“The heaven is spherical in shape, and moves as a sphere; the earth too is sensibly spherical in shape, when taken as a whole; in position it lies in the middle of the heavens very much like its center; in size and distance it has the ratio of a point to the sphere of the fixed stars; and it has no motion from place to place.”
Ptolemy's Almagest is a comprehensive astronomical work from the 2nd century CE, originally titled 'Mathematical Syntaxis'. It systematically describes a geocentric cosmology where the Earth is stationary at the center, with the Sun, Moon, planets, and stars revolving around it in complex circular paths. The book compiles and extends the astronomical knowledge of earlier Greek thinkers, such as Hipparchus, and introduces the Ptolemaic system, which uses epicycles and deferents to account for planetary motions. It includes star catalogs, tables for calculating positions, and explanations of phenomena like eclipses. For over a thousand years, the Almagest served as the authoritative text on astronomy in both the Islamic world and medieval Europe, until the Copernican revolution challenged its geocentric assumptions. more
“Here Shock, the pride of all his kind, is laid, Who fawned like man, but ne'er like man betrayed.”
“The most precious of all possessions is power over ourselves.”
“If things are going untowardly one month, they are sure to mend the next.”