This template is within the scope of WikiProject Mathematics, a collaborative effort to improve the coverage of
mathematics on Wikipedia. If you would like to participate, please visit the project page, where you can join
the discussion and see a list of open tasks.MathematicsWikipedia:WikiProject MathematicsTemplate:WikiProject Mathematicsmathematics articles
This template is within the scope of WikiProject Classical Greece and Rome, a group of contributors interested in Wikipedia's articles on classics. If you would like to join the WikiProject or learn how to contribute, please see our
project page. If you need assistance from a classicist, please see our
talk page.Classical Greece and RomeWikipedia:WikiProject Classical Greece and RomeTemplate:WikiProject Classical Greece and RomeClassical Greece and Rome articles
There is nothing random about the bold text. The names that are in bold are the names of those mathematicians who for some reason stand out among the rest. So since Archimedes, Apollonius, Euclid, Pythagoras, Thales, etc stand out more than the other mathematicians, their names are in bold. selfwormTalk) 07:28, 1 December 2007 (UTC)reply
Hi, selfworm. I know that Aratus strictly speaking was not a mathematician in a modern sense. In this table there are a lot of names, for which we can also say that they were not mathematicians in a same manner. For example - Anaxagoras and other Greek philosophers. This sentence: "Although Aratus was ignorant of astronomy, his poem attracted the favorable notice of 18 distinguished specialists, such as Hipparchus, who wrote a commentary upon it." says something about Aratus' role in a history of math - I guess. --
xJaM (
talk) 22:22, 14 December 2007 (UTC)reply
Hello xJam, the section that says "mathematicians" should only include people who were mathematicians. These mathematicians need not be only mathematicians, for instance, it is perfectly acceptable if one of them is a mathematician and astronomer, since then he/she is a mathematician. But if you want to then we can start a "Non-mathematicians" section directly below the "mathematicians" section, which should solve our problem. Take care. selfwormTalk) 23:03, 14 December 2007 (UTC)reply
I do understand that one can also be something else than just a mathematician. I've just said that, strictly speaking, for instance, Anaxagoras, who is listed (and some more), was not a mathematician at all. So that's why I've added Aratus, because, as the mentioned sentence also says, he made a great influence, specially via Eudoxus to Hipparchus. And Hipparchus is known to be a father of trigonometry. And the only surviving Hipparchus' work Toon Aratou kai Eudoxou Fainomenoon exegesis was a commentary about Aratus' Fainomena, which deals about star positions and their coordinates. Perhaps we can make another type of text for such persons - let say italic, instead of proposed non-mathematicians section. Another option is to list such persons at existent section of "Influences", but, as I understand, here are listed mathematics, which were non-Greek. --
xJaM (
talk) 12:45, 17 December 2007 (UTC)reply
Should we add a section listing some of the most famous problems in ancient Greek mathematics, such as
doubling the cube? selfwormTalk) 02:38, 9 August 2008 (UTC)reply