ABC Radio National - Ockham's Razor Transcript - 3 Aug 97 This piece is named for Theon (335 AD 395 AD), a professor of mathematics and astronomy. He was known best for his version of Euclid's "Elements" which included additions and changes. He was the father of Hypatia. Site Map. "Theon". Alexandria. Series. Height. 5.0 in http://www.abc.net.au/rn/science/ockham/or030897.htm
Extractions: Hypatia of Alexandria Robyn Williams: Today's talk gives an unanswerable reason why girls shouldn't do mathematics. At least not in the 5th Century AD. It's an extraordinary story and here to tell it is Maths Lecturer from Monash, Dr Michael Deakin. Dr Deakin: Imagine a time when the world's greatest living mathematician was a woman, indeed a physically beautiful woman, and a woman who was simultaneously the world's leading astronomer. And imagine that she conducted her life and her professional work in a city as turbulent and troubled as Ayodhya or Amritsar, Belfast or Beirut is today. And imagine such a female mathematician achieving fame not only in her specialist field, but also as a philosopher and religious thinker, who attracted a large popular following. And imagine her as a virgin martyr killed, not for her Christianity, but by Christians because she was not one of them. And imagine that the guilt of her death was widely whispered to lie at the door of one of Christianity's most honoured and significant saints. Would we not expect to have heard of all this? Would it not be shouted from the rooftops? Would it not be possible to walk into any bookstore and buy a biography of this woman? Would not her life be common knowledge?
Theon theon of alexandria. Born about 335 theon of alexandria worked in Alexandriaas a teacher of mathematics and astronomy. We know from http://www-gap.dcs.st-and.ac.uk/~history/Mathematicians/Theon.html
Extractions: Theon of Alexandria worked in Alexandria as a teacher of mathematics and astronomy. We know from his own writings that he observed a solar eclipse on 16 June 364 at Alexandria and a lunar eclipse, again in Alexandria, on 25 November 364. We also know that he made a list of Roman consuls which he continued to make until 372. There is a reference in the Suda Lexicon (a work of a 10th century Greek lexicographer) which states that Theon of Alexandria lived under the Emperor Theodosius I (who reigned from 379 to 395). These dates are therefore consistent. The Suda also states that Theon was a member of the Museum. which was an institute for higher education set up in Alexandria in 300 BC. Again this is possible, but the Museum certainly did not exist much beyond the time of Theon if indeed it existed in his time. On balance it seems reasonable to accept that he was one of its last members. Theon was the father of Hypatia and it certainly seems to be the case that he died before she was murdered in 415. There does not seem to be any other evidence which would let us give a more accurate guess of the dates of his birth and death other than these few indications of times when he was certainly working.
Theon Biography of theon of alexandria (335405) theon of alexandria. Born about 335 in (possibly) Alexandria, Egypt http://www-groups.dcs.st-and.ac.uk/~history/Mathematicians/Theon.html
Extractions: Theon of Alexandria worked in Alexandria as a teacher of mathematics and astronomy. We know from his own writings that he observed a solar eclipse on 16 June 364 at Alexandria and a lunar eclipse, again in Alexandria, on 25 November 364. We also know that he made a list of Roman consuls which he continued to make until 372. There is a reference in the Suda Lexicon (a work of a 10th century Greek lexicographer) which states that Theon of Alexandria lived under the Emperor Theodosius I (who reigned from 379 to 395). These dates are therefore consistent. The Suda also states that Theon was a member of the Museum. which was an institute for higher education set up in Alexandria in 300 BC. Again this is possible, but the Museum certainly did not exist much beyond the time of Theon if indeed it existed in his time. On balance it seems reasonable to accept that he was one of its last members. Theon was the father of Hypatia and it certainly seems to be the case that he died before she was murdered in 415. There does not seem to be any other evidence which would let us give a more accurate guess of the dates of his birth and death other than these few indications of times when he was certainly working.
References For Theon References for theon of alexandria. Biography in Dictionary of ScientificBiography (New York 19701990). Books TL Heath, A History http://www-gap.dcs.st-and.ac.uk/~history/References/Theon.html
Extractions: Sudhoffs Arch. D Pingree, An illustrated Greek astronomical manuscript : Commentary of Theon of Alexandria on the 'Handy tables' and scholia and other writings of Ptolemy concerning them, J. Warburg Courtauld Inst. A Rome, The calculation of an eclipse of the sun according to Theon of Alexandria, in Proceedings of the International Congress of Mathematicians 1950 (Providence, R. I., 1952), 209-219. Arch. Internat. Hist. Sci. Janus Main index Birthplace Maps Biographies Index
TMTh:: THEON OF ALEXANDRIA MATHEMATICIAN, ASTRONOMER theon of alexandria (fl. c. 360 AD) LifeFather of the celebrated mathematician Hypatia, who worked with http://www.tmth.edu.gr/en/aet/2/94.html
Extractions: Father of the celebrated mathematician Hypatia, who worked with him, Theon lived during the reign of Theodosius the Great. He was the director of the "Museum" (University and Library) of Alexandria, and taught at the school where Euclid taught. Commentaries on his work survive in many texts (Suidas - Lexicon, 950 AD). He wrote a total of 13 books, of which only the first book of the "Commentary on the Treatise of Ptolemy" and a few other fragments are extant.
Hypatia Daughter of the mathematician, Theon once served as the head of the Platonist school at Alexandria. Read her biography. Hypatia was the daughter of the mathematician and philosopher theon of alexandria and it is fairly certain that she http://www-groups.dcs.st-and.ac.uk/~history/Mathematicians/Hypatia.html
Extractions: Hypatia of Alexandria was the first woman to make a substantial contribution to the development of mathematics. Hypatia was the daughter of the mathematician and philosopher Theon of Alexandria and it is fairly certain that she studied mathematics under the guidance and instruction of her father. It is rather remarkable that Hypatia became head of the Platonist school at Alexandria in about 400 AD. There she lectured on mathematics and philosophy, in particular teaching the philosophy of Neoplatonism . Hypatia based her teachings on those of Plotinus , the founder of Neoplatonism, and Iamblichus who was a developer of Neoplatonism around 300 AD. Plotinus taught that there is an ultimate reality which is beyond the reach of thought or language. The object of life was to aim at this ultimate reality which could never be precisely described. Plotinus stressed that people did not have the mental capacity to fully understand both the ultimate reality itself or the consequences of its existence. Iamblichus distinguished further levels of reality in a hierarchy of levels beneath the ultimate reality. There was a level of reality corresponding to every distinct thought of which the human mind was capable. Hypatia taught these philosophical ideas with a greater scientific emphasis than earlier followers of Neoplatonism. She is described by all commentators as a charismatic teacher.
TMTh:: Ancient Greek Technologists LYCIA (DIADOCHUS) PYTHAGORAS THALES OF MILETUS THEAETHETUS OF ATHENS THEANO OF THURIITHEODORE OF CYRENE THEODOSIUS OF TRIPOLIS theon of alexandria TIMAEUS OF http://www.tmth.edu.gr/en/aet/1.html
TMTh:: THEON OF ALEXANDRIA Home Ancient Greek Scientists AGRICULTURALISTS ARCHITECTS ARTISTS ASTRONOMERS BIOLOGISTS BOTANISTS CHEMISTS ENGINEERS GEOGRAPHERS INVENTORS MATHEMATICIANS METEOROLOGISTS PHARMACOLOGISTS PHYSICIANS PHYSICISTS MATHEMATICIAN, ASTRONOMER THEON OF http://www.tmth.edu.gr/en/aet/1/94.html
Extractions: Father of the celebrated mathematician Hypatia, who worked with him, Theon lived during the reign of Theodosius the Great. He was the director of the "Museum" (University and Library) of Alexandria, and taught at the school where Euclid taught. Commentaries on his work survive in many texts (Suidas - Lexicon, 950 AD). He wrote a total of 13 books, of which only the first book of the "Commentary on the Treatise of Ptolemy" and a few other fragments are extant.
References For Theon References for theon of alexandria. Biography in Dictionary of Scientific Biography (New York 19701990). http://www-history.mcs.st-and.ac.uk/~history/References/Theon.html
Extractions: Sudhoffs Arch. D Pingree, An illustrated Greek astronomical manuscript : Commentary of Theon of Alexandria on the 'Handy tables' and scholia and other writings of Ptolemy concerning them, J. Warburg Courtauld Inst. A Rome, The calculation of an eclipse of the sun according to Theon of Alexandria, in Proceedings of the International Congress of Mathematicians 1950 (Providence, R. I., 1952), 209-219. Arch. Internat. Hist. Sci. Janus Main index Birthplace Maps Biographies Index
Theon Of Alexandria Name Theon. Occupation From Alexandria. Son of Occupation Datesfl. 360 AD. Brief biography Dated by observations of solar eclipse http://www.swan.ac.uk/classics/staff/ter/grst/People/TheonAlex.htm
Extractions: Name Theon Occupation: From Alexandria Son of: Occupation: Dates fl . 360 AD Brief biography Dated by observations of solar eclipse of 16 June 364 and lunar eclipse of 26 Nov 364. Daughter was Hypatia. Member of the Museum at Alexandria; the last attested member. All his extant works are commentaries or editions of classics in the maths and astronomy education of the time, meant for use by students. Contemporaries Emperor Theodosios I (reigned 379-95) Works References G J Toomer DSB Last modified: 11 March 2003
Who's Who Tertullian. Thales. Theaitetus. Themistius. Theodorus. Theodosios. theon of alexandria.Theon of Smyrna. Theophrastos. Theopompos. Thessalus. Thucydides. Thumaridas. http://www.swan.ac.uk/classics/staff/ter/grst/Who's who.htm
Extractions: Who's who Please note: Ancient Greek names may be transliterated into English letters in several different ways. If you do not find the name you seek first time, try changing 'c' to 'k', 'y' to 'u', 'e' to 'i', 'u' to 'o' and/or final 'm' to 'n'. This page is under development; all of the people mentioned will have their own page in due course. Some of the pages which exist are still under development. The mathematicians are well done at the University of St Andrews MacTutor site here . See also Siris' pages here DSB as a reference is the Dictionary of Scientific Biography Aelian Aesop Aetius Aetius of Amida Agatharkhos Agatharkhides Agathinus Agrippa ... Aiskhulos al-Andalusi, Saïd (C11 AD) Alexander of Aphrodisias Alexander the Great Alexander of Myndos Alexander of Tralles ... Apollonios of Perga Apollonius Mys Aratus Archelaos Archimedes Archutas ... Asklepiades Asklepiads of Cos, Knidos, Rhodes Asklepiodotos Athenaeus Attalus III Augustine Augustus (Octavian) (63 BC-AD 14) Autolycos Bede Boethus Bolos Caelius Aurelianus Caesar, Gaius Julius (100-44 BC) Calcidius Capella Cato , Marcus Porcius, of Tusculum (234-149 BC) Celsus Cercidas of Megalopolis (C3 BC) Cicero, Marcus Tullius, of Arpinum (106-43 BC)
Rhetorical Chreiai theon of alexandria, Progymnasmata Chreia 158161. 317. The Loveof Money. theon of alexandria, Progymnasmata Chreia 125-126. http://religion.rutgers.edu/iho/chreia.html
Hellenistic World 316. Treasured Friends theon of alexandria, Progymnasmata Chreia 158-161. 317.The Love of Money - theon of alexandria, Progymnasmata Chreia 125-126. http://religion.rutgers.edu/iho/texts9.html
JMM HM DICIONÁRIO Translate this page de Atenas (-417-370) Teodoro da Cirene (-460?-400?) Teodósio Teofrasto de LesbosVitrúvio Zenão de Eleia (490?-420?), Thales theon of alexandria Theon of http://phoenix.sce.fct.unl.pt/jmmatos/HISTMAT/HMHTM/HMDIC.HTM
History Of Mathematics: Greece 250c. 350); Pappus of Alexandria (c. 320); Serenus of Antinopolis(c. 350); theon of alexandria (c. 390); Synesius of Cyrene, Bishop http://aleph0.clarku.edu/~djoyce/mathhist/greece.html
History Of Mathematics: Chronology Of Mathematicians A list of all of the important mathematicians working in a given century.Category Science Math Mathematicians Directories 300 CE. Pappus of Alexandria (fl. c. 300c. 350) *SB *MT; Serenus of Antinopolis(c. 350); Pandrosion (c. 350); theon of alexandria (c. 390); http://aleph0.clarku.edu/~djoyce/mathhist/chronology.html
Extractions: Note: there are also a chronological lists of mathematical works and mathematics for China , and chronological lists of mathematicians for the Arabic sphere Europe Greece India , and Japan 1700 B.C.E. 100 B.C.E. 1 C.E. To return to this table of contents from below, just click on the years that appear in the headers. Footnotes (*MT, *MT, *RB, *W, *SB) are explained below Ahmes (c. 1650 B.C.E.) *MT Baudhayana (c. 700) Thales of Miletus (c. 630-c 550) *MT Apastamba (c. 600) Anaximander of Miletus (c. 610-c. 547) *SB Pythagoras of Samos (c. 570-c. 490) *SB *MT Anaximenes of Miletus (fl. 546) *SB Cleostratus of Tenedos (c. 520) Katyayana (c. 500) Nabu-rimanni (c. 490) Kidinu (c. 480) Anaxagoras of Clazomenae (c. 500-c. 428) *SB *MT Zeno of Elea (c. 490-c. 430) *MT Antiphon of Rhamnos (the Sophist) (c. 480-411) *SB *MT Oenopides of Chios (c. 450?) *SB Leucippus (c. 450) *SB *MT Hippocrates of Chios (fl. c. 440) *SB Meton (c. 430) *SB
Egypt Math Web Sites 4 theon of alexandria Born about 335 in (possibly) Alexandria, Egypt.Died about 395. Theon was the father of Hypatia and worked http://showcase.netins.net/web/rmozzer/Egypt.html
Extractions: Born: 835 in Baghdad (now in Iraq) Died: 912 in Cairo, Egypt. Ahmed ibn Yusuf wrote on ratio and proportion and it was translated into Latin by Gherard of Cremona. The book is largely a commentary on, and expansion of, Book 5 of Euclid's Elements . Ahmed ibn Yusuf also gave methods to solve tax problems which appear in Fibonacci's Liber Abaci . He was also quoted by Bradwardine, Jordanus and Pacioli. Abu Kamil Shuja ibn Aslam ibn Muhammad ibn Shuja Born: about 850 in (possibly) Egypt. Died: about 930. Abu Kamil Shuja is sometimes known as al'Hasib and he worked on integer solutions of equations. He also gave the solution of a fourth degree equation and of a quadratic equation with irrational coefficients. Abu Kamil's work was the basis of Fibonacci's books. He lived later than al'Khwarizmi and his biggest advance was in the use of irrational coefficients. Theon of Alexandria Born: about 335 in (possibly) Alexandria, Egypt. Died: about 395. Theon was the father of Hypatia and worked in Alexandria as a professor of mathematics and astronomy. He produced commentaries on many works such as Ptolemy's Almagest and works of Euclid. Theon was a competent but unoriginal mathematician. Theon's version of Euclid's Elements (with textual changes and some additions) was the only Greek text of the Elements known, until an earlier one was discovered in the Vatican in the late 19
Hipparchus's Understanding Of The Precession This is the socalled trepidation of the equinoxes described by theon of alexandria(late 4th cent.) in his shorter commentary on Ptolemy's Handy Tables http://www.well.com/user/davidu/appendix4.html
Extractions: An objection to my theory has been raised having to do with the question of exactly how Hipparchus understood the nature of his discovery of the precession of the equinoxes. In a review of my book published in Classical Philology , Noel Swerdlow argues that Hipparchus was extremely uncertain about the nature of the precession so much so that nobody would have been inspired enough by Hipparchus's presentation of his discovery to do anything like found a new religion.[1] Swerdlow, a historian of astronomy, bases his criticism on his own research into the details of Hipparchus's discovery of the precession, published in his article "Hipparchus's Determination of the Length of the Tropical Year and the Rate of Precession."[2] In his review of my book, Swerdlow puts his case thus: "...Hipparchus's treatment of the precession was not at all straightforward and was hardly such as would have suggested the need for a new cosmic deity.... All that is known of Hipparchus's study of what we now call the precession is contained in [Ptolemy's] Almagest 3.1 and 7.1-3, and it is evident from Ptolemy's account that it was highly technical, highly tentative, and did not necessarily indicate anything like a motion of the entire sphere of the fixed stars with respect to the equinoxes."[3]
Euclid Of Alexandria One of the more important editions was by theon of alexandria in 4th centuryAD, in which he admits to adding the second part of VI. 33. http://www.math.sfu.ca/histmath/Europe/Euclid300BC/EUCLIDMAIN.HTML
Extractions: c. 300 B.C.E. "Ptolemy once asked Euclid whether there was any shorter way to a knowledge of geometry than by a study of the Elements, whereupon Euclid answered that there was no royal road to geometry." Proclus Diadochus Euclid of Alexandria, author of the most successful mathematics textbook ever written and with the exception of Autolycusí Sphere , is author of the oldest Greek mathematical treatise extant. More than half of Euclidís works have been completely lost, others surviving the ages only through translations and interpretations. Little is known about his life, yet his name and writings have managed to continue being a major influence on geometry for two millennia. Much of what is believed to be known about Euclid comes from Proclusí Eudemian Summary . Proclus states that he was a contemporary of King Ptolemy I Soter. (305 - 285 B.C.E.) Some students of his work have asserted that he was in fact, a disciple of the Platonic school and had studied with students of Plato , possibly in Athens at the Academy. Euclid was older than Archimedes (287 - 212 B.C.E.) and Eratosthenes and younger than
