The History of Ptolemy’s Star Catalogue

"Grasshoff presents a detailed study of the catalog starting with its history and then details the various controversies over the catalog from Tycho through Dreyer and R.R. Newton. His analysis considers such questions as precession and solar theory, the methods of observations, and the internal errors of the catalog. The author concludes that Hipparchus' observations were incorporated into the Ptolemaic catalog but that Ptolemy, in the absence of any understanding of how to treat errors of observation, selected from a variety of observations those that best fit his theory. Charts of all the Ptolemaic stars and a catalog of their modern identifications are given."|-Choice||"The author's purpose is to lay to rest an argument which has blazed for several centuries, the question at issue being this: did or did not Ptolemy plagiarize (from Hipparchus) some of his data, and fabricate some of rest? The author begins with a detailed review of the history of the argument, turns then to a close examination of the data itself, and concludes that the charges which have been brought against Ptolemy are rooted in anachronism and in misunderstanding of his scientific objectives. One of several appendices provides modern identifications of the stars which appear on Ptolemy's list. Very carefully argued and produced, with detailed references, many figures. Sensible, useful...but quite unlikely to achieve its objective.”|-Book News