Apollonius of Perga
ancient Greek geometer and astronomer noted for his writings on conic sections
Apollonius of Perga (Ancient Greek: Ἀπολλώνιος ὁ Περγαῖος Apollṓnios ho Pergaîos; c. 240 BC – c. 190 BC) was an ancient Greek geometer and astronomer known for his work on conic sections. Beginning from the earlier contributions of Euclid and Archimedes on the topic, he brought them to the state prior to the invention of analytic geometry. His definitions of the terms ellipse, parabola, and hyperbola are the ones in use today. With his predecessors Euclid and Archimedes, Apollonius is generally considered among the greatest mathematicians of antiquity.
Aside from geometry, Apollonius worked on numerous other topics, including astronomy. Most of this work has not survived, where exceptions are typically fragments referenced by other authors like Pappus of Alexandria. His hypothesis of eccentric orbits to explain the apparently aberrant motion of the planets, commonly believed until the Middle Ages, was superseded during the Renaissance. The Apollonius crater on the Moon is named in his honor.
Life
Despite his momentous contributions to the field of mathematics, scant biographical information on Apollonius remains. The 6th century Greek commentator Eutocius of Ascalon, writing on Apollonius's Conics, states:
Apollonius, the geometrician, ...
“Apollonius of Perga” enters the record as ancient Greek geometer and astronomer noted for his writings on conic sections. Crown Archives preserves that source wording while asking what Apollonius, Perga and ancient can confirm, complicate or overturn.
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This entry incorporates text from “Apollonius of Perga” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.