AUTOLYCUS OF PITANE
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'Autolycus of Pitane' (ca. 360 BC—d. ca. 290 BC) was a Greek astronomer, mathematician, and geographer.
Autolycus was born in Pitane, a town of Aeolis within Western Anatolia. Of his personal life nothing is known, although he was a contemporary of Aristotle and his works seem to have been completed in Athens within the years 335 BC and 300 BC. Euclid references some of Autolycus' work, and Autolycus is known to have taught Arcesilaus. Autolycus' surviving works include a book on spheres entitled ''On the Moving Sphere'' and another ''On Risings and Settings'' of celestial bodies. Autolycus' works were translated by Maurolycus in the sixteenth century.
''On the Moving Sphere'' is believed to be the oldest mathematical treatise from ancient Greece that is completely preserved. All Greek mathematical works prior to Autolycus' ''Spheres'' are taken from later summaries, commentaries, or descriptions of the works.[1] One reason for its survival is that it had originally been a part of a widely used collection called "Little Astronomy". In his ''Sphere'', Autolycus studied the characteristics and movement of a sphere. The work is simple and not very original since it consists of only elementary theorems on spheres that would be needed by astronomers, but its theorems are clearly enunciated and proved. Its prime significance, therefore, is that it indicates that by his day there was a thoroughly established textbook tradition in geometry that is today regarded as typical of classical Greek geometry. The theorem statement is clearly enunciated, a figure of the construction is given alongside the proof, and finally a concluding remark is made. Moreover, it gives indications of what theorems were well known in his day (around 320 BCE).[2] Two hundred years later Theodosius' wrote ''Sphaerics'', a book that is believed to have a common origin with ''On the Moving Sphere'' in some pre-Euclidean textbook, possibly written by Eudoxus.
In astronomy, Autolycus studied the relationship between the rising and the setting of the celestial bodies in his treatise in two books entitled ''On Risings and Settings''. The second book is actually an expansion of his first book and of higher quality. He wrote that "any star which rises and sets always rises and sets at the same point in the horizon." Autolycus relied heavily on Eudoxus' astronomy and was a strong supporter of Eudoxus' theory of homocentric spheres. The lunar crater Autolycus was named in his honour.
1. , , , Boyer, , 1991,
2. , , , Boyer, , 1991,
★ A History of Mathematics, , Carl B., Boyer, John Wiley & Sons, Inc., 1991,
★ About.com's "Autolycus of Pitane Biography"
★
★
| Contents |
| Life and work |
| Citations and footnotes |
| References |
| External links |
| Further reading |
Life and work
Autolycus was born in Pitane, a town of Aeolis within Western Anatolia. Of his personal life nothing is known, although he was a contemporary of Aristotle and his works seem to have been completed in Athens within the years 335 BC and 300 BC. Euclid references some of Autolycus' work, and Autolycus is known to have taught Arcesilaus. Autolycus' surviving works include a book on spheres entitled ''On the Moving Sphere'' and another ''On Risings and Settings'' of celestial bodies. Autolycus' works were translated by Maurolycus in the sixteenth century.
''On the Moving Sphere'' is believed to be the oldest mathematical treatise from ancient Greece that is completely preserved. All Greek mathematical works prior to Autolycus' ''Spheres'' are taken from later summaries, commentaries, or descriptions of the works.[1] One reason for its survival is that it had originally been a part of a widely used collection called "Little Astronomy". In his ''Sphere'', Autolycus studied the characteristics and movement of a sphere. The work is simple and not very original since it consists of only elementary theorems on spheres that would be needed by astronomers, but its theorems are clearly enunciated and proved. Its prime significance, therefore, is that it indicates that by his day there was a thoroughly established textbook tradition in geometry that is today regarded as typical of classical Greek geometry. The theorem statement is clearly enunciated, a figure of the construction is given alongside the proof, and finally a concluding remark is made. Moreover, it gives indications of what theorems were well known in his day (around 320 BCE).[2] Two hundred years later Theodosius' wrote ''Sphaerics'', a book that is believed to have a common origin with ''On the Moving Sphere'' in some pre-Euclidean textbook, possibly written by Eudoxus.
In astronomy, Autolycus studied the relationship between the rising and the setting of the celestial bodies in his treatise in two books entitled ''On Risings and Settings''. The second book is actually an expansion of his first book and of higher quality. He wrote that "any star which rises and sets always rises and sets at the same point in the horizon." Autolycus relied heavily on Eudoxus' astronomy and was a strong supporter of Eudoxus' theory of homocentric spheres. The lunar crater Autolycus was named in his honour.
Citations and footnotes
1. , , , Boyer, , 1991,
2. , , , Boyer, , 1991,
References
★ A History of Mathematics, , Carl B., Boyer, John Wiley & Sons, Inc., 1991,
★ About.com's "Autolycus of Pitane Biography"
External links
★
Further reading
★
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