Theodosius' Spherics

The ''Spherics'' (Greek: , ) is a three-volume treatise on spherical geometry written by the Hellenistic mathematician Theodosius of Bithynia in the 2nd or 1st century BC.

Book I and the first half of Book II establish basic geometric constructions needed for spherical geometry using the tools of Euclidean solid geometry, while the second half of Book II and Book III contain propositions relevant to astronomy as modeled by the celestial sphere.

Primarily consisting of theorems which were known at least informally a couple centuries earlier, the ''Spherics'' was a foundational treatise for geometers and astronomers from its origin until the 19th century. It was continuously studied and copied in Greek manuscript for more than a millennium. It was translated into Arabic in the 9th century during the Islamic Golden Age, and thence translated into Latin in 12th century Iberia, though the text and diagrams were somewhat corrupted. In the 16th century printed editions in Greek were published along with better translations into Latin.

History

Several of the definitions and theorems in the ''Spherics'' were used without mention in Euclid's ''Phenomena'' and two extant works by Autolycus concerning motions of the celestial sphere, all written about two centuries before Theodosius. It has been speculated that this tradition of Greek "spherics" – founded in the axiomatic system and using the methods of proof of solid geometry exemplified by Euclid's ''Elements'' but extended with additional definitions relevant to the sphere – may have originated in a now-unknown work by Eudoxus, who probably established a two-sphere model of the cosmos (spherical Earth and celestial sphere) sometime between 370–340 BC.

The ''Spherics'' is a supplement to the ''Elements'', and takes its content for granted as a prerequisite. The ''Spherics'' follows the general presentation style of the ''Elements'', with definitions followed by a list of theorems (propositions), each of which is first stated abstractly as prose, then restated with points lettered for the proof. It analyses spherical circles as flat circles lying in planes intersecting the sphere and provides geometric constructions for various configurations of spherical circles. Spherical distances and radii are treated as Euclidean distances in the surrounding 3-dimensional space. The relationship between planes is described in terms of dihedral angle. As in the ''Elements'', there is no concept of angle measure or trigonometry per se.

This approach differs from other quantitative methods of Greek astronomy such as the analemma (orthographic projection), stereographic projection, or trigonometry (a fledgling subject introduced by Theodosius' contemporary Hipparchus). It also differs from the approach taken in Menelaus' ''Spherics'', a treatise of the same title written 3 centuries later, which treats the geometry of the sphere ''intrinsically'', analyzing the inherent structure of the spherical surface and circles drawn on it rather than primarily treating it as a surface embedded in three-dimensional space.

In late antiquity, the ''Spherics'' was part of a collection of treatises now called the ''Little Astronomy'', an assortment of shorter works on geometry and astronomy building on Euclid's ''Elements''. Other works in the collection included Aristarchus' '' On the Sizes and Distances'', Autolycus' ''On Rising and Settings'' and ''On the Moving Sphere'', Euclid's ''Catoptrics'', ''Data'', ''Optics'', and ''Phenomena'', Hypsicles' ''On Ascensions'', Theodosius' ''On Geographic Places'' and ''On Days and Nights'', and Menelaus' ''Spherics''. Often several of these were bound together in a single volume. During the Islamic Golden Age, the books in the collection were translated into Arabic, and with the addition of a few new works, were known as the ''Middle Books'', intended to fit between the ''Elements'' and Ptolemy's ''Almagest''.

Authoritative critical editions of the Greek text, compiled from several manuscripts, were made by and . is an English translation by modern scholars.

Editions and translations

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Notes

References

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{{Ancient Greek mathematics, state=collapsed
Ancient Greek mathematical works
Spherical geometry