Hipparchus
Greek astronomer, geographer, and mathematician; founder of trigonometry and discoverer of the precession of the equinoxes.
Many consider Hipparchus the most significant astronomer of ancient times, particularly as an observer of celestial phenomena.[1] Bithynian coinage from the second and third centuries features Hipparchus's name and his image holding a globe.[2][3]
Quick Facts
- Birthplace
- Nicaea, Kingdom of Bithynia (modern-day İznik, Bursa, Turkey)
- Place of death
- Rhodes, Roman Republic (modern-day Greece)
- Occupation
- Astronomer
- Mathematician
- Geographer
Facts from the source article.
Life and work
Most of what is known about Hipparchus comes from Strabo's Geography and Pliny's Natural History in the first century.[4] He was recognized as the first mathematician known to have possessed a trigonometric table.[5] Only a small portion of Hipparchus's original writings have come down to the present day.[4] He authored at least fourteen books, but later scribes transmitted only his critique of Aratus's well-known astronomical poem.[4]
By comparing lunar eclipses he observed (likely on 27 January 141 BC and 26 November 139 BC) with Babylonian eclipse records from 345 years earlier, Hipparchus was able to verify his calculations.[6] To account for the unequal seasons, Hipparchus proposed that the Earth was offset from the center of the Sun's circular path.[7]
What the cited sources add
The snible.org source on ancient coinage of Bithynia lists a coin with the legend ΙΠΠΑΡΧΟC Hipparchus the astronomer.[3] That same coin also depicts athletes drawing lots and the river-god CΑΓΑΡΙC.[3]
References
- Wikipedia, "Hipparchus" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Denison Olmsted, Outlines of a Course of Lectures on Meteorology and Astronomy, pp 22 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia, "Hipparchus" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "Ancient coinage of Bithynia", snible.org (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
- "Ancient coinage of Bithynia", snible.org. facts only, no text reused. snible.org
- Wikipedia, "Hipparchus" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Toomer 1978; Jones 2001 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia, "Hipparchus" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Toomer 1984 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia, "Hipparchus" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Jones 2001 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia, "Hipparchus" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Thurston 2002; Jones 2001; Thurston 2002 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
Each numbered sentence above was checked against the source it cites before publication. Sentences citing Wikipedia adapt text from the English Wikipedia article Hipparchus (contributors), used under CC BY-SA 4.0; this entry is available under the same licence. Other sources were used for facts only; no text or images are copied from them.
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