Ptolemy:

The Peak of
Greek
Astronomy
Presented by: Crislyn Jane L.
Romero
 LEARNING
OBJECTIVES:
• To discuss the life of Claudius Ptolemy
• To appreciate the contributions of Claudius
Ptolemy
• To explain his Ptolemaic Model
• This system came to
be called the
Ptolemaic System.
Ptolemy was the author of
three treatises:
- Almagest, Geographia and
Tetrabiblos

• Almagest- the astronomical

treatise and it’s originally
entitled “Mathematical
Treatise” and then known as
the “Great Treatise”.
• This book was written in
Greek and this is the only
surviving ancient work in
astronomy.
 THE GEOGRAPHY

• Ptolemy’s other main work is

his Geography (also called the
Geographia), a compilation
of geographical coordinates
of the part of the world
known to the Roman Empire
during his time.
• He relied somewhat on the
work of an earlier geographer,
Marinos of Tyre, and on
gazetteers of the Roman and
ancient Persian Empire.
Tetrabiblos – (or the Latin
equivalent
Quadripartitum: ‘Four
Books’)
• Ptolemy's own title is
unknown, but may have
been the term found in
some Greek
manuscripts: Apotelesm
atika, roughly meaning
'Astrological Outcomes,'
'Effects' or ‘Prognostics’
 WHAT IS THE
CONTRIBUTION OF
CLAUDIUS PTOLEMY TO
THE WORLD OF
ASTRONOMY?
• Ptolemy explained and
extended Hipparchus system
of epicycles and eccentric
circles to explain his
geocentric (Earth centered)
theory of solar system.
• He believed that the planets
and sun moved around the
Earth in this order: Moon,
Mercury, Venus, Sun, Mars,
Jupiter, Saturn.
• This is described in his book
Mathematical Syntaxis
(widely called Almagest).
 THE PTOLEMAIC
MODEL
- It is accounted for the apparent motions of
the planets in every direct way, by assuming
that each planet move on a small sphere or
circle, called an epicycle, that moved on a
larger sphere or circle called a deferent. The
stars , it was assumed that each planet moved
in a celestial sphere around the outside of the
planetary sphere.
• Also, Ptolemy insisted
that the job of the
astronomer was to
explain the motions of
the wanderers using
only in uniform
circular motion.
• PICTURE SA MODEL
 The Ptolemaic explanation of the
motions of the planets remained the
accepted wisdom until the Polish
scholar Capernicus proposed
heliocentric view or sun centered view
in 1543.