Understanding Ptolemy's Almagest (Book V)

Ptolemy's Almagest dominated astronomical thought from when it was written in the 2nd century CE, until the 16th century. Yet, as historically important as this work is, its nearly impossible to find out anything beyond a surface level understanding of what it contained.

I've spent nearly 7 years working through this text, making sure I understand every calculation. And now, I'll explain exactly what this book contains. In this series, I'll walk through the text - first explaining it conceptually, and then exploring select mathematical topics in future videos.

This video covers Book V in which Ptolemy updates the lunar model to account for discrepancies between the model derived in Book IV, and the moon's apparent position at first and third quarter. Book V also develops the calculations necessary to determine lunar parallax, and derives the sizes and distances to the sun and moon.

Teaser - 0:00
Channel Intro - 1:22
Chapter 1 - 1:41
Chapter 2 - 3:39
Chapter 3 - 9:11
Chapter 4 - 10:49
Chapter 5 - 11:35
Chapter 6 - 12:28
Chapter 7 - 13:19
Chapter 8 - 13:29
Chapter 9 - 13:36
Chapter 10 - 14:29
Chapter 11 - 15:14
Chapter 12 - 17:57
Chapter 13 - 22:43
Chapter 14 - 24:19
Chapter 15 - 28:19
Chapter 16 - 29:07
Chapter 17 - 29:28
Chapter 18 - 31:17
Chapter 19 - 31:24
Conclusion - 37:27
Outro - 38:41