Phd postion international phd programs postdoc position group leader. It was a calculator able to work out many kinds of problems in astronomy. It played a big role in education, and hypatias life. From there, we move to the byzantine empire and then to the islamic world. The instrument shows the spherical universe flattened onto its midplane the equator according to a sophisticated mathematical transformation called stereographic projection. Hypatia of alexandria, inventor of the astrolabe, mathematician, philosopher, and. January 14, 2015 july 22, 2016 the oracle there was a woman at alexandria named hypatia, daughter of the philosopher theon, who made such attainments in literature and science, as to far surpass all the philosophers of her own time. The history of the astrolabe begins in alexandria with its rich tradition of supporting scientific activities.
The material culture of greek astronomy james evans, 1999. I find the process of using a straight edge and compass to create accurate designs to be fascinating in and of itself. Astrolabe magnificent computer of the ancients kuriositas. Sep 27, 2009 an astrolabe is an ancient tool used in solving problems that involve time and the position of the sun and stars. Hypatia did teach about astrolabes as synesius had an instrument made that. An astrolabe is an instrument used to identify stars or planets, or determine latitude. Theon of alexandria wrote a detailed treatise on the astrolabe, and argues that ptolemy used an. Some scholars attribute its invention to hipparchus of nicaea 2nd c. Theon late 4th century, and theon s daughter hypatia. The second is theon the younger, of alexandria, the father of hypatia, best known as an astronomer and geometer, who lived in the time of theodosius the elder. The museum of alexandria was a more like a university and library than a museum. The astrolabe generator and related projects have moved to a new location. Biography of theon of alexandria about 335about 405 theon of alexandria worked in alexandria as a teacher of mathematics and astronomy.
An early astrolabe was made in the hellenistic world in 150 bc. Hypatia was an associate of orestes, the roman political leader of alexandria and a rival of the christian bishop cyril for control of the city. As we discussed above, an astrolabe can be thought of as a form of computer. It marks the end of the great age of greek mathematics. Astrolabe, any of a type of early scientific instrument used for reckoning time and for observational purposes. The mariners astrolabe was used until the middle or, at the latest, the end of the 17th century. Hypatias father theon of alexandria is best known for having edited the existing text of euclids elements, shown here in a ninth century manuscript. The result is a gods eye view of creation looking down from atop the universes. The astrolabe was a marriage of the planisphere a star chart analog computing instrument and dioptra a tool to measure angles.
The companys filing status is listed as 00 active and its file number is f2010876. Astrolabes can be used in timekeeping, surveying, geography, and astronomy to name. But it seems the theory of the astrolabe had been established many centuries before theon and hypatia. Islamic astronomers, as well as those in india and asia also worked on perfecting the mechanisms of the astrolabe, and it remained in use for both scientific and religious reasons for many centuries. Alexandria, city founded by alexander the great, in the nile delta. She was the daughter of theon of alexandria, a mathematician and astronomer, who flourished in alexandria during the second part of the fourth century. Specialized versions like the latitude ring continued in use morrison 44. Watts, theon was the head of a school called the mouseion, which was named in emulation of the hellenistic mouseion, whose membership had. Use this update only for astrolabe reports version 2. Evidence suggests that the history of the astrolabe begins more than two thousand years ago.
The word astrolabe comes from two greek words meaning to follow the stars. Theon, an ancient name attached to a noted greek teacher of mathematics and astronomy, also father to the first woman mathematician, might appeal to parents in this field. Theon remolded ptolemys great astronomical work almagest to make it more understandable for his students. Hypatia circa 370415 ad, who lived in the egyptian city of alexandria, has the. She is credited by some sources with inventing the plane astrolabe, which is an. Hypatia philosopher, astronomer, mathematician, inventor of the astrolabe. Astrolabe complete history of the astrolabe history of the computer. Ari belenkiy examines the murder of hypatia of alexandria.
This is plausible since synesius was a student of hypatia, theon s daughter. The registered agent on file for this company is daniel j monahan and is located at 427 n patrick st, alexandria, va 223140000. Efficiency the application of astrolabe resources to address global defense challenges results in cost efficiencies and the ability to invest those savings in increased capabilities integrity astrolabe embraces a culture of compliance and corporate integrity across the organization. Theon recorded observations from alexandria of the solar eclipse on june 16, 364 ad and the lunar eclipse on november 25 of the same year. The first authoritative account of what would become the modern, mucheasiertouse astrolabe came from theon of alexandria in 390 a. Its many uses included locating and predicting the positions of the sun, moon, planets and stars. Theon s scholarly activity is firmly dated by his reports of two eclipses that he observed at alexandria in 364. We know from his own writings that he observed a solar eclipse on 16 june 364 at alexandria and a lunar eclipse, again in alexandria, on 25 november 364. I learned that more than years ago, one arabian scientist had been wrote a book on 2000 different uses of astrolabe.
A marriage of the planisphere and dioptra, the astrolabe was effectively an analog calculator capable of working out several different kinds of problems in spherical astronomy. The astrolabe was a marriage of the planisphere and dioptra, effectively an analog calculator capable of working out several different kinds of problems in astronomy. Hypatia was the daughter of the mathematician theon of alexandria c. One of my ongoing projects is drafting an astrolabe using just those tools.
Write instructions on how to use an astrolabe, an explanation of how one works, or include an astrolabe in a story. The mariners astrolabe would have replaced or complemented instruments such as the cross staff or quadrant as a navigators instrument. The front of the medieval astrolabe shows a map of the night sky on the rotating rete. His daughter hypatia also won fame as a mathematician. The details of the life of theon, grecoegyptian mathematician, astronomer, and teacher of late antique alexandria, are speculative and derive primarily from later accounts that are frequently confused or inaccurate. The mathematician and philosopher hypatia of alexandria was the daughter of the. An astrolabe is a beautiful, mathematical map of the ancient, earthcentered cosmos. The astrolabe was a marriage of the planisphere and dioptra, effectively an analog calculator capable of working out several different kinds of problems in spherical astronomy. Jan 17, 2018 explore zzy4759ms board hypatia of alexandria, followed by. For an introduction to the history of the equatorium see north, john, richard of wallingford oxford, 1976. In researching the astrolabe and related tools, geometric construction comes up regularly. A dictionary of greek and roman biography and mythology, theon. There is a mountain of evidence that she did not for example, the known existence of at least three astrolabe treatises by theon of alexandria, john philoponus, severus sebokht written centuries before she was born.
Theon s most durable achievement may be his edition of euclid s elements, published around 364 and authoritative into the 19th century. The astrolabe is a historical astronomical instrument used by classical astronomers, navigators, and astrologers. Almost everyone seems to have a pc these days, with microsoft office on it. He edited and arranged euclid s elements and wrote commentaries on works by euclid and ptolemy. The mathematician and philosopher hypatia of alexandria was the daughter. Ok, so theon didnt actually build an astrolabe, but historians think he did provide a full blueprint. Project vanikoro provides a software called astrolabe, written in java and multiplatform. Planispheric astrolabe or the astronomical astrolabe designed for the. Biography of theon of alexandria 335405 theon of alexandria worked in alexandria as a teacher of mathematics and astronomy. This work has not survived, but it may have been the first. She was attacked, raped and executed in 415 ad by a mob in broad daylight. Theon may have been the director of the museum at one point. Furthermore, all three use the term astrolabe, which is noteworthy because ive encountered people who think that.
The egyptian astronomer, theon of alexandria, wrote a treatise on such an astrolabe, and lewis 2001 argues that the egyptian astronomer ptolemy used an astrolabe to make some of his astronomical observations recorded in the tetrabiblos. The first astrolabe a spherical astrolabe, more commonly called an armillary sphere was invented by eratosthenes in the third century bc. The astrolabe is a very ancient astronomical computer for solving problems relating to time and the position of the sun and stars in the sky. Theon was assisted by his daughter hypatia of alexandria c. She was appointed to expound the doctrines of plato and aristotle and was a noted lecturer on the subjects of mathematics. A marriage of the planisphere and dioptre, the astrolabe was a calculator able to work out many kinds of problems in astronomy. She was probably taught by her father, theon of alexandria, and helped with his. Since sebokht distinguishes the philosopher from ptolemy whose tables he quotes by name, and since alya qubi attributes to ptolemy works such as on the armillary sphere that other arabic bibliographical sources attribute to theon, 11 neugebauer concludes, plausibly, that theon is the author of the astrolabe treatise described by aly qubi and used by sebokht. In a series of three papers published in 19756, american historian sigmund eisner provided detailed geometric instructions for recreating chaucers astrolabe, which i follow closely. Hypatia, the daughter of theon of alexandria, was born in about 370 ad.
Theon, of alexandria, active 364 lc linked data service. This is plausible since synesius was a student of hypatia, theons daughter. All were active in alexandria as professors of mathematics and astronomy, and they produced extensive commentaries on the major authoritiespappus and theon on ptolemy, hypatia on diophantus and apollonius. Apollonius of perga 262 bc190 bc, the great codifier of conic sections, probably studied the astrolabe projection about 225 bc. You can think of theon as theo with something a little extra. As a young woman, she traveled to athens and italy. He edited and arranged euclids elements and wrote commentaries on works by euclid and ptolemy. The astrolabe project the astrolabe project an obsession in. Hypatias father, theon of alexandria, wrote a treatise on the astrolabe about 390 ad that was the basis for much that was written on the subject in the middle ages. Astrolabe clock is an astronomical clock inspired by the astrolabe, an ancient astronomical instrument used to tell time and to predict the location of the sun, stars and planets. Theon of alexandria worked in alexandria as a teacher of mathematics and astronomy. Theon of alexandria wrote a detailed treatise on the astrolabe, and argues that ptolemy. We also know that he made a list of roman consuls which he continued to make until 372. Hypatias death in 415 is authenticated by an ancient, nearly contemporary, account of the church historian socrates scholasticus valesius, 1680.
Astrolabes continued in use in the greekspeaking world throughout the byzantine period. It was replaced by more accurate and easiertouse instruments such as the davis quadrant. She was the daughter of theon of alexandria, a mathematician and astronomer, who flourished in alexandria during the. Although its use has largely fallen by the wayside due the development of more sophisticated instruments such as telescopes and gps, it is still an instrument worthy of study. Synesius of cyrene 378430 apparently had an instrument constructed that was arguably a form of astrolabe. A treatise on the astrolabe geoffrey chaucer, appr. Build your own simple astrolabe to determine your latitude as did the ancient sailors or use it in conjunction with trigonometry to determine the height of a very. The invention of the plane astrolabe is sometimes wrongly attributed to theons daughter hypatia c. Her father, theon of alexandria, philosopher and mathematician was dedicated to research and teaching at the alexandria museum, founded by ptolemy. The last of the great philosophers hailing from alexandria. When islamic astronomers picked up theon s treatise on astrolabes, they saw their value immediately. The greek astronomer hipparchus is often credited with inventing the astrolabe, as is the egyptian astronomer hypatia of alexandria. Upon her return to alexandria, she became a philosopher and mathematician. Theon of alexandria wrote a detailed treatise on the astrolabe, and argues that ptolemy used an astrolabe to make the astronomical observations recorded in the tetrabiblos.
Hipatia was born in alexandria, capital of the roman diocese of egypt. This may have led hypatia to pursue astronomy, mathematics, and. This update does not work on the original version 2. Theon, of alexandria, active 364 theon, an ancient greek astronomer of the fourth century, wrote several commentaries on ptolemys treatises and astronomical tables. The design presented here is based upon one described by the english poet geoffrey chaucer in his treatise on the astrolabe, published in 91. Both were heathens, a fact which the date of the second makes it desirable to state. Both the suda and arabic sources attribute to theon a work on the astrolabe. The planispheric astrolabe is the most important and versatile instrument made in antiquity for the analogical performance of astronomical computations that would otherwise have been long and complex. The astrolabe has been used by mariners for centuries. Astrology software and professional astrology programs, reports, books, gifts, jewelry, education, services by astrolabe inc.
Mostly it is used for email and simple document production, and the expensive software just goes to. The astrolabe was a marriage of the planisphere a star chart analog computing instrument and dioptre a multiangle measuring tool. The name theon is a boys name of greek origin meaning godly. Theon of alexandria wrote a detailed treatise on the astrolabe, and lewis 2001 argues that ptolemy used an astrolabe to make the astronomical observations recorded in the tetrabiblos. Astrolabe is a new kind of interface, based on graph navigation, which allows to navigate in any relationnal system such as web pages, file system. An introduction to the astrolabe offers a short history of this fascinating instrument and a brief introduction to the parts of an astrolabe. Later, eutocius of ascalon early 6th century produced. Astrolabe simple english wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. An introduction to the astrolabe is the first in what is hoped. An early rudimentary astrolabe was invented in the hellenistic world by around 200 bc and is often attributed to hipparchus. Her student, theon of alexandria, left behind copious notes on the use of the astrolabe but its use in the west was, for almost a thousand years, drawing to an end. The mathematician and philosopher hypatia flourished in alexandria from the second part of the 4 th century until her violent death incurred by a mob in 415. Theon of alexandria wrote a complex book on the astrolabe.
Equatories et horlogerie planetaire du xiiie au xvie siecle geneva and paris, 1980. In 550 ad christian philosopher john philoponus wrote a treatise on the astrolabe in greek, which is the earliest. One widely employed variety, the planispheric astrolabe, enabled astronomers to calculate the position of the sun and prominent stars with respect to both the horizon and the meridian. This update does not work on the older floppy disk versions of pnr or the report system. Theon was the father of the mathematician and pagan martyr hypatia of alexandria whose murder is attributed by socrates scholasticus to political jealousy which instigated mob violence. Theon authored a systematic work on the theory and use of the astrolabe.
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