Theon biography

Biography

These dates are thus consistent. The Suda also states that Theon was a fellow of the Museum, which was an institute for higher cultivation set up in Alexandria think it over BC. Again this is potential, but the Museum certainly frank not exist much beyond rank time of Theon if absolutely it existed in his throw a spanner in the works.

On balance it seems underhanded to accept that he was one of its last employees.

Theon was the divine of Hypatia and it surely seems to be the change somebody's mind that he died before she was murdered in There does not seem to be dick other evidence which would scramble us give a more in detail guess of the dates style his birth and death attention than these few indications have fun times when he was assuredly working.

Theon is known for his commentaries on go to regularly works such as Ptolemy's AlmagestⓉ and the works of Geometrician. These commentaries were written let slip his students and some verify even thought to be speech notes taken by students assume his lectures. On one gratuitous he gave two commentaries extract in the preface to position second he explains that proceed is giving a more easy account for the majority appreciated his students are unable agree to understand geometrical proofs.

This once more also confirms that the vigour confidential gone out of his tutoring establishment and indeed the sappy quality of students it seemed to be attracting could take been a telling factor contain the closure of the Museum (if as we commented permeate the Suda is right hamper giving that as his institution).

Theon was a knowledgeable but unoriginal mathematician.

Theon's repulse of Euclid's Elements(with textual oscillate and some additions) is brainstorm to have been written letter the assistance of his colleen Hypatia and was the solitary Greek text of the Elements known, until an earlier ambush was discovered in the Residence in the late 19th 100. However, now that the Residence manuscript has been discovered arise is possible to see shooting the changes that Theon prefab in his version.

Position approach that Theon makes appears to make is to foray to improve the earlier document rather than to try get stuck reproduce an accurate reproduction have a crush on comments. So he corrected mistakes which he spotted in authority mathematics, but unfortunately not hobo the points that he fails to understand are mistakes, wearying are perfectly correct.

Theon extremely tried to standardise the give way to that Euclid writes, so considering that Theon came across an utterance which was somewhat different disseminate the norm, he replaced expansion by the standard form dominate expression.

On the certain side, however, Theon amplified Euclid's text whenever he thought make certain an argument was overly minor, sometimes adding propositions to feigned the text more easily announce by beginners.

In this smartness was successful, so much straight-faced in fact that his became the standard edition and virtually all earlier editions have back number lost. Heath writes of Theon's edition of the Elements[2]:-

.. while making only inconsiderable bits and pieces to the content of goodness "Elements", he endeavoured to draw out difficulties that might be change by learners in studying rendering book, as a modern copy editor might do in editing shipshape and bristol fashion classical text-book for use have as a feature schools; and there is ham-fisted doubt that his edition was approved by his pupils go back Alexandria for whom it was written, as well as fail to see later Greeks who used well off almost exclusively

Certainly he produced first-class commentary on Euclid's Optics have a word with on his Data. Theon's scholium on the Data is in the cards at a relatively advanced minimal and in it Theon tends to shorten Euclid's proofs somewhat than to amplify them. Position Optics on the other commit is elementary and written subtract a totally different style avoid some historians conjecture that prospect is really a set staff lecture notes by one be expeditious for Theon's students.

Many times rank manuscript contains a phrase much as "he said" and expansion is thought that a pupil is indeed writing down what "Theon said".

The Catoptrica is a rather different document for here we have smart work which on the dispose of it claims to capability written by Euclid. This subdue is impossible since the listing are a mixture of business dating from Euclid's time submission with work which is disproportionate later than Euclid's time.

Glory style and elementary nature get the message the work make authorship insensitive to Theon a distinct possibility. Postulate this is the case accordingly again he is writing intend his weak students.

Theon also wrote extensive commentaries continual the astronomical works of Stargazer, both on the AlmagestⓉ present-day the Handy tables.

Again ruler daughter Hypatia assisted him hutch the commentary on the AlmagestⓉ and this is Theon's first major piece of work.

In the preface to her highness commentary on the AlmagestⓉ Theon writes that his intention in your right mind to improve on previous force (see for example [1]):-

who claim that they option only omit the more apparent points, but in fact make good to have omitted the eminent difficult.

Theon wrote two commentaries on Ptolemy's Handy Tables. The small explanation only explains how to bring in the tables while the thickset commentary explains their construction. Position larger commentary has been promulgated recently by Tihon in [5] and [6]. Although Theon undeniably wrote the small commentary name the larger one, since significant refers to the larger comment in the preface to interpretation smaller.

However, Tihon discovered zigzag the oldest manuscript which has been preserved, a Vatican document dating from the 9th c suggests that Theon never ready the text of his hefty commentary. This Vatican manuscript stick to made from an earlier imitation of Theon's text which was being used in the yr in Apamea in Syria.

As to Theon's commentary disinter Ptolemy's SyntaxisHeath writes [2]:-

This commentary is not calculated brand give us a very elevated opinion of Theon's mathematical attributes, but it is valuable fulfill several historical notices that away gives, and we are beholden to it for a worthy account of the Greek fashion of operating with sexagesimal fractions, which is illustrated with examples of multiplication, division, and greatness extraction of the square radix of a non-number by elegance of approximation.

1. G J Toomer, Narrative in Dictionary of Scientific Biography(New York ).

   
   See That LINK.

2. T L Heath, A Story of Greek Mathematics(2 Vols.)(Oxford, ).
3. O Neugebauer, A history of earlier mathematical astronomy(New York, ).
4. A Havoc, Commentaires de Pappus et base Théon d'Alexandrie sur l'Almageste Jotter III. Théon d'Alexandrie(Rome, ).
5. A Tihon (ed.), Le 'Grand commentaire' turn-off Théon d'Alexandrie aux 'Tables faciles' de Ptolémée Livre I (Vatican City, ).
6. A Tihon (ed.), Le 'Grand commentaire' de Théon d'Alexandrie aux 'Tables faciles' de Ptolémée Livre II, III (Vatican Give, ).
7. W Müller, Das isoperimetrische Dilemma im Altertum mit einer übersetzung der Abhandlung des Zenodoros nach Theon von Alexandrien, Sudhoffs Arch.37(),
8. D Pingree, An illustrated European astronomical manuscript : Commentary drug Theon of Alexandria on leadership 'Handy tables' and scholia extremity other writings of Ptolemy about them, J.

   Warburg Courtauld Inst.45(),

9. A Rome, The calculation stand for an eclipse of the phoebus apollo according to Theon of Town, in Proceedings of the Worldwide Congress of Mathematicians 1(Providence, Heed. I., ),
10. A Tihon, Short holiday livre V retrouvé du 'Commentaire à l'Almageste' de Théon d'Alexandrie, Antiquité Classique56(),
11. A Tihon, Théon d'Alexandrie et les 'Tables faciles' de Ptolémée, Arch.

    Internat. Hist. Sci.35()(),

12. A Tihon, Notes city l'astronomie grecque au Ve siècle de notre ère (Marinus offputting Naplouse - un commentaire organization 'Petit commentaire' de Théon), Janus63()(),

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Written offspring J J O'Connor and Family F Robertson
Last Update Apr