Branches of Mathematics

Pure mathematics

• Algebra
• Calculus
• Geometry
• Topology
• Trignometry
• Combinatorics
• Logic
• Number theory

Applied mathematics

• Dynamical systems and differential equations
• Mathematical physics
• Computing
• Information theory and signal processing
• Probability and statistics
• Game theory
• Operations research

Related Topics

• Electromagnetic Spectrum
• Linear Equations
• Applied Physics
• Nano Technology
• Engineering Sciences
• Mathematical Medicine
• Fluid dynamics
• Computational Mathematics
• Gamma Ray Optics
• Onfrared Optics
• Relative Velocity
• Iciam
• Intelligent Imaging Neuroscience
• Biomedical Engineering
• Neuroscience Research
• Quantum Cosmology
• Brain Research

• 24-hour clock
• Acoreus
• Aglaonike
• Agrippa (astronomer)
• Albert Einstein
• Almagest
• Altitude (astronomy)
• Analemma
• Anaximander
• Angular size
• Antarctic Circle
• Apollonius of Perga
• Aratus
• Arcseconds
• Arctic Circle
• Aristarchus of Samos
• Aristillus
• Armillary sphere
• Astrarium
• Astrolabe
• Atacama people
• Atomic clock
• Attalus of Rhodes
• Autolycus of Pitane
• Axial tilt
• Aymara people
• Babylonian astronomy
• Bad Astronomer
• Bibcode
• Bion of Abdera
• Bolivia
• Calendar
• Callippic cycle
• Callippus
• Canada
• Cancer (astrology)
• Capricornus
• Celestial longitude
• Celestial navigation
• Celestial sphere
• Celestial spheres
• Central Europe
• Century
• Chinese language
• Chronology
• Chronometry
• Chronon
• Circle
• Circle of latitude
• Circumference
• Civil time
• Cleomedes
• Cleostratus
• Clock
• Conon of Samos
• Constellation
• Continuous signal
• Coordinate time
• Cosmological decade
• Counter-Earth
• Cross-quarter day
• Day
• Daylight saving time
• Decade
• Declination
• Dioptra
• Discrete time
• Dominical letter
• Dongzhi (solar term)
• DUT1
• Earth's rotation
• Easter
• Eclipse
• Ecliptic
• Egyptian astronomy
• Ellipse
• England
• Epact
• Ephemeris time
• Equant
• Equation of time
• Equatorial ring
• Equinox
• Eratosthenes
• Euctemon
• Eudoxus of Cnidus
• Festival of San Juan
• Focus (geometry)
• Fortnight
• Frame of reference
• Freeware
• Galactic year
• Gate of the Sun
• Geminus
• Geocentric model
• Geographical pole
• Geologic time scale
• Gnomon
• Greek astronomy
• Greenwich Mean Time
• Gregorian calendar
• Hanukkah
• Hebrew calendar
• Heliocentrism
• Heraclides Ponticus
• Hicetas
• Hindu calendar
• Hipparchic cycle
• Hipparchus
• Hippocrates of Chios
• Horizon
• Horology
• Hour
• Hourglass
• Hypsicles
• Indian astronomy
• Intercalation
• Iranian calendar
• Isaac Newton
• Islamic calendar
• ISO 31-1
• ISO 8601
• Ivan Kupala Day
• Japan
• Japanese language
• Jiffy (time)
• John the Baptist
• Judaism
• Julian calendar
• Karachun
• Korean language
• Kwanzaa
• Latin
• Latin language
• Leap second
• Leap year
• Leo (constellation)
• Lunar calendar
• Lunisolar calendar
• Lustrum
• Makar Sankranti
• Mapuche people
• Marine chronometer
• Marine sandglass
• Mars
• Mental chronometry
• Meton of Athens
• Metonic cycle
• Metric time
• Metrology
• Midnight sun
• Midsummer
• Midsummer's Day
• Midwinter
• Millennium
• Minute
• Month
• Moon
• Mural instrument
• Nathaniel Bowditch
• Neopagan
• New Zealand
• Northern Europe
• Northern Hemisphere
• Northern solstice
• Northward equinox
• Nowruz
• Nuclear time scale
• Octaeteris
• Oenopides
• On the Heavens
• Ophiuchus
• Orbit
• Parallel (geometry)
• Passover
• Perpendicular
• Persia
• Philip of Opus
• Philolaus
• Pinyin
• Planck epoch
• Planck time
• Planet
• Pliny the Elder
• Polar night
• Posidonius
• Position of the Sun
• Prime Meridian
• Proper time
• Ptolemy
• Pytheas
• Radio clock
• Relative velocity
• Right ascension
• Roman republic
• Rotation
• Saeculum
• Saint Jonas Day
• Saturnalia
• Scorpius
• Second
• Seleucus of Seleucia
• Setsubun
• Seven-day week
• Sextant
• Shake (unit)
• Sidereal time
• Solar calendar
• Solar term
• Solar time
• Solargraph
• Solstice
• South America
• Southern Hemisphere
• Southern solstice
• Southward equinox
• Spacetime
• Sphere
• Spherical Earth
• St. John's Eve
• Star
• Stonehenge
• Strabo
• Sublunary sphere
• Subsolar point
• Sukkot
• Summer solstice
• Sun
• Sundial
• System time
• T-symmetry
• Terrestrial Time
• Thales
• The Straight Dope
• Theon of Alexandria
• Theon of Smyrna
• Theory of relativity
• Tide (time)
• Time
• Time dilation
• Time domain
• Time in physics
• Time standard
• Time value of money
• Time zone
• Timekeeper
• Timocharis
• Tiwanaku
• Tropic of Cancer
• Tropic of Capricorn
• Tropical year
• Unit of time
• Universal Time
• USA
• UTC offset
• UTC+02 00
• Uttarayana
• Vernier scale
• Vietnamese language
• Watch
• Water clock
• We Tripantu
• Week
• Weekday names
• Wine (software)
• Winter solstice
• Xiazhi
• Yalda
• Year
• Yule
• Zodiac
• Zoroastrian calendar
• ΔT
• 
  

• 
  Bolivia
  Coordinates: 16°42′43″S 64°39′58″W / 16.712°S 64.666°W / -16.712; -64.666 Bolivia (ⁱ/bəˈlɪviə/, Spanish: [boliˈβja]) officially known as Plurinational State of Bolivia (Spanish: Estado Plurinacional de Bolivia, Quechua: Bulivya Mamallaqta, Aymara: Wuliwya Suyu), is a landlocked country in central South America. It is bordered by Brazil to the north and east, Paraguay and Argentina to the south, Chile to the southwest, and Peru to the west.
  Prior to European colonization, the Andean region of Bolivia was a part of the Inca Empire – the largest state in Pre-Columbian America. The Spanish Empire conquered the region in the 16th century. During most of the Spanish colonial period, this territory was called Upper Peru and was under the administration of the Viceroyalty of Peru, which included most of Spain's South American colonies. After declaring independence in 1809, 16 years of war followed before the establishment of the Republic, named for Simón Bolívar, on 6 August 1825. Bolivia has struggled through periods of political instability, dictatorships and economic woes.
  
  wn.com/Bolivia
• 
  Canada
  Canada ( /ˈkænədə/) is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean. Spanning over 9,900,000 km² (3,800,000 sq mi), Canada is the world's second-largest country by total area, and its common border with the United States is the longest land border in the world.
  The land that is now Canada has been inhabited for millennia by various Aboriginal peoples. Beginning in the late 15th century, British and French colonial expeditions explored, and later settled, along the region's Atlantic coast. France ceded nearly all of its colonies in North America in 1763 after the Seven Years' War. In 1867, with the union of three British North American colonies through Confederation, Canada was formed as a federal dominion of four provinces. This began an accretion of provinces and territories and a process of increasing autonomy; the Canada Act 1982 severed the vestiges of legal dependence on Britain.
  
  wn.com/Canada
• 
  England
  England ⁱ/ˈɪŋɡlənd/ is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, while the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separate it from continental Europe. Most of England comprises the central and southern part of the island of Great Britain in the North Atlantic. The country also includes over 100 smaller islands such as the Isles of Scilly and the Isle of Wight.
  The area now called England was first inhabited by modern humans during the Upper Palaeolithic period, but it takes its name from the Angles, one of the Germanic tribes who settled during the 5th and 6th centuries. England became a unified state in AD 927, and since the Age of Discovery, which began during the 15th century, has had a significant cultural and legal impact on the wider world. The English language, the Anglican Church, and English law—the basis for the common law legal systems of many other countries around the world—developed in England, and the country's parliamentary system of government has been widely adopted by other nations. The Industrial Revolution began in 18th-century England, transforming its society into the world's first industrialised nation. England's Royal Society laid the foundations of modern experimental science.
  
  wn.com/England
• 
  Japan
  Japan ⁱ/dʒəˈpæn/ (Japanese: 日本 Nihon or Nippon; formally 日本国  Nippon-koku or Nihon-koku, literally the State of Japan) is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south. The characters that make up Japan's name mean "sun-origin", which is why Japan is sometimes referred to as the "Land of the Rising Sun".
  Japan is an archipelago of 6,852 islands. The four largest islands are Honshū, Hokkaidō, Kyūshū and Shikoku, together accounting for ninety-seven percent of Japan's land area. Japan has the world's tenth-largest population, with over 127 million people. The Greater Tokyo Area, which includes the de facto capital city of Tokyo and several surrounding prefectures, is the largest metropolitan area in the world, with over 30 million residents.
  Archaeological research indicates that people lived in Japan as early as the Upper Paleolithic period. The first written mention of Japan is in Chinese history texts from the 1st century AD. Influence from other nations followed by long periods of isolation has characterized Japan's history. In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, victory in the First Sino-Japanese War, the Russo-Japanese War and World War I allowed Japan to expand its empire during a period of increasing militarism. The Second Sino-Japanese War of 1937 expanded into part of World War II in 1941, which came to an end in 1945 following the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Since adopting its revised constitution in 1947, Japan has maintained a unitary constitutional monarchy with an emperor and an elected parliament called the Diet.
  
  wn.com/Japan
• 
  New Zealand
  New Zealand (Māori: Aotearoa) is an island country located in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. The country geographically comprises two main landmasses ‒ that of the North and South Islands ‒ as well as numerous smaller islands. New Zealand is situated some 1,500 kilometres (900 mi) east of Australia across the Tasman Sea and roughly 1,000 kilometres (600 mi) south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga. Because of its remoteness, it was one of the last lands to be settled by humans.
  During its long isolation, New Zealand developed a distinctive biodiversity of both animal and plant life. Most notable are the large number of unique bird species, many of which became extinct after the arrival of humans and introduced mammals. With a mild maritime climate, the land was mostly covered in forest. The country's varied topography and its sharp mountain peaks owe much to the tectonic uplift of land and volcanic eruptions caused by the Pacific and Indo-Australian Plates clashing beneath the earth's surface.
  
  wn.com/New_Zealand
• 
  Northern Hemisphere
  Coordinates: 45°0′0″N 0°0′0″E / 45°N 0°E / 45; 0
  The Northern Hemisphere is the half of a planet that is north of its equator—the word hemisphere literally means “half sphere”. It is also that half of the celestial sphere north of the celestial equator. Earth's northern hemisphere contains most of the planet's land, and roughly 90% of its human population. See also Arctic, Temperate zone, Tropics, Seasons and Climate
  Due to the Earth's axial tilt, winter lasts from the winter solstice (typically December 22) to the vernal equinox (typically March 20), while summer lasts from the summer solstice (typically June 21) through to the autumnal equinox (typically September 21).
  The Arctic is the region north of the Arctic Circle. Its climate is characterized by cold winters and cool summers. Precipitation mostly comes in the form of snow. The Arctic experiences some days in summer when the Sun never sets, and some days during the winter when it never rises. The duration of these phases varies from one day for locations right on the Arctic Circle to several months near the North Pole.
  
  wn.com/Northern_Hemisphere
• 
  Persia
  Coordinates: 32°N 53°E / 32°N 53°E / 32; 53
  Iran (ⁱ/ɪˈrɑːn/ or /aɪˈræn/;Persian: ایران‎ [ʔiˈɾɒn] ( listen)), officially the Islamic Republic of Iran (Persian: جمهوری اسلامی ایران‎ Jomhuri-ye Eslāmi-ye Irān), is a country in Southern and Western Asia. The name "Iran", which in Persian means "Land of the Aryans", has been in use natively since the Sassanian era. It came into use internationally in 1935, before which the country was known to the Western world as Persia ( /ˈpɜrʒə/ or /ˈpɜrʃə/). Both "Persia" and "Iran" are used interchangeably in cultural contexts; however, "Iran" is the name used officially in political contexts.
  The 18th-largest country in the world in terms of area at 1,648,195 km² (636,372 sq mi), Iran has a population of around 79 million. It is a country of particular geopolitical significance owing to its location in the Middle East and central Eurasia. Iran is bordered on the north by Armenia, Azerbaijan and Turkmenistan. As Iran is a littoral state of the Caspian Sea, which is an inland sea, Kazakhstan and Russia are also Iran's direct neighbors to the north. Iran is bordered on the east by Afghanistan and Pakistan, on the south by the Persian Gulf and the Gulf of Oman, on the west by Iraq and on the northwest by Turkey. Tehran is the capital, the country's largest city and the political, cultural, commercial and industrial center of the nation. Iran is a regional power, and holds an important position in international energy security and world economy as a result of its large reserves of petroleum and natural gas. Iran has the second largest proven natural gas reserves in the world and the fourth largest proven petroleum reserves.
  
  wn.com/Persia
• 
  Southern Hemisphere
  Coordinates: 45°0′0″S 0°0′0″E / 45°S 0°E / -45; 0
  The Southern Hemisphere is the part of Earth that lies south of the equator. The word hemisphere (from the Greek word σφαιρα (sphere) +ημι (half)) literally means 'half ball' or "half sphere". It is also that half of the celestial sphere south of the celestial equator.
  The Southern Hemisphere contains all or parts of four continents (Antarctica, Australia, most parts of South America and southern half of Africa), four oceans (South Atlantic, Indian, South Pacific, and Southern) and most of Oceania. Several islands off the Asian continental mainland are also in the Southern Hemisphere. Due to the tilt of Earth's rotation relative to the Sun and the ecliptic plane, summer is December to March and winter is June to September. September 22 or 23 is the vernal equinox and March 20 or 21 is the autumnal equinox.
  
  
  Climates in the Southern Hemisphere overall tend to be slightly milder than those in the Northern Hemisphere at similar latitudes except in the Antarctic which is colder than the Arctic. This is because the Southern Hemisphere has significantly more ocean and much less land. Water heats up and cools down more slowly than land.
  
  wn.com/Southern_Hemisphere
• 
  Stonehenge
  Stonehenge is a prehistoric monument located in the English county of Wiltshire, about 2.0 miles (3.2 km) west of Amesbury and 8 miles (13 km) north of Salisbury. One of the most famous sites in the world, Stonehenge is composed of a circular setting of large standing stones set within earthworks. It is at the centre of the most dense complex of Neolithic and Bronze Age monuments in England, including several hundred burial mounds.
  Archaeologists believe the iconic stone monument was constructed anywhere from 3000 BC to 2000 BC, as described in the chronology below. Radiocarbon dating in 2008 suggested that the first stones were erected in 2400–2200 BC, whilst another theory suggests that bluestones may have been erected at the site as early as 3000 BC (see phase 1 below).
  The surrounding circular earth bank and ditch, which constitute the earliest phase of the monument, have been dated to about 3100 BC. The site and its surroundings were added to the UNESCO's list of World Heritage Sites in 1986 in a co-listing with Avebury Henge monument. It is a national legally protected Scheduled Ancient Monument. Stonehenge is owned by the Crown and managed by English Heritage, while the surrounding land is owned by the National Trust.
  
  wn.com/Stonehenge
• 
  Tropic of Cancer
  Coordinates: 23°26′16″N 0°0′0″W / 23.43778°N 0°E / 23.43778; 0 (Prime Meridian)
  The Tropic of Cancer, also referred to as the Northern tropic, is the circle of latitude on the Earth that marks the most northerly position at which the Sun may appear directly overhead at its zenith. This event occurs once per year, at the time of the June solstice, when the Northern Hemisphere is tilted toward the Sun to its maximum extent.
  Its Southern Hemisphere counterpart, marking the most southerly position at which the Sun may appear directly overhead, is the Tropic of Capricorn. These tropics are two of the five major degree measures or major circles of latitude that mark maps of the Earth, besides the Arctic and Antarctic Circles and the Equator. The positions of these circles of latitude (other than the Equator) are dictated by the tilt of the Earth's axis of rotation relative to the plane of its orbit.
  The imaginary line is called the Tropic of Cancer because when the Sun reaches the zenith at this latitude, it is entering the tropical sign of Cancer (summer solstice). When it was named, the Sun was also in the direction of the constellation Cancer (Latin for crab). However, this is no longer true due to the precession of the equinoxes. According to International Astronomical Union boundaries, the Sun now is in Taurus at the June solstice. According to sidereal astrology, which divides the zodiac into 12 equal parts, the Sun is in Gemini at that time. However, according to tropical astrology, which divides the ecliptic in twelve 30º sectors, starting with the vernal equinox, the Sun is always entering Cancer at this time, as the Earth's axial tilt is most inclined towards the Sun. The word "tropic" itself comes from the Greek τροπή (tropi), meaning turn, referring to the fact that the Sun appears to "turn back" at the solstices.
  
  wn.com/Tropic_of_Cancer
• 
  Tropic of Capricorn
  Coordinates: 23°26′16″S 0°0′0″W / 23.43778°S 0°E / -23.43778; 0 (Prime Meridian)
  The Tropic of Capricorn, or Southern tropic, marks the most southerly latitude on the Earth at which the Sun can be directly overhead. This event occurs at the December solstice, when the southern hemisphere is tilted towards the Sun to its maximum extent.
  The Tropic of Capricorn is one of the five major circles of latitude that mark maps of the Earth. It currently (Epoch 2012) lies 23° 26′ 16″ south of the Equator.
  It is currently drifting north at the rate of almost half a second (0.47″) of latitude, which is about 15 metres, per year (it was at exactly 23° 27' S in year 1917).
  The Tropic of Capricorn is the dividing line between the Southern Temperate Zone to the south and the tropics to the north. The northern hemisphere equivalent of the Tropic of Capricorn is the Tropic of Cancer.
  The position of the Tropic of Capricorn is not fixed, but rather it varies in a complex manner over time; see under circles of latitude for information.
  
  wn.com/Tropic_of_Capricorn
• 
  USA
  The United States of America (commonly abbreviated to the United States, the U.S., the USA, America, and the States) is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district. The country is situated mostly in central North America, where its forty-eight contiguous states and Washington, D.C., the capital district, lie between the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans, bordered by Canada to the north and Mexico to the south. The state of Alaska is in the northwest of the continent, with Canada to the east and Russia to the west, across the Bering Strait. The state of Hawaii is an archipelago in the mid-Pacific. The country also possesses several territories in the Pacific and Caribbean.
  At 3.79 million square miles (9.83 million km²) and with over 312 million people, the United States is the third or fourth largest country by total area, and the third largest by both land area and population. It is one of the world's most ethnically diverse and multicultural nations, the product of large-scale immigration from many countries. The U.S. economy is the world's largest national economy, with an estimated 2011 GDP of $15.1 trillion (22% of nominal global GDP and over 19% of global GDP at purchasing-power parity). Per capita income is the world's sixth-highest.
  
  wn.com/USA

• 
  Aglaonike
  Aglaonike (Gr. Ἀγλαονίκη, fl. 2nd century BC), also known as Aganice of Thessaly is cited as the first female astronomer in ancient Greece. She is mentioned in the writings of Plutarch and Apollonius of Rhodes as the daughter of Hegetor of Thessaly. She was regarded as a sorceress for her ability to make the moon disappear from the sky, which has been taken to mean she could predict the time and general area where a lunar eclipse would occur.
  A number of female astrologers, apparently regarded as sorcerers, were associated with Aglaonike. They were known as the "witches of Thessaly" and were active from the 1st to 3rd centuries BCE.
  One of the craters of the planet Venus is named after Aglaonike.
  Aglaonike is a featured figure on Judy Chicago's installation piece The Dinner Party, being represented as one of the 999 names on the Heritage Floor.
  A Greek proverb makes reference to Aglaonike's alleged boasting: "Yes, as the moon obeys Aglaonike".
   This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Smith, William, ed. (1867). "^{article name needed}". Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology. 
  
  wn.com/Aglaonike
• Agrippa (astronomer)
  Agrippa (unkn-fl. 92 AD) was a Greek astronomer. The only thing that is known about him regards an astronomical observation that he made in 92 AD, which is cited by Ptolemy (Almagest, VII, 3). Ptolemy writes that in the twelfth year of the reign of Domitian, on the seventh day of the Bithynian month Metrous, Agrippa observed the occultation of a part of the Pleiades by the southernmost part of the Moon.
  The purpose of Agrippa's observation was probably to check the precession of the equinoxes, which was discovered by Hipparchus.
  The lunar crater Agrippa is named after him.
  
  
  
  wn.com/Agrippa_(astronomer)
• 
  Albert Einstein
  Albert Einstein ( /ˈælbərt ˈaɪnstaɪn/; German: [ˈalbɐt ˈaɪnʃtaɪn] ( listen); 14 March 1879 – 18 April 1955) was a German theoretical physicist who developed the theory of general relativity, effecting a revolution in physics. For this achievement, Einstein is often regarded as the father of modern physics. While best known for his mass–energy equivalence formula E = mc² (which has been dubbed "the world's most famous equation"), he received the 1921 Nobel Prize in Physics "for his services to theoretical physics, and especially for his discovery of the law of the photoelectric effect". The latter was pivotal in establishing quantum theory within physics.
  Near the beginning of his career, Einstein thought that Newtonian mechanics was no longer enough to reconcile the laws of classical mechanics with the laws of the electromagnetic field. This led to the development of his special theory of relativity. He realized, however, that the principle of relativity could also be extended to gravitational fields, and with his subsequent theory of gravitation in 1916, he published a paper on the general theory of relativity. He continued to deal with problems of statistical mechanics and quantum theory, which led to his explanations of particle theory and the motion of molecules. He also investigated the thermal properties of light which laid the foundation of the photon theory of light. In 1917, Einstein applied the general theory of relativity to model the structure of the universe as a whole.
  
  wn.com/Albert_Einstein
• 
  Anaximander
  Anaximander ( /əˌnæksɨˈmændər/; Greek: Ἀναξίμανδρος, Anaximandros; c. 610 – c. 546 BC) was a pre-Socratic Greek philosopher who lived in Miletus, a city of Ionia; Milet in modern Turkey. He belonged to the Milesian school and learned the teachings of his master Thales. He succeeded Thales and became the second master of that school where he counted Anaximenes and arguably, Pythagoras amongst his pupils.
  Little of his life and work is known today. According to available historical documents, he is the first philosopher known to have written down his studies, although only one fragment of his work remains. Fragmentary testimonies found in documents after his death provide a portrait of the man.
  Anaximander was one of the earliest Greek thinkers at the start of the Axial Age, the period from approximately 700 BC to 200 BC, during which similarly revolutionary thinking appeared in China, India, Iran, the Near East, and Ancient Greece. He was an early proponent of science and tried to observe and explain different aspects of the universe, with a particular interest in its origins, claiming that nature is ruled by laws, just like human societies, and anything that disturbs the balance of nature does not last long. Like many thinkers of his time, Anaximander's contributions to philosophy relate to many disciplines. In astronomy, he tried to describe the mechanics of celestial bodies in relation to the Earth. In physics, his postulation that the indefinite (or apeiron) was the source of all things led Greek philosophy to a new level of conceptual abstraction. His knowledge of geometry allowed him to introduce the gnomon in Greece. He created a map of the world that contributed greatly to the advancement of geography. He was also involved in the politics of Miletus and was sent as a leader to one of its colonies.
  
  wn.com/Anaximander
• 
  Aratus
  Aratus (Ancient Greek: Ἄρατος ὁ Σολεύς; ca. 315 BC/310 BC – 240 BC) was a Greek didactic poet. His major extant work is his hexameter poem Phaenomena (Φαινόμενα "Appearances"), the first half of which is a verse setting of a lost work of the same name by Eudoxus of Cnidus. It describes the constellations and other celestial phenomena. The second half is called the Diosemeia (Διοσημεῖα "Forecasts"), and is chiefly about weather lore. Although Aratus was somewhat ignorant of Greek astronomy, his poem was very popular in the Greek and Roman world, as is proved by the large number of commentaries and Latin translations, some of which survive.
  There are several accounts of his life by anonymous Greek writers, and the Suda and Eudocia also mention him. From these it appears that he was a native of Soli in Cilicia, (although one authority says Tarsus). He is known to have studied with Menecrates in Ephesus and Philitas in Cos. As a disciple of the Peripatetic philosopher Praxiphanes, in Athens, he met the Stoic philosopher Zeno, as well as Callimachus of Cyrene and Menedemus, the founder of the Eretrian School.
  
  wn.com/Aratus
• 
  Aristarchus of Samos
  Aristarchus (310 BC – ca. 230 BC), was an ancient Greek astronomer and mathematician who presented the first known model that placed the Sun at the center of the known universe with the Earth revolving around it (see Solar system). He was influenced by Philolaus of Croton, but he identified the "central fire" with the Sun, and put the other planets in their correct order of distance around the Sun. His astronomical ideas were often rejected in favor of the geocentric theories of Aristotle and Ptolemy.
  His name is Ἀρίσταρχος in Greek letters, which transliterates to Aristarchos. He was born on the island of Samos, in the eastern Aegean Sea.
  Though the original text has been lost, a reference in Archimedes' book The Sand Reckoner (Archimedis Syracusani Arenarius & Dimensio Circuli) describes another work by Aristarchus in which he advanced the heliocentric model as an alternative hypothesis. Archimedes wrote:
  Aristarchus thus believed the stars to be very far away, and that in consequence there was no observable parallax, that is, a movement of the stars relative to each other as the Earth moves around the Sun. The stars are much farther away than was generally assumed in ancient times; and since stellar parallax is only detectable with telescopes, his speculation although accurate was unprovable at the time.
  
  wn.com/Aristarchus_of_Samos
• Aristillus
  Aristillus (fl. ca. 260 BC) was a Greek astronomer, presumably of the school of Timocharis (c.300 BC). He was among the earliest meridian-astronomy observers. Six of his stellar declinations are preserved at Almajest 7.3. All are exactly correct within his over-cautious rounding to 1/4 degree. See discussion (and lessons) at DIO 7.1 ‡1 p.13 (2007).
  Aristyllos was long mis-dated to c.300 BC (which made his data look among the poorest of the ancients); but when his correct date was found by least-squares (Isis 73:259-265 [1982] p.263), it was realized that his star declinations' accuracy was unexcelled in antiquity. His data suggest that he worked in Alexandria: see DIO 4.1 ‡3 Table 3 p.45 (2004).
  A lunar crater, Aristillus, aptly near the Moon's meridian and at a lunar latitude roughly equal to the terrestrial latitude of Alexandria, is named after him.
  
  
  
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• 
  Atacama people
  The Atacameños (also called Atacamas or Likan-antay) are a Native American people who inhabited the Andean portion of the Atacama Desert, mainly in what is today Chile's Antofagasta Region. Their language is known as Kunza.
  The most ancient people of the Atacama desert were nomadic hunters that followed herds of wild camelids. Later, the existence of vast herds of camelids and the better knowledge of primitive agricultural methods contributed to the development of a semi-sedentary lifestyle with seasonal movements.
  Around 2000-1000 BC, the Atacameño people fully adopted the sedentary culture. At this stage, they had an economy mainly based on llama breeding and maize agriculture.
  Between 400 BC and 100 AD, Atacameño farming reached a peak in its development, mainly in the oases of Lasana, Chiu-Chiu, Calama, San Pedro de Atacama, Peine, Tilomonte, Toconao.
  About 24,000 Atacameño people remain today (most in Chile) although nobody is known to continue to speak the Kunza language and the language is thought to have been extinct since the 1950s.
  
  wn.com/Atacama_people
• Attalus of Rhodes
  Attalus of Rhodes (Greek: Άτταλος ο Ρόδιος) was an ancient Greek grammarian, astronomer, and mathematician, who lived in Rhodes in the 2nd century BC, and was a contemporary of Hipparchus. He wrote a commentary on the Phaenomena of Aratus. Although this work is lost, Hipparchus cites him in his Commentary on the Phaenomena of Eudoxus and Aratus. Attalus sought to defend both Aratus and Eudoxus against criticisms from contemporary astronomers and mathematicians.
  
  wn.com/Attalus_of_Rhodes
• Autolycus of Pitane
  Autolycus of Pitane (Greek: Αυτόλυκος ο Πιτταναίος or Πιττανεύς) (c. 360 BC – c. 290 BC) was a Greek astronomer, mathematician, and geographer. The lunar crater Autolycus was named in his honour.
  Autolycus was born in Pitane, a town of Aeolis within Western Anatolia. Of his personal life nothing is known, although he was a contemporary of Aristotle and his works seem to have been completed in Athens within the years 335 BC and 300 BC. Euclid references some of Autolycus' work, and Autolycus is known to have taught Arcesilaus. Autolycus' surviving works include a book on spheres entitled On the Moving Sphere and another On Risings and Settings of celestial bodies. Autolycus' works were translated by Maurolycus in the sixteenth century.
  
  wn.com/Autolycus_of_Pitane
• 
  Aymara people
  The Aymara or Aimara (Aymara: aymara  listen (help·info)) are an indigenous ethnic group in the Andes and Altiplano regions of South America; about 2 million live in Bolivia, Peru and Chile. They lived in the region for many centuries before becoming a subject people of the Inca, and later of the Spanish in the 16th century. With the Spanish American Wars of Independence (1810-1825) Aymaras became subjects of Bolivia and Peru and after the War of the Pacific (1879-1883) Chile acquired an Aymaran population.
  
  wn.com/Aymara_people
• 
  Bad Astronomer
  Philip Cary Plait, Ph.D. (a.k.a. The Bad Astronomer) is an American astronomer and skeptic who runs the website BadAstronomy.com. He formerly worked at the physics and astronomy department at Sonoma State University. In early 2007, he resigned from his job to write Death from the Skies. On August 4, 2008, he became President of the James Randi Educational Foundation. He served in that position until January 1, 2010, when he was succeeded by noted skeptic D. J. Grothe.
  Plait grew up in the Washington, D.C. area. He received his Ph.D. in astronomy from the University of Virginia in 1994 with a thesis on SN 1987A, which he studied with the Supernova Intensive Study (SINS). He first worked with the COBE satellite and then with the STIS on the Hubble Space Telescope for five years. He currently resides in Boulder, Colorado and writes full time, but often hosts special events and serves as an adviser and commentator in several capacities, including events focusing on skepticism, such as SkeptiCamp.
  
  wn.com/Bad_Astronomer
• Cleostratus
  Cleostratus (ca. 520 BC; possibly 548 BC to 432 BC) was an astronomer of ancient Greece. He was a native of Tenedos, and the Chaldean astronomer Naburimannu may have been a contemporary of him. He is believed by some scholars to have introduced the zodiac (beginning with Aries and Sagittarius) and the solar calendar to Greece from Babylonia. Censorinus (De Die Natali, c. 18) considers Cleostratus to have been the real inventor of the octaeteris, or cycle of eight years. The octaeteris was used before the Metonic cycle of 19 years, and was popularly attributed to Eudoxus. Theophrastus (de Sign. Pluv., p. 239, ed. Basil. 1541) mentions him as a meteorological observer along with Matricetas of Methymna and Phaeinus of Athens. Gaius Julius Hyginus (Poetica Astronomica, ii. 13) says that Cleostratus first pointed out the two stars in Auriga called Haedi. The crater Cleostratus on the Moon is named after him.
  
  
  
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• Conon of Samos
  Conon of Samos (Greek: Κόνων) (ca. 280 BC – ca. 220 BC) was a Greek astronomer and mathematician. He is primarily remembered for naming the constellation Coma Berenices.
  Conon was born on Samos, Ionia, and possibly died in Alexandria, Ptolemaic Egypt, where he was court astronomer to Ptolemy III Euergetes. He named the constellation Coma Berenices ("Berenice's Hair") after Ptolemy's wife Berenice II. She sacrificed her hair in exchange for her husband's safe return from the Third Syrian War, which began in 246 BCE. When the lock of hair disappeared, Conon explained that the goddess had shown her favor by placing it in the sky. Not all Greek astronomers accepted the designation. In Ptolemy's Almagest, Coma Berenices is not listed as a distinct constellation. However, Ptolemy does attribute several seasonal indications (parapegma) to Conon. Conon was a friend of the mathematician Archimedes whom he probably met in Alexandria.
  Pappus states that the spiral of Archimedes was discovered by Conon. Apollonius of Perga reported that Conon worked on conic sections, and his work became the basis for Apollonius' fourth book of the Conics. Apollonius further reports that Conon sent some of his work to Thrasydaeus, but that it was incorrect. Since this work has not survived it is impossible to assess the accuracy of Apollonius' comment.
  
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• 
  Eratosthenes
  Eratosthenes of Cyrene (Ancient Greek: Ἐρατοσθένης, IPA: [eratostʰénɛːs]; English /ɛrəˈtɒsθəniːz/; c. 276 BC – c. 195 BC) was a Greek mathematician, geographer, poet, athlete, astronomer, and music theorist.
  He was the first person to use the word "geography" and invented the discipline of geography as we understand it. He invented a system of latitude and longitude.
  He was the first person to calculate the circumference of the earth by using a measuring system using stades, or the length of stadiums during that time period (with remarkable accuracy). He was the first to calculate the tilt of the Earth's axis (also with remarkable accuracy). He may also have accurately calculated the distance from the earth to the sun and invented the leap day. He also created the first map of the world incorporating parallels and meridians within his cartographic depictions based on the available geographical knowledge of the era. In addition, Eratosthenes was the founder of scientific chronology; he endeavored to fix the dates of the chief literary and political events from the conquest of Troy.
  
  wn.com/Eratosthenes
• Euctemon
  Euctemon (unknown-fl. 432 BC) was an Athenian astronomer. He was a contemporary of Meton and worked closely with this astronomer. Little is known of his work apart from his partnership with Meton and what is mentioned by Ptolemy. With Meton, he made a series of observations of the solstices (the points at which the sun is at greatest distance from the equator) in order to determine the length of the tropical year. Geminus and Ptolemy quote him as a source on the rising and setting of the stars. The lunar crater Euctemon is named after him.
  
  
  
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• Eudoxus of Cnidus
  Eudoxus of Cnidus (410 or 408 BC – 355 or 347 BC) was a Greek astronomer, mathematician, scholar and student of Plato. Since all his own works are lost, knowledge of him is obtained from secondary sources, such as Aratus's poem on astronomy. Theodosius of Bithynia's Sphaerics may be based on a work of Eudoxus.
  His name Eudoxus means "honored" or "of good repute" (in Greek Εὔδοξος, from eu "good" and doxa "opinion, belief, fame"). It is analogous to the Latin name Benedictus.
  Eudoxus's father Aeschines of Cnidus loved to watch stars at night. Eudoxus first travelled to Tarentum to study with Archytas, from whom he learned mathematics. While in Italy, Eudoxus visited Sicily, where he studied medicine with Philiston.
  Around 387 BC, at the age of 23, he traveled with the physician Theomedon, who according to Diogenes Laërtius some believed was his lover, to Athens to study with the followers of Socrates. He eventually became the pupil of Plato, with whom he studied for several months, but due to a disagreement they had a falling out. Eudoxus was quite poor and could only afford an apartment at the Piraeus. To attend Plato's lectures, he walked the seven miles (11 km) each direction, each day. Due to his poverty, his friends raised funds sufficient to send him to Heliopolis, Egypt to pursue his study of astronomy and mathematics. He lived there for 16 months. From Egypt, he then traveled north to Cyzicus, located on the south shore of the Sea of Marmara, the Propontis. He traveled south to the court of Mausolus. During his travels he gathered many students of his own.
  
  wn.com/Eudoxus_of_Cnidus
• Geminus
  Geminus of Rhodes (Greek: Γεμῖνος ὁ Ῥόδιος), was a Greek astronomer and mathematician, who flourished in the 1st century BC. An astronomy work of his, the Introduction to the Phenomena, still survives; it was intended as an introductory astronomy book for students. He also wrote a work on mathematics, of which only fragments quoted by later authors survive.
  Nothing is known about the life of Geminus. It is not even certain that he was born in Rhodes, but references to mountains on Rhodes in his Astronomical works suggests that he worked there. His dates are not known with any certainty either. A passage in his works referring to the Annus Vagus (Wandering Year) of the Egyptian calendar of 120 years before his own time, has been used to imply a date of c. 70 BC for the time of writing, which would be consistent with the idea that he may have been a pupil of Posidonius, but a date as late as 50 AD has also been suggested.
  The crater Geminus on the Moon is named after him.
  The only work of Geminus to survive is his Introduction to the Phenomena (Greek: Εἰσαγωγὴ εἰς τὰ Φαινόμενα), often just called the Isagoge. This introductory astronomy book, based on the works of earlier astronomers such as Hipparchus, was intended to teach astronomy for beginning students in the subject. In it, Geminus describes the zodiac and the motion of the Sun; the constellations; the celestial sphere; days and nights; the risings and settings of the zodiacal signs; luni-solar periods and their application to calendars; phases of the Moon; eclipses; star phases; terrestrial zones and geographical places; and the foolishness of making weather predictions by the stars.
  
  wn.com/Geminus
• Hicetas
  Hicetas (Ancient Greek: Ἱκέτας or Ἱκέτης; ca. 400 BC – ca. 335 BC) was a Greek philosopher of the Pythagorean School. He was born in Syracuse. Like his fellow Pythagorean Ecphantus and the Academic Heraclides Ponticus, he believed that the daily movement of permanent stars was caused by the rotation of the Earth around its axis.
  
  
  
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• 
  Hipparchus
  Hipparchus/hɪˈpɑːrkəs/, or more correctly Hipparchos (Greek: Ἵππαρχος, Hipparkhos; c. 190 BC – c. 120 BC), was a Greek astronomer, geographer, and mathematician of the Hellenistic period. He is considered the founder of trigonometry.
  Hipparchus was born in Nicaea (now Iznik, Turkey), and probably died on the island of Rhodes. He is known to have been a working astronomer at least from 162 to 127 BC. Hipparchus is considered the greatest ancient astronomical observer and, by some, the greatest overall astronomer of antiquity. He was the first whose quantitative and accurate models for the motion of the Sun and Moon survive. For this he certainly made use of the observations and perhaps the mathematical techniques accumulated over centuries by the Chaldeans from Babylonia. He developed trigonometry and constructed trigonometric tables, and he solved several problems of spherical trigonometry. With his solar and lunar theories and his trigonometry, he may have been the first to develop a reliable method to predict solar eclipses. His other reputed achievements include the discovery of Earth's precession, the compilation of the first comprehensive star catalog of the western world, and possibly the invention of the astrolabe, also of the armillary sphere, which he used during the creation of much of the star catalogue. It would be three centuries before Claudius Ptolemaeus' synthesis of astronomy would supersede the work of Hipparchus; it is heavily dependent on it in many areas.
  
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• 
  Hippocrates of Chios
  Hippocrates of Chios was an ancient Greek mathematician, (geometer), and astronomer, who lived c. 470 – c. 410 BCE.
  He was born on the isle of Chios, where he originally was a merchant. After some misadventures (he was robbed by either pirates or fraudulent customs officials) he went to Athens, possibly for litigation. There he grew into a leading mathematician.
  On Chios Hippocrates may have been a pupil of the mathematician and astronomer Oenopides of Chios. In his mathematical work there probably was some Pythagorean influence too, perhaps via contacts between Chios and the neighbouring island of Samos, a center of Pythagorean thinking: Hippocrates has been described as a 'para-Pythagorean', a philosophical 'fellow traveler'. The Reductio ad absurdum argument (or proof by contradiction) has been traced to him.
  The major accomplishment of Hippocrates is that he was the first to write a systematically organized geometry textbook, called Stoicheia Elements, that is, basic theorems, or building blocks of mathematical theory). From then on, mathematicians from all over the ancient world could, at least in principle, build on a common framework of basic concepts, methods, and theorems, which stimulated the scientific progress of mathematics.
  
  wn.com/Hippocrates_of_Chios
• Hypsicles
  This article is about Hypsicles of Alexandria. For the historian, see Hyspicrates (historian).
  Hypsicles (Ancient Greek: Ὑψικλῆς; ca. 190 BCE – ca. 120 BCE) was an ancient Greek mathematician and astronomer known for authoring On Ascensions (Ἀναφορικός) and the spurious Book XIV of Euclid's Elements.
  Although little is known about the life of Hypsicles, it is believed that he authored the astronomical work On Ascensions (Ἀναφορικός). In this work, Hypsicles proves a number of propositions on arithmetical progressions and uses the results to calculate approximate values for the times required for the signs of the zodiac to rise above the horizon. It is thought that this is the work from which the division of the circle into 360 parts may have been adopted since it divides the day into 360 parts, a division possibly suggested by Babylonian astronomy.
  Hypsicles is more famously known for possibly writing the apocryphal Book XIV of Euclid's Elements. The spurious Book XIV may have been composed on the basis of a treatise by Apollonius. The book continues Euclid's comparison of regular solids inscribed in spheres, with the chief result being that the ratio of the surfaces of the dodecahedron and icosahedron inscribed in the same sphere is the same as the ratio of their volumes, the ratio being Failed to parse (Missing texvc executable; please see math/README to configure.): \sqrt{\tfrac{10}{3(5-\sqrt{5})}} .
  
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• 
  Isaac Newton
  Sir Isaac Newton PRS MP (25 December 1642 – 20 March 1727 [NS: 4 January 1643 – 31 March 1727]) was an English physicist, mathematician, astronomer, natural philosopher, alchemist, and theologian, who has been "considered by many to be the greatest and most influential scientist who ever lived." His monograph Philosophiæ Naturalis Principia Mathematica, published in 1687, lays the foundations for most of classical mechanics. In this work, Newton described universal gravitation and the three laws of motion, which dominated the scientific view of the physical universe for the next three centuries. Newton showed that the motions of objects on Earth and of celestial bodies are governed by the same set of natural laws, by demonstrating the consistency between Kepler's laws of planetary motion and his theory of gravitation, thus removing the last doubts about heliocentrism and advancing the Scientific Revolution.
  
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• 
  John the Baptist
  John the Baptist (Hebrew: יוחנן המטביל, Yoḥanan ha-mmaṭbil, Arabic: يحيى بن زكريا‎ Yahya ibn Zakariya, Aramaic: ܝܘܚܢܢ Yoḥanan, Greek: Ὁ Ἅγιος/Τίμιος Ἐνδοξος Προφήτης, Πρόδρομος καὶ Βαπτιστής Ἰωάννης Ho Hágios/Tímios Endoxos, Profḗtēs, Pródromos, kaì Baptistḗs Ioánnes) (c. 6 BC – c. AD 30-36) was an itinerant preacher and a major religious figure mentioned in the Canonical gospels and the Qur'an. He is described in the Gospel of Luke as a relative of Jesus who led a movement of baptism at the Jordan River. Some scholars maintain that he was influenced by the Essenes, who were semi-ascetic, expected an apocalypse, and practiced rituals corresponding strongly with baptism, although there is no direct evidence to substantiate this. John is regarded as a prophet in Christianity, Islam, the Bahá'í Faith, and Mandaeism.
  Most biblical scholars agree that John baptized Jesus at "Bethany beyond the Jordan," by wading into the water with Jesus from the eastern bank. John the Baptist is also mentioned by Jewish historian Josephus, in Aramaic Matthew, in Pseudo-Clementine, and in the Qur'an. Accounts of John in the New Testament appear compatible with the account in Josephus. There are no other historical accounts of John the Baptist from around the period of his lifetime.
  
  wn.com/John_the_Baptist
• 
  Mapuche people
  The Mapuche are a group of indigenous inhabitants of south-central Chile and southwestern Argentina. They constitute a wide-ranging ethnicity composed of various groups who shared a common social, religious and economic structure, as well as a common linguistic heritage. Their influence extended between the Aconcagua River and Chiloé Archipelago and later eastward to the Argentine pampa. The Mapuche make up about 4% of the Chilean population, and are particularly concentrated in Araucanía Region due to emigration into Santiago.
  The term Mapuche can refer to the whole group of Picunches (people of the north), Huilliches (people of the South) and Moluche or Nguluche from Araucanía, or exclusively to the Moluche or Nguluche from Araucanía. The Mapuche traditional economy is based on agriculture; their traditional social organisation consists of extended families, under the direction of a "lonko" or chief, although in times of war they would unite in larger groupings and elect a toqui (from Mapudungun toki "axe, axe-bearer") to lead them.
  
  wn.com/Mapuche_people
• 
  Nathaniel Bowditch
  Nathaniel Bowditch (/ˈbaʊdɪtʃ/; March 26, 1773 – March 16, 1838) was an early American mathematician remembered for his work on ocean navigation. He is often credited as the founder of modern maritime navigation; his book The New American Practical Navigator, first published in 1802, is still carried on board every commissioned U.S. Naval vessel.
  Nathaniel Bowditch, the fourth of seven children, was born in Salem, Massachusetts to Habakku Bowditch and Mary (Ingersoll) Bowditch. At the age of ten, he was made to leave school to work in his father's cooperage, before becoming indentured at twelve for nine years as a bookkeeping apprentice to a ship chandler.
  In 1787, aged fourteen, Bowditch began to study algebra and two years later he taught himself calculus. He also taught himself Latin in 1790 and French in 1792 so he was able to read mathematical works such as Isaac Newton's Philosophiae Naturalis Principia Mathematica. He found thousands of errors in John Hamilton Moore's The New Practical Navigator; at eighteen, he copied all the mathematical papers he found in the Transactions of the Royal Society of London. Among his many significant scientific contributions would be a translation of Pierre-Simon de Laplace's Mécanique céleste, a lengthy work on mathematics and theoretical astronomy.
  
  wn.com/Nathaniel_Bowditch
• Oenopides
  Oenopides of Chios (Greek: Οἰνοπίδης) was an ancient Greek mathematician (geometer) and astronomer, who lived around 450 BCE. He was born shortly after 500 BCE on the island of Chios, but mostly worked in Athens.
  The main accomplishment of Oenopides as an astronomer was his determination of the angle between the plane of the celestial equator, and the zodiac (the yearly path of the sun in the sky). He found this angle to be 24°. In effect this amounted to measuring the inclination of the earth axis. Oenopides's result remained the standard value for two centuries, until Eratosthenes measured it with greater precision.
  Oenopides also determined the value of the Great Year, that is, the shortest interval of time that is equal to both an integer number of years and an integer number of months. As the relative positions of the sun and moon repeat themselves after each Great Year, this offers a means to predict solar and lunar eclipses. In actual practice this is only approximately true, because the ratio of the length of the year and that of the month does not exactly match any simple mathematical fraction, and because in addition the lunar orbit varies continuously.
  
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  Pliny the Elder
  Gaius Plinius Secundus (23 AD – August 25, 79 AD), better known as Pliny the Elder, was a Roman author, naturalist, and natural philosopher, as well as naval and army commander of the early Roman Empire, and personal friend of the emperor Vespasian. Spending most of his spare time studying, writing or investigating natural and geographic phenomena in the field, he wrote an encyclopedic work, Naturalis Historia, which became a model for all such works written subsequently. Pliny the Younger, his nephew, wrote of him in a letter to the historian Tacitus:
  Pliny is referring to the fact that Tacitus relied on his uncle's now missing work on the History of the German Wars. Pliny the Elder died on August 25, 79 AD, while attempting the rescue by ship of a friend and his family from the eruption of Mount Vesuvius that had just destroyed the cities of Pompeii and Herculaneum. The prevailing wind would not allow his ship to leave the shore. His companions attributed his collapse and death to toxic fumes; but they were unaffected by the fumes, suggesting natural causes.
  
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  Posidonius
  Posidonius (Greek: Ποσειδώνιος / Poseidonios, meaning "of Poseidon") "of Apameia" (ὁ Ἀπαμεύς) or "of Rhodes" (ὁ Ῥόδιος) (ca. 135 BCE - 51 BCE), was a Greek Stoic philosopher, politician, astronomer, geographer, historian and teacher native to Apamea, Syria. He was acclaimed as the greatest polymath of his age. None of his vast body of work can be read in its entirety today, as it exists only in fragments.
  Posidonius, nicknamed "the Athlete", was born to a Greek family in Apamea, a Hellenistic city on the river Orontes in northern Syria, and probably died in Rome or Rhodes.
  Posidonius completed his higher education in Athens, where he was a student of the aged Panaetius, the head of the Stoic school.
  He settled around 95 BCE in Rhodes, a maritime state which had a reputation for scientific research, and became a citizen.
  In Rhodes, Posidonius actively took part in political life, and his high standing is apparent from the offices he held. He attained the highest public office as one of the Prytaneis (presidents, having a six months tenure) of Rhodes. He served as an ambassador to Rome in 87 - 86 BCE, during the Marian and Sullan era.
  
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  Ptolemy
  Claudius Ptolemy ( /ˈtɒləmi/; Greek: Κλαύδιος Πτολεμαῖος, Klaudios Ptolemaios; Latin: Claudius Ptolemaeus; c. AD 90 – c. AD 168), was a Greek-Roman citizen of Egypt who wrote in Greek. He was a mathematician, astronomer, geographer, astrologer, and poet of a single epigram in the Greek Anthology. He lived in Egypt under Roman rule, and is believed to have been born in the town of Ptolemais Hermiou in the Thebaid. This theory, proposed by Theodore Meliteniotes, could be correct, but it is late (ca. 1360) and unsupported. There is no reason to suppose that he ever lived anywhere else than Alexandria, where he died around AD 168.
  Ptolemy was the author of several scientific treatises, at least three of which were of continuing importance to later Islamic and European science. The first is the astronomical treatise now known as the Almagest (in Greek, Ἡ Μεγάλη Σύνταξις, "The Great Treatise", originally Μαθηματικὴ Σύνταξις, "Mathematical Treatise"). The second is the Geography, which is a thorough discussion of the geographic knowledge of the Greco-Roman world. The third is the astrological treatise known sometimes in Greek as the Apotelesmatika (Ἀποτελεσματικά), more commonly in Greek as the Tetrabiblos (Τετράβιβλος "Four books"), and in Latin as the Quadripartitum (or four books) in which he attempted to adapt horoscopic astrology to the Aristotelian natural philosophy of his day.
  
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  Pytheas
  Pytheas of Massalia or (using the Latin form) Massilia (Ancient Greek Πυθέας ὁ Μασσαλιώτης) (4th century BC), was a Greek geographer and explorer from the Greek colony, Massalia (modern day Marseilles). He made a voyage of exploration to northwestern Europe at about 325 BC. He travelled around and visited a considerable part of Great Britain. Pytheas is the first person on record to describe the Midnight Sun,polar ice, Germanic and possibly Finnic tribes. He is the one who introduced the idea of distant Thule to the geographic imagination. His account of the tides is the earliest to state they are caused by the moon.
  Pliny says that Timaeus (born about 350 BC) believed Pytheas' story of the discovery of amber. Strabo says that Dicaearchus (died about 285 BC) did not trust the stories of Pytheas. That is all the information that survives concerning the date of Pytheas' voyage. Presuming that Timaeus would not have written until after he was 20 years old at about 330 BC and Dicaearchus would have needed time to write his most mature work, after 300 BC, there is no reason not to accept Tozer's window of 330 BC – 300 BC for the voyage. Some would give Timaeus an extra 5 years, bringing the voyage down to 325 BC at earliest. There is no further evidence.
  
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• Seleucus of Seleucia
  Seleucus (or Seleukos) of Seleucia (born c. 190 BC, fl. 150s BC) was a Hellenistic astronomer and philosopher. Coming from Seleucia on the Tigris, the capital of the Seleucid empire, or, alternatively, Seleukia on the Red Sea, he is best known as a proponent of heliocentrism and for his theory of the origin of tides.
  Teaching around 150 BC, he is known to have been a follower of the heliocentric theory of Aristarchus of Samos, which stated that the Earth rotated around its own axis which in turn revolved around the Sun. According to Plutarch, Seleucus was the first to demonstrate the heliocentric system through reasoning, but it is not known what arguments he used. According to Bartel Leendert van der Waerden, Seleucus may have constructed his heliocentric theory by determining the constants of a geometric model and by developing methods to compute planetary positions using this model, as Nicolaus Copernicus later did in the 16th century. He may have used trigonometric methods that were available in his time, as he was a contemporary of Hipparchus.
  
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  Strabo
  Strabo,,^{[pronunciation?]}, also written Strabon (Greek: Στράβων; 64/63 BC – ca. AD 24), was a Greek geographer, philosopher and historian.
  Strabo was born to an affluent family from Amaseia in Pontus (modern Amasya, Turkey), a city that he said was situated the approximate equivalent of 75 km from the Black Sea. His mother was Georgian. Pontus had recently fallen to the Roman Republic, and although politically he was a proponent of Roman imperialism, Strabo belonged on his mother's side to a prominent family whose members had held important positions under the resisting regime of King Mithridates VI of Pontus.
  Strabo's life was characterized by extensive travels. He journeyed to Egypt and Kush, as far west as coastal Tuscany and as far south as Ethiopia in addition to his travels in Asia Minor and time spent in Rome. Travel throughout the Mediterranean and Near East, especially for scholarly purposes, was popular during this era and was facilitated by the relative peace enjoyed throughout the reign of Augustus (27 BC – AD 14). He moved to Rome in 44 BC, and stayed there, studying and writing, until at least 31 BC. In 29 BC, on his way to Corinth (where Augustus was at the time), he visited the island of Gyaros in the Aegean Sea. Around 25 BC, he sailed up the Nile until reaching Philae, after which point there is little record of his proceedings until 17 AD.
  
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• 
  Thales
  Thales of Miletus ( /ˈθeɪliːz/; Greek: Θαλῆς, Thalēs; c. 624 BC – c. 546 BC) was a pre-Socratic Greek philosopher from Miletus in Asia Minor, and one of the Seven Sages of Greece. Many, most notably Aristotle, regard him as the first philosopher in the Greek tradition. According to Bertrand Russell, "Western philosophy begins with Thales." Thales attempted to explain natural phenomena without reference to mythology and was tremendously influential in this respect. Almost all of the other pre-Socratic philosophers follow him in attempting to provide an explanation of ultimate substance, change, and the existence of the world—without reference to mythology. Those philosophers were also influential, and eventually Thales' rejection of mythological explanations became an essential idea for the scientific revolution. He was also the first to define general principles and set forth hypotheses, and as a result has been dubbed the "Father of Science", though it is argued that Democritus is actually more deserving of this title.
  
  wn.com/Thales
• Theon of Alexandria
  Theon (Greek: Θέων, gen.: Θέωνος; ca. 335 – ca. 405) was a Greekscholar and mathematician who lived in Alexandria, Egypt. He edited and arranged Euclid's Elements and Ptolemy's Handy Tables, as well as writing various commentaries. His daughter Hypatia also won fame as a mathematician.
  The biographical tradition (Suda) defines Theon as "the man from the Mouseion"; actually, both the Library of Alexandria and the Mouseion may have been destroyed a century before by the Emperor Aurelian during his struggle against Zenobia. Some scholars think that they were closed by the patriarch Theophilus on order of the Christian Roman emperor Theodosius I in 391. Theon was the father of the mathematician Hypatia whose murder was attributed by Socrates Scholasticus to "political jealousy" which instigated mob violence.
  Theon's most durable achievement may be his edition of Euclid's Elements, published around 364 and authoritative into the 19th century. The bulk of Theon's work, however, consisted of commentaries on important works by his Hellenistic predecessors. These included a "conferences" (Synousiai) on Euclid, and commentaries (Exegeseis) on the Handy Tables and Almagest of Ptolemy, and on the technical poet Aratus.
  
  wn.com/Theon_of_Alexandria
• Theon of Smyrna
  Theon of Smyrna (Θέωνος ὁ Σμυρναῖος) (fl. 100 CE) was a Greek philosopher and mathematician, whose works were strongly influenced by the Pythagorean school of thought. His surviving On Mathematics Useful for the Understanding of Plato is an introductory survey of Greek mathematics.
  Little is known about the life of Theon of Smyrna. A bust created at his death, and dedicated by his son, was discovered at Smyrna, and art historians date it to around 135 CE. Ptolemy refers several times in his Almagest to a Theon who made observations at Alexandria, but it is uncertain whether he is referring to Theon of Smyrna. The lunar impact crater Theon Senior is named for him.
  Theon wrote several commentaries on the works of mathematicians and philosophers of the time, including works on the philosophy of Plato. Most of these works are lost. The one major survivor is his On Mathematics Useful for the Understanding of Plato. A second work concerning the order in which to study Plato's works has recently been discovered in an Arabic translation.
  
  wn.com/Theon_of_Smyrna
• Timocharis
  Timocharis of Alexandria (ca. 320 BC – 260 BC) was a Greek astronomer and philosopher. Likely born in Alexandria, he was a contemporary of Euclid.^{[citation needed]}
  What little is known about Timocharis comes from citations by Ptolemy in the Almagest. These indicate that Timocharis worked in Alexandria during the 290s and 280s BCE. Ptolemy lists the declination of 18 stars as recorded by Timocharis or Aristillus in roughly the year 290 BCE. Between 295 and 272 BCE, Timocharis recorded four lunar occultations and the passage of the planet Venus across a star. These were recorded using both the Egyptian and Athenian calendars. The observed stellar passage by Venus may have occurred on October 12, 272 BCE when the planet came within 15 arcminutes of the star η Virginis.
  The observations by Timocharis are among the oldest Greek records that can be assigned a specific date. They are only exceeded by records of the summer solstice of 432 BCE, as noted by Euctemon and Meton. Timocharis worked with Aristillus in an astronomical observatory that was most likely part of the Library of Alexandria. Their equipment would have been simple, most likely consisting of gnomons, sundials and an armillary sphere. The two were contemporaries of Aristarchus of Samos, but it is unclear whether there was any association between Timocharis and Aristarchus.
  
  wn.com/Timocharis

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