Greek Astronomy

Published in 1932, this collection of translated excerpts on ancient astronomy was prepared by Sir Thomas Little Heath (1861–1940).

Thomas L. Heath (Author)

9781108062800, Cambridge University Press

Paperback / softback, published 20 March 2014

256 pages
21.6 x 14 x 1.5 cm, 0.33 kg

From its beginnings in Babylonian and Egyptian theories, through its flowering into revolutionary ideas such as heliocentricity, astronomy proved a source of constant fascination for the philosophers of antiquity. In ancient Greece, the earliest written evidence of astronomical knowledge appeared in the poems of Homer and Hesiod. In the present work, first published in 1932, Sir Thomas Little Heath (1861–1940) collects some of the most notable essays and discussions of astronomical theory by Greek astronomers and mathematicians, presenting them in English translation for the modern reader. With chronological coverage, Heath's book features a thorough introduction, a doxography of what ancient authors said about the earliest theorists and longer excerpts exploring fundamental ideas. Among the pieces are extracts from Plato's Republic and Ptolemy's work on the impossibility of a moving Earth, alongside material from Aristotle, Euclid, Strabo, Plutarch and others.

Prefatory note
1. Introduction
2. Doxography
3. Plato
4. Eudoxus (and Callippus)
5. Aristotle
6. Heraclides of Pontus
7. Euclid
8. Aristarchus of Samos
9. Eratosthenes
10. Aratus
11. Posidonius
12. Geminus
13. Hipparchus
14. Ptolemy
15. Strabo
16. Treatise 'De mundo'
17. Cleomedes
18. Plutarch
Appendix
Index.

Subject Areas: Astronomy, space & time [PG]