Greek Astronomy by Thomas L Heath

Greek Astronomy by Thomas L Heath

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.

Thomas Little Heath (1861-1940), an authority on numerous esoteric and less esoteric subjects in the history of mathematics, was exceptional in that he was never a university professor. Heath, the son of a Lincolnshire farmer, showed early signs of scholastic ability; he attended Trinity College, Cambridge, from 1879 to 1882, where he received multiple prizes and received the highest grade in the 1884 English Civil Service examination. From there, he proceeded to work for the English Treasury, ascended through the ranks, and by 1913, he was the Treasury's permanent secretary, effectively in charge of the department's operations. He left that position in 1919, at the end of World War I, and went on to work for the National Debt Office for several years before retiring in 1926. At that time, he established himself as one of the world's foremost experts on the history of mathematics, particularly the history of ancient Greek mathematics.

Although Heath's three-volume edition of Euclid remains the gold standard, it is widely acknowledged that Archimedes' accomplishments are largely due to Heath's remarkable work on Archimedes. Dover has reissued these and other Heath publications, preserving a unique heritage in the history of mathematical scholarship spanning several decades. In the Author's Own Words: Archimedes' works are without exception monuments of mathematical exposition; the progressive disclosure of the plan of attack, the masterly arrangement of the propositions, the severe elimination of everything not immediately pertinent to the objective, the completion of the whole, are all so remarkable in their perfection as to inspire awe in the mind of the reader.

SKU	Unavailable
ISBN 13	9781108062800
ISBN 10	1108062806
Title	Greek Astronomy
Author	Thomas L Heath
Series	Cambridge Library Collection - Astronomy
Condition	Unavailable
Binding Type	Paperback
Publisher	Cambridge University Press
Year published	2014-03-20
Number of pages	256
Cover note	Book picture is for illustrative purposes only, actual binding, cover or edition may vary.