of ptolemy by the free dictionary. The west coast of libya explored, the zero longitude determined and the east coast capes located.
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