Ptolemaic planetary models and Kepler's laws (Q1714468): Difference between revisions

\textit{N. M. Swerdlow} [``The empirical foundations of Ptolemy's planetary theory'', J. Hist. Astron. 35, No. 3, 249--271 (2004; \url{doi:10.1177/002182860403500301})] observed that ``Ptolemy's model was the best approximation to Kepler's laws before Kepler's laws''. The aim of this paper is to present the most detailed case possible for that statement by presenting a ``comprehensive explanation of the mathematical and theoretical relation between all the aspects of Ptolemaic planetary models and their counterparts which are built according to Kepler's first two laws'' and ``to analyze in a precise manner the predictive differences which arise from comparing Ptolemaic and Keplerian models, making clear distinctions between those differences which must be attributed to the structural variations between the models, and those which are due to the specific parameters Ptolemy determined''. It contains a very thorough geometrical analysis of the differences between the models and will likely become a standard reference for this question.