101. January 28th The story of the murder of Hypatia, the daughter of the mathematician theon ofAlexandria, has been related by Socrates, Nicephorus, http://www.thebookofdays.com/months/jan/28.htm

Home About: The Book of Days Its Author This Site Our Staff ... Calendar of Days Indexes Search Site Links Contact Us The Book of Days is proudly brought to you by the members of Emmitsburg.net January 28 th Born: Captain Maclure, Arctic voyager, 1807. Died: Charlemagne, 814; King Henry VIII, 1547, Windsor; Sir Francis Drake, 1596; Sir Thomas Bodley , founder of the Bodleian Library, Oxford, 1612; Peter the Great of Russia, 1725; Mrs. Johnson (Stella), 1728, Dublin; J. B. Danville, 1782, Paris; Mademoiselle Clairon, actress, 1803; Sir William Beechey, painter, 1839; W. H. Prescott, historian, 1859. Feast Day: St. Agnes, virgin and martyr. St. Cyril, patriarch of Alexandria, 444. Sts Thyrsus, Leucius, and Callinions, martyrs. St. John of Reomay, abbot, 6 th century. St. Paulinus, patriarch of Aquileia, 804. B. Charlemagne, emperor, 814. St. Glastian, of Scotland, 830. St. Margaret, princess of Hungary, 1271. ST. CYRIL St. Cyrillus was educated at Alexandria, where his uncle Theophilus was patriarch, through whose influence St. John Chrysostom

102. Ptolemy We only know details of the Handy Tables through the commentary by theon ofAlexandria but in 77 the author shows that care is required since theon was http://homepages.compuserve.de/thweidenfeller/mathematiker/Ptolemy.htm

Claudius Ptolemy Born: about 85 in Egypt Died: about 165 in Alexandria, Egypt One of the most influential Greek astronomers and geographers of his time, Ptolemy propounded the geocentric theory in a form that prevailed for 1400 years. However, of all the ancient Greek mathematicians, it is fair to say that his work has generated more discussion and argument than any other. We shall discuss the arguments below for, depending on which are correct, they portray Ptolemy in very different lights. The arguments of some historians show that Ptolemy was a mathematician of the very top rank, arguments of others show that he was no more than a superb expositor, but far worse, some even claim that he committed a crime against his fellow scientists by betraying the ethics and integrity of his profession. We know very little of Ptolemy's life. He made astronomical observations from Alexandria in Egypt during the years AD 127-41. In fact the first observation which we can date exactly was made by Ptolemy on 26 March 127 while the last was made on 2 February 141. It was claimed by Theodore Meliteniotes in around 1360 that Ptolemy was born in Hermiou (which is in Upper Egypt rather than Lower Egypt where Alexandria is situated) but since this claim first appears more than one thousand years after Ptolemy lived, it must be treated as relatively unlikely to be true. In fact there is no evidence that Ptolemy was ever anywhere other than Alexandria. His name, Claudius Ptolemy, is of course a mixture of the Greek Egyptian 'Ptolemy' and the Roman 'Claudius'. This would indicate that he was descended from a Greek family living in Egypt and that he was a citizen of Rome, which would be as a result of a Roman emperor giving that 'reward' to one of Ptolemy's ancestors.

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