Ptolemy's Geography

The translation is exemplary, surely the best in any language. It supersedes all previous translations and corrects all editions. The authors have done a splendid job in every way and have produced a work that will be useful for the duration of our lives and probably much longer. -- Noel Swerdlow, University of Chicago and author of "The Babylonian Theory of the Planets" Berggren and Jones have made a difficult, detailed and challenging text far more accessible and have produced a work that will be the standard for many years to come. They have done a wonderful service to the study of a crucial text by one of the most important figures in the history of science. A pleasure to read. -- Liba Taub, Cambridge University

Offers a translation of the "Geography" and provides an introduction, which treats the historical and technical background of Ptolemy's work, the contents of the "Geography", and the later history of the work. This work also includes color reproductions of maps from manuscripts and early printed editions of the text.Ptolemy's Geography is the only book on cartography to have survived from the classical period and one of the most influential scientific works of all time. Written in the second century AD, for more than fifteen centuries it was the most detailed topography of Europe and Asia available and the best reference on how to gather data and draw maps. Ptolemy championed the use of astronomical observation and applied mathematics in determining geographical locations. But more importantly, he introduced the practice of writing down coordinates of latitude and longitude for every feature drawn on a world map, so that someone else possessing only the text of the Geography could reproduce Ptolemy's map at any time, in whole or in part, at any scale. Here Berggren and Jones render an exemplary translation of the Geography and provide a thorough introduction, which treats the historical and technical background of Ptolemy's work, the contents of the Geography, and the later history of the work.