Ptolemy's Almagest

(Paperback)

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Ptolemy's Almagest is one of the most influential scientific works in history. A masterpiece of technical exposition, it was the basic textbook of astronomy for more than a thousand years, and still is the main source for our knowledge of ancient astronomy. This translation, based on the standard Greek text of Heiberg, makes the work accessible to

Reviews

"G.J. Toomer's new English edition of Ptolemy's classic treatise is more than just a fresh translation... What Toomer has produced is the best edition in any language, one that will remain the standard preferred text for years to come."--Nature "On the whole the accuracy and faithfulness to the original, including the small but important matter of a scrupulous adherence to Ptolemy's own mathematical notations, are exemplary."--G.E.R. Lloyd, The Times Literary Supplement

Author Bio

G.J. Toomer is Professor Emeritus of the History of Mathematics at Brown University. He is the author of Eastern Wisedome and Learning: The Study of Arabic in Seventeenth-Century England. He has also produced editions of the Arabic versions of Diocles' On Burning Mirrors and Apollonius's Conics, and, with Francis S. Benjamin Jr., produced an edition of Theorica planetarum by Campanus of Novara.