Epitome of the Almagest

work by Regiomontanus

Also known as: “Epytoma…in Almagestum Ptolomei”

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June 26, 2026

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The Epitome of the Almagest was a significant work by Johannes Müller von Königsberg, also known as Regiomontanus. This book, completed around 1462, is an abridgment and critical examination of Ptolemy's Almagest, a foundational astronomical manual from around 150 CE. Regiomontanus's Epitome aimed to address inconsistencies in Ptolemy's models for planetary motion. His work provided a crucial geometric understanding that influenced Nicolaus Copernicus in developing his heliocentric model. The Epitome served as an important introduction to Ptolemaic astronomy for scholars of the Renaissance.123

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Regiomontanus
…household and completed Peuerbach’s half-finished Epitome (c. 1462; first printed in 1496 as Epytoma…in Almagestum Ptolomei). His demonstration of an alternative to Ptolemy’s models for the orbits of Mercury and Venus with respect to the Sun gave Nicolaus Copernicus (1473–1543) the geometric key to reorient planetary motions around the Sun.…
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…household and completed Peuerbach’s half-finished Epitome (c. 1462; first printed in 1496 as Epytoma…in Almagestum Ptolomei). His demonstration of an alternative to Ptolemy’s models for the orbits of Mercury and Venus with respect to the Sun gave Nicolaus Copernicus (1473–1543) the geometric key to reorient planetary motions around the Sun.…
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astronomy
Renaissance
…the publication in 1496 of Epytoma in Almagestum Ptolemaei (“Epitome of Ptolemy’s Almagest”) begun by mathematician and astronomer Georg von Peuerbach and completed by his student Regiomontanus (the Latin name of Johannes Müller von Königsberg). Regiomontanus’s chapter-by-chapter commentary helped the next couple of generations learn their
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…the publication in 1496 of Epytoma in Almagestum Ptolemaei (“Epitome of Ptolemy’s Almagest”) begun by mathematician and astronomer Georg von Peuerbach and completed by his student Regiomontanus (the Latin name of Johannes Müller von Königsberg). Regiomontanus’s chapter-by-chapter commentary helped the next couple of generations learn their
Read More