Apollonius of Perga

Apollonius
Ἀπολλώνιος
Imaginary depiction of Apollonius from a 1537 edition of his works
Bornc. 240 BC
Diedc. 190 BC
Known for
Scientific career
FieldsGeometry

Apollonius of Pergaeus (Ancient Greek: Ἀπολλώνιος, c. 262 BC – c 190 BC) was an ancient Greek astronomer and mathematician, well-known for his works related to conics . His innovative methods and terminology, especially in the field of conics, influenced many later scholars including Ptolemaeus, Francesco Maurolico, Johannes Kepler, Isaac Newton, and René Descartes. Apollonius gave the terms of ellipse, parabola, and hyperbola as we use today. The hypothesis of eccentric orbits used to explain the apparent orbits of the planets and the rate of change of the Moon, or Apollonius's Theorem, was his discovery, later described by Ptolemaeus in volume XII.1 of Almagest. Apollonius also studied the Moon. A crater on the Moon was named after him.  

Reference

  • Alhazen (1985). Hogendijk, J.P. (ed.). Ibn al-Haytham's Completion of the "Conics". New York: Springer Verlag.
  • Apollonius. Apollonii Pergaei quae Graece exstant cum commentariis antiquis. Edited by I. L. Heiberg. 2 volumes. (Leipzig: Teubner, 1891/1893).
  • Apollonius. Apollonius of Perga Conics Books I–III. Translated by R. Catesby Taliaferro. (Santa Fe: Green Lion Press, 1998).
  • Apollonius. Apollonius of Perga Conics Book IV. Translated with introduction and notes by Michael N. Fried. (Santa Fe: Green Lion Press, 2002).
  • Fried, Michael N.; Unguru, Sabetai (2001). Apollonius of Perga’s Conica: Text, Context, Subtext. Leiden: Brill.
  • Knorr, W. R. (1986). Ancient Tradition of Geometric Problems. Cambridge, MA: Birkhauser Boston.
  • Neugebauer, Otto (1975). A History of Ancient Mathematical Astronomy. New York: Springer-Verlag.
  • Pappus of Alexandria (1986). Jones, A (ed.). Book 7 of the "Collection". New York: Springer-Verlag.
  • Toomer, G.J. (1970). "Apollonius of Perga". Dictionary of Scientific Biography. Vol. 1. New York: Charles Scribner's Sons. pp. 179–193. ISBN 0-684-10114-9.
  • Zeuthen, H. G. (1886). Die Lehre von den Kegelschnitten im Altertum. Copenhagen: Höst and Sohn.
  • Text in Classical Greek: PDF scans of Heiberg's edition of the Conic Sections of Apollonius of Perga, now in the public domain
  • In English translation: Treatise on the Conic Sections, trans. T.L. Heath

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