Ptolemaic system

Ptolemaic system
The dominant, geocentric system of astronomy before Copernicus . Ptolemy was an astronomer, mathematician, and geographer who flourished between AD 127 and 148 in Alexandria. His masterpiece is known by its Arabic title of the Almagest, a complete treatment of astronomical knowledge in thirteen books. This work dominated astronomical theory in Byzantium, the Islamic world, and medieval Europe. Ptolemy acknowledges debts to Apollonius and Hipparchus of Rhodes, and his writing is an important source for the history of astronomy.
Although Ptolemaic astronomy was a magnificent mathematical structure, observationally adequate as late as the 16th century, and not markedly more complex than its Copernican rival, its basis was a series of disconnected, ad hoc hypotheses ; hence it has become a symbol for any theory that involves unnecessary complexity.

Philosophy dictionary. . 2011.

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  • Ptolemaic System — (Source: [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geocentric model| Geocentric Model] )In the Ptolemaic system, each planet is moved by five or more spheres: one sphere is its deferent. The deferent was a circle centered around a point halfway between the …   Wikipedia

  • Ptolemaic system — Ptolemaic Ptol e*ma ic, a. Of or pertaining to Ptolemy, the geographer and astronomer. [1913 Webster] {Ptolemaic system} (Astron.), the system maintained by Ptolemy, who supposed the earth to be fixed in the center of the universe, with the sun… …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • Ptolemaic system — (also Ptolemaic theory) ► NOUN ▪ the formerly held theory that the earth is the stationary centre of the universe …   English terms dictionary

  • Ptolemaic system — n. the theory, systematized by Ptolemy, postulating the earth as the center or fixed point of the universe, around which the celestial bodies move …   English World dictionary

  • Ptolemaic system — Astron. a system elaborated by Ptolemy and subsequently modified by others, according to which the earth was the fixed center of the universe, with the heavenly bodies moving about it. [1765 75] * * * ▪ astronomy       mathematical model of the… …   Universalium

  • Ptolemaic system — Ptolomėjaus sistema statusas T sritis fizika atitikmenys: angl. Ptolemaic system vok. Ptolemäisches System, n rus. система Птоломея, f pranc. système de Ptolémée, m; système ptolémaïque, m …   Fizikos terminų žodynas

  • Ptolemaic system — (also Ptolemaic theory) noun Astronomy, historical the theory that the earth is the stationary centre of the universe, with the planets moving in epicyclic orbits within surrounding concentric spheres. Compare with Copernican system …   English new terms dictionary

  • Ptolemaic system — /tɒləˈmeɪɪk ˌsɪstəm/ (say toluh mayik .sistuhm) noun a system elaborated by Ptolemy and subsequently modified by others, according to which the earth was the fixed centre of the universe, with the heavenly bodies moving about it. Compare… …  

  • PTOLEMAIC SYSTEM —    the highly complex system of astronomy ascribed to Claudius Ptolemy, which assumed that the earth was the centre of a sphere which carried the heavenly bodies along in its daily revolution, accounted for the revolutions of the sun and moon by… …   The Nuttall Encyclopaedia

  • Ptolemaic system — n. astronomical system of Ptolemy in which the earth is viewed as the center of the universe and is orbited by the sun and planets …   English contemporary dictionary

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