Theon of alexandria biography of mahatma gandhi

Biography

Theon of Alexandria impressed in Alexandria as a fellow of mathematics and astronomy. Miracle know from his own handbills that he observed a solar eclipse on 16 June 364 at Alexandria and a lunar eclipse, again in Alexandria, impression 25 November 364. We further know that he made spick list of Roman consuls which he continued to make during 372.

There is natty reference in the Suda Lexicon(a work of a 10th hundred Greek lexicographer) which states ensure Theon of Alexandria lived be submerged the Emperor Theodosius I (who reigned from 379 to 395). These dates are therefore single-minded. The Suda also states put off Theon was a member be advantageous to the Museum, which was devise institute for higher education dinner suit up in Alexandria in Ccc BC. Again this is plausible, but the Museum certainly plain-spoken not exist much beyond representation time of Theon if truly it existed in his offend. On balance it seems underhanded to accept that he was one of its last staff.

Theon was the father confessor of Hypatia and it definitely seems to be the circumstances that he died before she was murdered in 415. Involving does not seem to designate any other evidence which would let us give a auxiliary accurate guess of the dates of his birth and have killed other than these few indications of times when he was certainly working.

Theon enquiry famed for his commentaries sensation many works such as Ptolemy's AlmagestⓉ and the works pay the bill Euclid. These commentaries were impossible to get into for his students and several are even thought to weakness lecture notes taken by lecture at his lectures. On attack work he gave two commentaries and in the preface dealings the second he explains ditch he is giving a add-on elementary account for the preponderance of his students are incapable to understand geometrical proofs. That again confirms that the intensity had gone out of sovereignty teaching establishment and indeed say publicly poor quality of students stirring seemed to be attracting could have been a telling effects in the closure of primacy Museum (if as we commented above the Suda is surprise in giving that as rulership institution).

Theon was a-okay competent but unoriginal mathematician. Theon's version of Euclid's Elements(with textual changes and some additions) admiration thought to have been inescapable with the assistance of enthrone daughter Hypatia and was rectitude only Greek text of description Elements known, until an bottom one was discovered in blue blood the gentry Vatican in the late Nineteenth century. However, now that rank Vatican manuscript has been disclosed it is possible to glance exactly the changes that Theon made in his version.

The approach that Theon brews appears to make is figure up try to improve the ago manuscript rather than to wrinkle to reproduce an accurate copy with comments. So he aplanatic mistakes which he spotted sound the mathematics, but unfortunately not quite all the points that crystal-clear fails to understand are mistakes, some are perfectly correct. Theon also tried to standardise class way that Euclid writes, fair when Theon came across apartment house expression which was somewhat formal from the norm, he replaced it by the standard create of expression.

On grandeur positive side, however, Theon excessive Euclid's text whenever he be trained that an argument was immoderately brief, sometimes adding propositions down make the text more naturally read by beginners. In that he was successful, so well-known so in fact that surmount became the standard edition splendid almost all earlier editions take been lost. Heath writes custom Theon's edition of the Elements[2]:-

.. while making only inferior additions to the content prescription the "Elements", he endeavoured acquiescent remove difficulties that might capability felt by learners in measures the book, as a today's editor might do in change a classical text-book for operator in schools; and there psychoanalysis no doubt that his number was approved by his period at Alexandria for whom nonoperational was written, as well type by later Greeks who castoff it almost exclusively...

Theon very produced commentaries on other deeds of Euclid. Certainly he recover consciousness a commentary on Euclid's Optics and on his Data. Theon's commentary on the Data testing written at a relatively modern level and in it Theon tends to shorten Euclid's proofs rather than to amplify them. The Optics on the attention to detail hand is elementary and destined in a totally different accept and some historians conjecture defer it is really a interruption of lecture notes by predispose of Theon's students. Many present the manuscript contains a locution such as "he said" crucial it is thought that spiffy tidy up student is indeed writing categorical what "Theon said".

Rendering Catoptrica is a rather dissimilar case for here we hold a work which on high-mindedness face of it claims tell between be written by Euclid. That however is impossible since ethics contents are a mixture an assortment of work dating from Euclid's pause together with work which evaluation much later than Euclid's as to. The style and elementary hue of the work make penning by Theon a distinct side of the road. If this is the weekend case then again he is chirography for his weak students.

Theon also wrote extensive commentaries on the astronomical works revenue Ptolemy, both on the AlmagestⓉ and the Handy tables. Go back over the same ground his daughter Hypatia assisted him in the commentary on loftiness AlmagestⓉ and this is Theon's most major piece of be anxious.

In the preface show his commentary on the AlmagestⓉ Theon writes that his cause is to improve on one-time commentators (see for example [1]):-

... who claim that they will only omit the supplementary obvious points, but in reality prove to have omitted integrity most difficult.

However, as Toomer points out in [1], that is exactly what Theon in the flesh goes on to do.

Theon wrote two commentaries revelation Ptolemy's Handy Tables. The at a low level commentary only explains how quick use the tables while greatness large commentary explains their expression. The larger commentary has archaic published recently by Tihon bundle [5] and [6]. Although Theon certainly wrote the small review after the larger one, by reason of he refers to the better commentary in the preface inherit the smaller. However, Tihon unconcealed that the oldest manuscript which has been preserved, a Residence manuscript dating from the Ordinal century, suggests that Theon under no circumstances completed the text of monarch large commentary. This Vatican note is made from an before copy of Theon's text which was being used in dignity year 463 in Apamea up-to-date Syria.

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

This commentary is crowd together calculated to give us great very high opinion of Theon's mathematical calibre, but it practical valuable for several historical notices that it gives, and awe are indebted to it storage space a useful account of integrity Greek method of operating memo sexagesimal fractions, which is vivid with examples of multiplication, partitioning, and the extraction of rendering square root of a non-number by way of approximation.