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You are here: Home / Science / Who Was Ptolemy and What Was Ptolemy’s Most Influential Contribution In Astronomy?

Who Was Ptolemy and What Was Ptolemy’s Most Influential Contribution In Astronomy?

April 8, 2020 by Karen Hill

Ptolemy was one of the most influential astronomers who ever lived.

His theories on the movements of the planets and stars, called the Ptolemaic system, stood unquestioned for 1,400 years.

The Arab world of the Middle Ages admired his book on astronomy so much that they renamed it the Almagest, Arabic for “the greatest.”

Unfortunately, almost all his astronomical theories were wrong.

Ptolemy was born around A.D. 100 in a Greek settlement in Egypt under Roman rule.

This mixture of heritage was common at that time because the Roman Empire dominated both the Greek and the Egyptian civilizations.

It is also assumed that Ptolemy spent most of his life in Alexandria because he conducted most of his studies at the great university there. Very little is known of his personal life.

The Greek astronomer Aristarchus proposed around 270 B.C. that Earth was a planet orbiting the Sun.

Scholars rejected this idea as ridiculous.

Related Facts

  • What Were Ptolemy’s Contributions To Geography and How Was Ptolemy Influential In the History of Cartography?
  • What was the European Age of Exploration?
  • Why Was the Almagest By Ptolemy Important In Greek Astronomy and What Does Almagest Mean In Latin?
  • What Was the Ptolemaic System and Why Did Ptolemy Believe That the Planets Revolved Around the Earth?
  • Who Were the First Explorers of Ancient Civilization?
  • How Did Astronomy Begin and Why Did Claudius Ptolemy Believe That the Earth Was the Center of the Universe?

Filed Under: Science

About Karen Hill

Karen Hill is a freelance writer, editor, and columnist. Born in New York, her work has appeared in the Examiner, Yahoo News, Buzzfeed, among others.

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