Overview
- Provides a definitive overview of the historical content and context of Ptolemy's Almagest, the primary source of knowledge concerning early astronomy
- Serves as a modern introductory companion to Ptolemy's Almagest, providing summary and commentary
- Includes new historical insights and information discovered since the work's original publication in 1974
- Includes supplementary material: sn.pub/extras
Part of the book series: Sources and Studies in the History of Mathematics and Physical Sciences (SHMP)
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Table of contents (13 chapters)
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Front Matter
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Back Matter
Keywords
About this book
Pedersen's 1974 publication, A Survey of the Almagest, is the most recent in a long tradition of companions to the Almagest. Part paraphrase and part commentary, Pedersen's work has earned the universal praise of historians and serves as the definitive introductory text for students interested in studying the Almagest.
In this revised edition, Alexander Jones, a distinguished authority on the history of early astronomy, provides supplementary information and commentary to the original text to account for scholarship that has appeared since 1974. This revision also incorporates various corrections to Pedersen's original text that have been identified since its publication.
This volume is intended to provide students of the history of astronomy with a self-contained introduction to the Almagest, helping them to understand and appreciate Ptolemy's great and classical work.
Reviews
From the book reviews:
“The book is a guide to reading through the details of Ptolemy’s argument, while keeping a clear focus on the astronomical and mathematical concepts. … the inclusion of supplementary material makes this edition essential for anyone studying Ptolemy or the ancient and medieval traditions of mathematical astronomy that were influenced by his work.” (Nathan Sidoli, Historia Mathematica, Vol. 39, 2012)
Pedersens Buch war und ist unverzichtbar, wenn man tiefer in den Almagest des Ptolemaios einsteigen will. Es ist daher dem Verlag zu danken, diesen modernen Klassiker mit wichtigen Zusätzen und Korrekturen nachgedruckt zu haben.
Mathematischer Semesterbericht, September 2011
Pedersen has performed his analysis with great care and technical accuracy. … [The book] is written dearly and concisely. It certainly achieves its aim of making the 'Almagest' accessible and understandable to students of the history of astronomy.
G. J. Toomer, Archives Internationales d’Histoire des Sciences
The organization of the 'Survey' … is done in such a brilliant style that makes the technically prohibiting text of the 'Almagest' an enjoyable reading within a clear historical perspective.
George A. Saliba, Centaurus
['A Survey of the Almagest'] is a mine of well-organized, well-documented, carefully cross-indexed information. Indeed, the general reader will find it an eye-opening introduction to Greek mathematics.
Victor E. Thoren, Isis
Authors and Affiliations
Bibliographic Information
Book Title: A Survey of the Almagest
Book Subtitle: With Annotation and New Commentary by Alexander Jones
Authors: Olaf Pedersen
Editors: Alexander Jones
Series Title: Sources and Studies in the History of Mathematics and Physical Sciences
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-0-387-84826-6
Publisher: Springer New York, NY
eBook Packages: Mathematics and Statistics, Mathematics and Statistics (R0)
Copyright Information: Springer Science+Business Media, LLC 2011
Hardcover ISBN: 978-0-387-84825-9Published: 19 November 2010
Softcover ISBN: 978-1-4939-3922-0Published: 23 August 2016
eBook ISBN: 978-0-387-84826-6Published: 12 November 2010
Series ISSN: 2196-8810
Series E-ISSN: 2196-8829
Edition Number: 1
Number of Pages: X, 470
Additional Information: Originally published by Odense University Press 1974
Topics: History of Mathematical Sciences, Astronomy, Observations and Techniques