The Books Of Autolykos, On A Moving Sphere And On Risings And Settings.

DESCRIPTION

ix, 83 pp of English text + 70 pp of Greek text; biblio, figures. Translated & Edited by Frans Bruin, Professor of Physics and Alexander Vondjidis, Assistant Professor of Physics at The American University of Beirut. HARDBACK Binding in Dustwrappers. Copy in very good condition. American University of Beirut, 1971. These treatises by the Greek mathematician Autolykos of Pitane were written around 320 B.C.They form the oldest material on Greek mathematical astronomy that has survived in a well preserved form.This book contains the complete text in Greek and in English. The Greek text is based on the critical edition of Joseph Mogenet. The English translation is published here for the first time. _x000d_ The Books of Autolykos deal with the simple geometry of points and large circles on a sphere, applying the axiomatic method systematically for the first time. This is the method by which we have all learnt our geometry and which has been the basis of western mathematical thinking for the subsequent twenty-three centuries. The treatment is thought to have been typical of the work of the students of Eudoxos, and a prelude to the books of Euclid. These tracts give a clear insight into the status of Greek mathematical astronomy just before the initiation of the famous School of Alexandria.