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Ptolemy
(fl. 146—170) Greek astronomer and geographer
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(2nd century),
Greek astronomer and geographer. His teachings had enormous influence on medieval thought, the geocentric view of the cosmos (the Ptolemaic system outlined in his major work Almagest) being adopted as Christian doctrine until the late Renaissance. Ptolemy's Geography, giving lists of places with their longitudes and latitudes, was also a standard work for centuries, despite its inaccuracies.
