Ptolemy's Sun and Moon (Q6114796)

The aim of this paper is to present in the simplest possible terms, without getting sidetracked by the astronomical raw data, the three models of the motion of the Moon and the Sun that can be found in Ptolemy's \textit{Almagest}. The idea is to reduce at a necessary minimum the reliance on astronomical data and to emphasize the geometrical nature of the models, in the hope that this presentation will be easier to understand for a contemporary reader with a mathematical background than those in [\textit{V. M. Petersen}, Centaurus 14, 142--171 (1969; Zbl 0196.00304); \textit{O. Pedersen}, A survey of the Almagest. Odense, Denmark: Odense University Press (1974; Zbl 0343.01003); \textit{O. Neugebauer}, A history of ancient mathematical astronomy. In 3 parts. Vol. 1. Berlin etc.: Springer-Verlag (1975; Zbl 0323.01002)], which the author credits for having provided inspiration for the current work.