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.
Jonathan Anthony Stroud (born 27 October 1970, Bedford, England) is an author of fantasy books, mainly for children and young adults.
Born in 1970 in Bedford, England, Stroud began to write stories at a very young age. He grew up in St Albans where he enjoyed reading books, drawing pictures, and writing stories. Between the ages seven and nine he was often ill, so he spent most of his days in the hospital or in his bed at home. To escape boredom, he would occupy himself with books and stories. After he completed his studies of English literature at the University of York, he worked in London as an editor for the Walker Books store. During the 1990s, he started publishing his own works and quickly gained success.[clarification needed]
Among his most prominent works are the best-sellingBartimaeus Trilogy. A special feature of these novels compared to others of their genre is that Stroud examines the stereotypes and ethics of the magician class and the enslaved demons. This is done by telling the story from the perspective of the sarcastic and slightly egomaniacal djinni Bartimaeus. The books in this series are The Amulet of Samarkand, The Golem's Eye, Ptolemy's Gate, and The Ring of Solomon (although The Ring of Solomon was not part of the official trilogy), his first books to be published in the United States.
Carl Edward Sagan ( /ˈseɪɡɪn/; November 9, 1934 – December 20, 1996) was an American astronomer, astrophysicist, cosmologist, author, science popularizer, and science communicator in astronomy and natural sciences. He published more than 600 scientific papers and articles and was author, co-author or editor of more than 20 books. He advocated scientifically skeptical inquiry and the scientific method, pioneered exobiology and promoted the Search for Extra-Terrestrial Intelligence (SETI).
Sagan is known for his popular science books and for the award-winning 1980 television series Cosmos: A Personal Voyage, which he narrated and co-wrote. The book Cosmos was published to accompany the series. Sagan wrote the novel Contact, the basis for a 1997 film of the same name.
Carl Sagan was born in Brooklyn, New York, to a Ukrainian Jewish family. His father, Sam Sagan, was an immigrant garment worker from Kamenets-Podolsk, Ukraine; his mother, Rachel Molly Gruber, a housewife. Carl was named in honor of Rachel's biological mother, Chaiya Clara, in Sagan's words, "the mother she never knew." Sagan graduated from Rahway High School in Rahway, New Jersey, in 1951.
Richard David James (born 18 August 1971), best known under the pseudonym Aphex Twin, is a British electronic musician and composer. He founded the record label Rephlex Records in 1991 with Grant Wilson-Claridge. He was described by The Guardian as "the most inventive and influential figure in contemporary electronic music."
Aphex Twin has also recorded music under the aliases AFX, Blue Calx, Bradley Strider, Caustic Window, DJ Smojphace, GAK, Martin Tressider, Polygon Window, Power-Pill, Prichard D. Jams, Q-Chastic, Tahnaiya Russell, The Dice Man, Soit-P.P., and speculatively The Tuss.
Aphex Twin has released recordings on Rephlex, Warp, R&S, Sire, Mighty Force, Rabbit City, and Men Records.
Richard David James was born to Welsh parents Lorna and Derek James in St. Munchin's Limerick Regional Maternity Hospital, Ireland. He grew up in Lanner, Cornwall, enjoying, along with two older sisters, a "very happy" childhood during which they, according to James, "were pretty much left to do what [they] wanted." He "liked growing up there, being cut off from the city and the rest of the world". James attended Redruth School, located in Redruth, Cornwall.
Alexander III of Macedon (20/21 July 356 – 10/11 June 323 BC), commonly known as Alexander the Great (Greek: Ἀλέξανδρος ὁ Μέγας, Aléxandros ho Mégas from the Greek αλέξω alexo "to defend, help" + ανήρ aner "man"), was a king of Macedon, a state in northern ancient Greece. Born in Pella in 356 BC, Alexander was tutored by Aristotle until the age of 16. By the age of thirty, he had created one of the largest empires of the ancient world, stretching from the Ionian Sea to the Himalayas. He was undefeated in battle and is considered one of history's most successful commanders.
Alexander succeeded his father, Philip II of Macedon, to the throne in 336 BC after Philip was assassinated. Upon Philip's death, Alexander inherited a strong kingdom and an experienced army. He was awarded the generalship of Greece and used this authority to launch his father's military expansion plans. In 334 BC, he invaded Persian-ruled Asia Minor and began a series of campaigns that lasted ten years. Alexander broke the power of Persia in a series of decisive battles, most notably the battles of Issus and Gaugamela. He subsequently overthrew the Persian King Darius III and conquered the entirety of the Persian Empire. At that point, his empire stretched from the Adriatic Sea to the Indus River.
Plot
Blair Witch meets Spinal Tap when director Scott Watt runs into the woods to make his debut feature. Saddled with an unreliable cast and mutinous crew, Scott soon learns that the real terror in the making of any horror film lies behind the camera.
Keywords: parody, romp, spoof
One man, one dream, a shed load of obstacles
Plot
With the assassination of his rowdy and bawdy father King Philip in 336 BC, Alexander gathers up his Home-Boy Macedonians (30,000 or so) and crosses the Hellespont to strike Darius and the Persian Horde. The Persians, of course, torched the Acropolis three generations earlier. The Greeks (and Macedonians) never forgot. During his herculean 12-year odyssey, Alexander succeeds in creating a world empire from the Danube to the Indus. Ever the glorious conqueror, he shows not only military genius, but compassion for the conquered. Alexander's women (aside from his mother Olympias) include his life-long consort, Barsine, who takes him on erotic / chemical "trips". There is also Roxanne, the Bactrian princess / wannabe dancer, his possessive first wife and True Love. His second marriage to Stateira, Darius' clueless daughter, doesn't set well with Roxanne, which starts the tragic time-clock ticking. Roxanne opts into a regime-changing scenario-- orchestrated back in Athens by Demosthenes and Macedonian rivals.
Keywords: betrayal, women
Re-Live the Legend !
In the fourth century before Christ, a young Macedonian prince led 30,000 armed and dangerous Greeks into Asia. . . .
Sometimes it's hard to tell your friends from your enemies
Plot
Alexander, the King of Macedonia, leads his legions against the giant Persian Empire. After defeating the Persians he leads his Army across the then known world venturing further than any Westerner had ever gone all the way to India.
Keywords: 25-year-old, 285-bc, 323-bc, 3rd-century-b.c., 4th-century-b.c., african-lion, alexander-the-great, alexandria-egypt, ambition, ancient-egypt
Fortune favors the bold
The greatest legend of all was real
Alexander: I've come to believe the fear of death drives all men, Hephaistion. This we didn't learn as schoolboys.::Hephaistion: I've always believed, Alexander. But this seems so much bigger than us.::Alexander: Did Patroclus stare at Achilles when they stood side by side at the siege of troy?::Hephaistion: Patroclus died first.::Alexander: If you do... if you were to fall Hephaistion, I will avenge you, and follow you down to the house of death.::Hephaistion: I would do the same.::Alexander: On the eve of battle it's hardest to be alone.::Hephaistion: Then perhaps this is farewell, my Alexander.::Alexander: Fear not, Hephaistion. We are at the beginning.
Alexander: Conquer your fear, and I promise you, you will conquer death.
Hephaistion: You know better than any great deeds are donned by men who took, and never regretted. You're Alexander! Pity and grief will only destroy you.::Alexander: Have I become so arrogant that I am blind?::Hephaistion: Sometimes to expect the best from everyone is arrogance.::Alexander: Then it's true. I have become a tyrant!::Hephaistion: No! But perhaps a stranger. We've come too far. They don't understand you anymore.::Alexander: They speak of Phillip now as if I were a passing cloud, soon to be forgotten. I've failed. Utterly.::Hephaistion: You're mortal. And they know it. And they forgive you because you make them proud of themselves.
Olympias: My little Achilles.
Olympias: My poor child. You're like Achilles; cursed by your greatness. You must never confuse your feelings with your duties, Alexander. A king must make public gestures for the common people. You will be nineteen this summer, and the girls already say you don't like them, you like Hephastion more. I understand, it's natural for a young man. But if you go to Asia without leaving a successor you risk all.::Alexander: Hephastion loves me. As I am. Not who.
Cassander: Alexander, if we must fight, do so with stealth. Use your numbers well; we should attack tonight when they least expect us.::Alexander: I didn't cross Asia to steal this victory, Cassander.::Cassander: No, you are too honorable for that, no doubt influenced from sleeping with tales of Troy under your pillow. But your father was no lover of Homer's.::Parmenion: The lands west of the Euphrates, Alexander, and his daughter's hand in marriage! Since when has a Greek ever been given such honors?::Alexander: These are not honors, Parmenion, they're bribes! Which the Greeks have accepted too long! You forget, Parmenion, that the man who murdered my father lies across the valley floor.::Parmenion: Come, Alexander, we're not really sure if it was Persian gold behind the assassination. It is no matter! Your father taught you never to surrender your reason to your passion! I urge you, with all my experience, regroup! Fall back to the coast, raise a larger force!::Alexander: I would, if I were Parmenion. But I am Alexander. And no more than earth has two suns will Asia bear two kings. These are my terms. And if Darius isn't a coward who hides behind his men then he'll come to me tomorrow. And *when* he bows down to Greece, Alexander will be merciful.
Alexander: May all those who come here after us know, when they see this altar, that titans were once here.
Alexander: A thousand ships we'll launch from here, Hephaistion! We'll round Arabia, and sail up the gulf to Egypt. From there, we'll build a channel through the desert, out to the middle sea. And then we'll move on Carthage, and that great island Cecily; they'll pay large tribute. After that the Romans - good fighters, but we'll beat them. And then explore the northern forests, and add the pillars of Heracles to the western ocean. And then one day, populations will mix and travel freely. Asia and Europe will come together. And we'll grow old, Hephaistion, looking out our balcony at this new world.
Young Alexander: One day I'll be on walls like these.
Hephaistion: [on his death bed] I'll feel better. Soon I'll be up.::Alexander: We leave for Arabia in the spring, I can't leave without you!::Hephaistion: Arabia... you used to dress me up like a sheik and wave your wooden scimitar...::Alexander: You were the only one who'd never let me win. The only one who's ever been honest with me. You saved me from myself. Please don't leave me, Hephaistion.::Hephaistion: ...I remember the young man who wanted to be Achilles, and then out did him.::Alexander: And then what happens? That was a myth only young men believe!::Hephaistion: But how beautiful a myth it was.::Alexander: How we reach, we fall! Oh, Hephaistion.::Hephaistion: I worry for you without me.::Alexander: I am nothing without you!
Plot
Joe has a Zippo lighter engraved with a Praying Mantis by Salvador Dali. It was given to him by his recent ex-gal, Leyla. One night, after Joe has a drunken heart-to-heart with his dog, Ptolemy, he discovers that he still loves Leyla and that he wishes to have her back. Coincidentally, he also discovers that the lighter contains a Hippopotamus Genie who is willing to grant his wish. The Hippo of the Zippo tells him that in order to get the girl, he must enter the underworld and break the Elephant's Egg at the Sparkling Sea. So Joe and Ptolemy set off on a journey through a Dali painting to win back the girl.
Joe's got a dilemma... and a talking Dog, a Hippo in his Zippo, a Man Eating Praying Mantis and he wants his girl back.
Plot
Alexander the Great was the world's most powerful warrior. Reign is a 21st century science-fiction retelling of the legend of this Macedonian king. A visual masterpiece, Reign tells the story of Alexander's's triumphs through engaging characters, intricate plots and glorious battle sequences.
Keywords: alexandria-egypt, allegory, anime, character-name-in-title, chosen-one, city, egypt, fictional-war, geometry, goddess
Plot
Cleopatra hasn't been on the throne of the pharoahs of Egypt very long when Julius Caesar pays a visit. Caesar finds the prospect of romance more tempting than he expected, since Cleopatra is a rare woman who is bright as well as beautiful. And for Cleopatra, a friendly relationship with the most powerful man in the world may pay dividends in the future.
Keywords: 1st-century-b.c., ancient-rome, based-on-play, character-name-in-title, cleopatra, control, dictator, egypt, egyptian, femme-fatale
The most lavish picture ever on the screen!
Days of magnificent adventure... nights of maddest revelry... a temptation in Technicolor!
Never before such seductive beauty; such riotous... luxurious... loving and living
Julius Caesar: Go, Ptolemy. Always take a throne when it is offered to you.
Julius Caesar: And so to the end of history, murder shall breed murder, always in the name of right, and justice, and peace, until the gods create a race of men that can understand.
Julius Caesar: What's the matter?::Cleopatra: You're bald! That's why you wear the wreath!
Julius Caesar: Is it sweet or bitter to be a queen?::Cleopatra: Bitter.::Julius Caesar: Cast out fear, and you will conquer Caeser.
Apollodorus: When a stupid man is doing something he is ashamed of, he always declares it his duty.
People at the city say he's buried underground
They're turning over the stones but there's nothing
here to be found
Looking to the desert in a cool moonlight
Nobody watching, there is no one out tonight
Standing in the shadow there's a real mean guy
And I don't know if I'll make it and I don't know if
I'm gonna die tonight
Take a caravan to the limit of the city
Smoke the hookah pipes where the people have no pity
Ptolemy
The dogs will howl in the market square
You'll bargain for your life but you leave their
treasures there
Don't you go astray on the wrong side of the city
Fighting for your life where the people have no pity
Ptolemy
I wish I'd never listened
To that old high priest
He told me of the riches
They buried beneath
Down in the crypt where the men fear to tread
She danced the seven veils and the boy was nearly dead
Don't you go astray on the wrong side of the city
Fighting for your life where the people have no pity