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Sometime around A.D. 200n the Stoic philosopher and teacher Cleomedes delivered a set of lectures on elementary astronomy as part of a complete introduction to Stoicism for his students. The result was "The Heavens" (Caelestia), the only work by a professional Stoic teacher to survive intact from the first centuries A.D., and a rare example of the interaction between science and philosophy in late antiquity. This volume contains a clear and idiomatic English translation - the first ever - of "The Heavens", along with an informative introduction, detailed notes, and technical diagrams. This important work will now be accessible to specialists in both ancient philosophy and science and to readers interested in the history of astronomy and cosmology but with no knowledge of ancient Greek. "The Heavens" stands in the tradition of ancient philosophical and astronomical literature from the time of Plato and Aristotle to that of Ptolemy and is an excellent introduction to some basic principles of ancient astronomy. Its technical information includes demonstrations of a geocentric cosmology, measurements of the Earth's circumference and Sun's size, a brief account of planetary motion, descriptions of the Earth and its climatic zones, and accounts of lunar eclipses and phases. As a work of Stoicism, Cleomedes' teatrise illustrates the continuing role of Stoic ideas during the early centuries of the Roman Empire. It provides important information about earlier Stoic cosmology, and in its account of astronomy's place in the philosophy of science it shows the influence of Posidonius of Apamea.

Astronomy, Greek. --- Astronomy --- Astronomy, Greek --- 520.938 --- Greek astronomy --- Physical sciences --- Space sciences --- Sciences Astronomy History Ancient World Greece --- Astronomy - Early works to 1800 --- alexandria. --- ancient greece. --- ancient greeks. --- ancient philosophy. --- astronomy. --- caelestia. --- cleomedes. --- cosmology. --- cosmos. --- greek philosophy. --- hellenism. --- metaphysics. --- moral philosophy. --- natural world. --- nonfiction. --- philosophy. --- science and philosophy. --- social philosophy. --- stoic philosopher. --- stoic philosophy. --- stoicism. --- the heavens. --- zodiac.