One of my favorite atlas -- the 1513 Strasburg edition of Ptolemy's Geography, with maps by Martin Waldseemüller, printed by Johannes Schott, with some maps in color!!! - has been imaged by Osher map Library and is available online at https://oshermaps.org/map/4073.0184 (link to this page: Ptolemaic map of the ecumene)

#maps #cartography #maphistory #ptolemy #geography

On a cloudy day in January, historian Ivan Malara sat in Italy’s National Central Library of Florence poring over seven 16th century printings of the ancient world’s most influential astronomy text.

The pages belonged to The #Almagest, in which second century polymath Claudius #Ptolemy described his vision of an Earth-centered cosmos.

As Malara flipped through the pages, he spotted something out of place.

Someone had transcribed Psalm 145 on an otherwise blank page—in handwriting reminiscent of a very, very famous Tuscan astronomer.

That book, Malara came to realize, had been extensively annotated by none other than Galileo #Galilei.

Malara’s discovery, described in a paper now under review at the Journal for the History of Astronomy, promises new insights into one of the most famous ideological transitions in the history of science: the moment when #Earth was thrust from the center of our #universe.

#science #astronomy #history
https://www.science.org/content/article/galileo-s-handwritten-notes-found-ancient-astronomy-text

Alexander the Great's successors were wild

https://piefed.social/c/historymemes/p/1838107/alexander-the-great-s-successors-were-wild

PROTIP: It was

https://piefed.social/c/historymemes/p/1754834/protip-it-was

How the oldest science in the world flourished in Toledo 1,000 years ago.

An international conference on the origins of galaxies pays tribute to the pioneering scientific cooperation between Muslims, Jews, and Christians that took place in Spain at the end of the Middle Ages.

https://mediafaro.org/article/20250515-how-the-oldest-science-in-the-world-flourished-in-toledo-1000-years-ago?mf_channel=mastodon&action=forward

#Toledo #Science #Astronomy #Galaxies #Spain #Muslims #Jews #Christians #Ptolemy #AlZarqali #Copernicus #Almagest #MiddleAges #History

Hockey Sandwich – Grab Bag o’ Humour

Let’s go back to the Four Nations Cup. In the first game with Canada against the US, the Americans started 3 fights in the first 10 seconds. This surprising turn of events, eventually led to the Americans defeating Canada in that match.

But the Americans were overconfident. They did not start the second match with 3 fights in the first ten seconds. This lack of emotion in the second Canada/US match up and series crowning game put the US at a disadvantage.

Not only that, but the Canadians could now see that the Americans were quitters. They had started with a strategy that they had not followed up on. And that is why Canada won the series.

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If I had a time machine, I know exactly which event in history I would like to erase. Hopefully this travesty would never be thought of again,

I would kill the person who first came up with silent letters in writing.

The problem is, whoever did such a dastardly deed, hid their tracks well and there is no way of knowing when exactly they started.

But I would start with Ptolemy’s parents. I would butter them up. Where did you come up with the idea of an extra letter in his name? I would ask. From there I would trace it back to its very beginning. I might have to kill the originator. Possibly that would be Ptolemy’s parents. Either way, I won’t be forced to write Ptolemy again.

*

Canadians love to lament that the NHL is not giving Canada enough hockey teams. Quebec City and Hamilton both really, really want a team. But the NHL is standing firm.

Well I have a surefire way of getting Canada a hockey team. The only problem with it, is that it will take a few years for the plan to come to fruition.

The plan has worked twice before. It is simply to give the city of Atlanta a hockey team.

Yes it has worked twice before. After the Atlanta Flames went belly up, they became the Calgary Flames. After the Atlanta Thrashers went belly up, they became the Winnipeg Jets. It can be done and has been done. It has directly resulted in a Canadian NHL team 100% of the time.

The only thing that might foil this plan is that the people of Atlanta might decide they like hockey.

#Atlanta #AtlantaFlames #AtlantaThrashers #CalgaryFlames #Canada #emotion #fights #FourNationsCup #Hamilton #NHLTeams #Ptolemy #QuebecCity #quitters #silentLettersInWriting #timeMachine #US_ #WinnipegJets

At our February meeting (Sunday 2nd, ONLINE via Zoom) we welcome back Professor Lloyd Llwellyn-Jones, who will give a talk on "The Cleopatras: the Forgotten Queens of Egypt" (1/4)

#ancientEgypt #egyptology #ancientHistory #cleopatra #ptolemy