Very little is known about Ptolemy's early life. Born in Alexandria, Egypt, as Ptolemais Hermii, his name was later latinized as Claudius Ptolemaeus, and later Ptolemy.

Ptolemy's chief contribution to science is a series of books in which he compiled the knowledge of the ancient Greeks, his primary source being Hipparchus (fl. second century b.c.). Because most of Hipparchus' writings have not survived from antiquity, many of the ideas he espoused about the universe have become known as the Ptolemaic system.

Ptolemy's system placed Earth directly at the center of the universe. The Sun, Moon and planets all orbited Earth. However, since such a scheme did not match the observed motions of the planets, Ptolemy added small orbits to the planets called epicycles, and introduced other mathematical devices to make a better fit.

Despite its errors and complications, the Ptolemaic system was adequate enough to make predictions...