Little Astronomy (Greek:Μικρὸς ἈστρονομούμενοςMikrós Astronomoúmenos) is a collection of minor works inAncient Greek mathematics andastronomy dating from the 4th to 2nd century BCE that were probably used as an astronomical curriculum starting around the 2nd century CE. In theastronomy of the medieval Islamic world, with a few additions, the collection became known as theMiddle Books (Arabic:كتاب المتوسطاتKitāb al-mutawassiṭāt), mathematical preparation forClaudius Ptolemy'sAlmagest, intended for students who had already studiedEuclid'sElements.[1]
The works contained in the collection are:[2][3]
In Arabic translation as theMiddle Books, additional works, also originally written in Ancient Greek, were often included:[1]
Although these works are all generally found together in numerous medieval Byzantine and Arabic manuscripts, it is unclear whether this specific set of works was originally intentionally compiled together as a collection.[1] All of the works are elementary treatises that would have been useful in a classroom setting, which increased their chance of survival through continuous use by students, and may have resulted in several of them being gathered together multiple different times independently.[1] The earliest known author to mention the existence of a discrete "Little Astronomy" collection by name isPappus of Alexandria, in the 4th century CE, who devotes book VI of hisCollection to a commentary on selected works by Theodosius, Menelaus, Aristarchus, Euclid, and Autolycus.[3][1] The oldest manuscript in which all of the extant Greek works are preserved together is Codex Vaticanus Graecus 204, which dates from the 9th or 10th century CE.[1]
