Circa 390-Circa 340 B.C.E.
Astronomer

Diverse Scholar. An outstanding mathematician, astronomer, geographer, and philosopher, Eudoxus hailed from the Dorian city of Cnidus in Asia Minor; he was a pupil of Archytas, a Pythagorean philosopher from Tarentum, in geometry and Philistion, a physician from southern Italy, in medicine. He studied in Athens, where he knew Plato. At some point he visited Egypt, where he learned astronomy from the priests. On astronomy he lectured in Cyzicus and in various courts before returning to Athens. Eudoxus is credited with inventing the theory of proportions in geometry, as well as working on limits. He pioneered in mathematical explanations for planetary motion, general observations of constellations, and work on developing calendars.

Sources:

R. M. Dancy, Two Studies in the Early Academy (Albany: State University of New York Press, 1991).

G. J. Toomer, "Eudoxus," in The Oxford Classical Dictionary, edited by...