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Regio Patalis
''Regio Patalis'' is Latin for “the region of Patala”, that is the region around the ancient city of Patala at the mouth of the Indus River in Sindh, Pakistan. The historians of Alexander the Great state that the Indus parted into two branches at the city of Patala before reaching the sea, and the island thus formed was called Patalene, the district of Patala. Alexander constructed a harbour at Patala. While the Patala was well known to mariners and traders of the Ancient Mediterranean, by the European Middle Ages, mapmakers no longer knew its location. ''Regio Patalis'' appeared on late 15th and early 16th century maps and globes in a variety of increasingly erroneous locations, further and further east and south of India. It even appeared on some maps as a promontory of ''Terra Australis''. The ''Regio Patalis'' in classical literature Pliny the Elder (Gaius Plinius Secundus, 23-79 AD) referring to “the island of Patale, at the mouth of the Indus”, wrote in ''Historia N ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Dionysios Periegetes
Dionysius Periegetes (, literally Dionysius the Voyager or Traveller, often Latinized to ''Dionysius Periegeta''), also known as Dionysius of Alexandria or Dionysius the African,''Encyclopædia Britannica'', 4th edition, 1810, 9''506/ref> was the author of a description of the then-known world in Greek hexameter verse. He is believed to have been from Alexandria and to have lived around the time of Hadrian (r. 117–138), though some date his lifetime as late as the end of the 3rd century. The work enjoyed popularity in ancient times as a schoolbook. It was translated into Latin by Rufius Festus Avienius, and by the grammarian Priscian. Archbishop Eustathius of Thessalonica wrote a commentary on his work for John Doukas. References Editions and translations * * *: reprinted Hildesheim: Olms, 1974 (this book contains also Eustathius' comment, the scholia, Avienius' ''Descriptio orbis terrarum'' and Priscian's ''Periegesis''). *: reprinted Hildesheim: Olms, 1974 . * * ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Oronce Fine
Oronce Fine (or Finé; Latin: ''Orontius Finnaeus'' or ''Finaeus''; ; 20 December 1494 – 8 August 1555) was a French mathematician, cartographer, editor and book illustrator. Life Born in Briançon, the son and grandson of physicians, he was educated in Paris (Collège de Navarre) and obtained a degree in medicine in 1522. Fine grew up in an academic household, and his parents' contribution to the sciences was notable in France at the time. Much of Fine's early childhood was shaped by his father's involvement and support of sciences. Fine's father in addition to being a physician was a strong student in astronomy. He had created many astronomical instruments and published a treatise which was one of the few astronomical incunabula of French origin. Fine's university was known as a leading center at Paris for the study of scholastic philosophy and theology. There he fostered his editing ability and later printed many editions of writings from scholars. It is believed that his c ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Cleomedes
Cleomedes () was a Greek astronomer who is known chiefly for his book ''On the Circular Motions of the Celestial Bodies'' (Κυκλικὴ θεωρία μετεώρων), also known as ''The Heavens'' (). Placing his work chronologically His birth and death dates are not known—historians have suggested that he wrote his work sometime between the mid-1st century BC and 400 AD. The earlier estimates rely on the fact that Cleomedes refers extensively in his writing to the work of mathematician and astronomer Posidonius of Rhodes (c. 135 – c. 51 BC), and yet seemingly not at all to the work of Ptolemy (c. 100 – c. 170 AD). (Cleomedes also refers to Aristotle (384–322 BC), Pytheas of Massalia (310–306 BC), Aratus (c. 315/310 BC – 240 BC), Eratosthenes (276–195 BC), and Hipparchus (c. 190 – c. 120 BC). These conclusions have been challenged on the grounds that Cleomedes' work was in relatively elementary astronomy, and that reference to Ptolemy would no ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Eratosthenes
Eratosthenes of Cyrene (; ; – ) was an Ancient Greek polymath: a Greek mathematics, mathematician, geographer, poet, astronomer, and music theory, music theorist. He was a man of learning, becoming the chief librarian at the Library of Alexandria. His work is comparable to the study of geography, and he introduced some of the terminology, even coining the terms geography and geographer. He is best known for being the first person known to calculate the Earth's circumference, which he did by using the extensive survey results he could access in his role at the Library. His calculation was remarkably accurate (his error margin turned out to be less than 1%). He was the first to calculate Earth's axial tilt, which similarly proved to have remarkable accuracy. He created the Eratosthenes' Map of the World, first global projection of the world, incorporating Circle of latitude, parallels and Longitude, meridians based on the available geographic knowledge of his era. Eratosth ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Earth's Circumference
Earth's circumference is the distance around Earth. Measured around the equator, it is . Measured passing through the poles, the circumference is . Treating the Earth as a sphere, its circumference would be its single most important measurement. The first known scientific measurement and calculation was done by Eratosthenes, by comparing altitudes of the mid-day sun at two places a known north–south distance apart. He achieved a great degree of precision in his computation. The Earth's shape deviates from spherical by flattening, but by only about 0.3%. Measurement of Earth's circumference has been important to navigation since ancient times. In modern times, Earth's circumference has been used to define fundamental units of measurement of length: the nautical mile in the seventeenth century and the metre in the eighteenth. Earth's polar circumference is very near to 21,600 nautical miles because the nautical mile was intended to express one minute of latitude (see merid ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Arrian
Arrian of Nicomedia (; Greek: ''Arrianos''; ; ) was a Greek historian, public servant, military commander, and philosopher of the Roman period. '' The Anabasis of Alexander'' by Arrian is considered the best source on the campaigns of Alexander the Great. Scholars have generally preferred Arrian to other extant primary sources, though this attitude has changed somewhat in light of modern studies into Arrian's method. Arrian's life Arrian was born in Nicomedia (present-day İzmit), the provincial capital of Bithynia. Cassius Dio called him Flavius Arrianus Nicomediensis. Sources provide similar dates for his birth, within a few years prior to 90, 89, and 85–90 AD. The line of reasoning for dates belonging to 85–90 AD is because of Arrian being made a consul around 130 AD, and the usual age for this, during this period, being 42 years of age. (ref. pp. 312, & SYME 1958, ''ibid.''). His family was from the Greek provincial aristocracy, and his full name, ''L. F ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Alexander Burnes
Captain Sir Alexander Burnes (16 May 1805 – 2 November 1841) was a Scottish explorer, military officer and diplomat associated with the Great Game. He was nicknamed Bokhara Burnes for his role in establishing contact with and exploring Bukhara. His memoir, ''Travels into Bokhara'', was a bestseller when it was first published in 1835. Early life Burnes was born on 16 May 1805 in Montrose, Scotland, as the fourth son of James Burnes (1780–1852) the local provost, who was first cousin to the poet Robert Burns. His brother was the doctor and surgeon James Burnes. At the age of sixteen, Alexander joined the army of the East India Company and while serving in India, he learned Urdu and Persian, and obtained an appointment as an interpreter at Surat in 1822. He was transferred to Kutch in 1826 where he was based at Bhuj for three years. As assistant to the political agent, he took an interest in the history and geography of north-western India and the adjacent ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Jean-Baptiste Bourguignon D'Anville
Jean-Baptiste Bourguignon d'Anville (; born in Paris 11 July 169728 January 1782) was a French geographer and cartographer who greatly improved the standards of map-making. D'Anville became cartographer to the king, who purchased his cartographic materials, the largest collection in France. He made more than 200 maps during his lifetime, which are characterized by a careful, accurate work largely based on original research. In particular, D'Anville left unknown areas of continents blank and noted doubtful information as such, contrary to the lavish maps of his predecessors. His maps remained the reference point in cartography throughout the 19th century and were used by numerous explorers and travellers. Biography Jean-Baptiste Bourguignon d'Anville was born in Paris on 11 July 1697, in the Kingdom of France. His passion for geographical research displayed itself from early years: aged twelve he was already amusing himself by drawing maps for Latin authors. Later, his friendshi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Herbert Wilhelmy
Herbert Wilhelmy (February 4, 1910 - February 1, 2003) was a German geographer. Wilhelmy has made significant impact in the area of Latin American regional geography, with a focus on climatic geomorphology and, especially, morphogenetic urban geography. Background Wilhelmy studied geography, geology und ethnology at the universities of Giessen, Bonn, Vienna (1930) and Leipzig. In 1932 he finished his doctoral degree—supervised by Alfred Hettner's disciple Heinrich Schmitthenner—that treated the geomorphology of western Bulgaria ''Die Oberflächenformen des Iskergebietes: Eine Morphogenese Westbulgariens''. Also his Habilitation in Kiel, as Oskar Schmieder's assistant (from 1932), was dedicated to the Bulgarian Balkan Mountains' settlement and economy—''Hoch-Bulgarien'': ''Die ländlichen Siedlungen und die bäuerliche Wirtschaft'' (1935), ''Sofia, Wandlungen einer Großstadt zwischen Orient und Okzident'' (1936). He worked at the University of Kiel 1939–1942 (as con ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ahmad Hasan Dani
Ahmad Hassan Dani (Urdu: احمد حسن دانی) FRAS, SI, HI (20 June 1920 – 26 January 2009) was a Pakistani archaeologist, historian, and linguist. He was among the foremost authorities on Central Asian and South Asian archaeology and history. He introduced archaeology as a discipline in higher education in Pakistan and Bangladesh.The Times (2009)Obituary - Professor A. H. Dani: archaeologistPublished 18 February 2009, Retrieved 29 April 2020 Throughout his career, Dani held various academic positions and international fellowships, apart from conducting archaeological excavations and research. He is particularly known for archaeological work on pre-Indus civilization and Gandhara sites in northern Pakistan. Biography Early life Ahmad Hasan Dani, was born on 20 June 1920 into an ethnic Kashmiri Muslim family of traders of the Wain clan, in Basna, in the Central Provinces and Berar in British India (now in Chhattisgarh, India).Khan, M. NaumaProfile of Ahmad Ha ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
