Sosigenes

Sosigenes
(c. 1st century bc) Egyptian astronomer
Nothing seems to be known about Sosigenes apart from his design of the Julian calendar. By the time of Julius Caesar the Roman calendar was hopelessly out of alignment with the seasons. The Romans had traditionally had a lunar 12-month calendar of 355 days. To bring it into phase with the solar year an intercalary (inserted) month of 27 days was supposed to be added every other year to a reduced February of 23 or 24 days. In theory this should have produced a year of 3661/4 days, which would have proved inaccurate in the long run but should have been controllable by skipping an intercalation whenever the discrepancy became too uncomfortable. For whatever reason the practice had not been followed and to cure the confusion Caesar felt in need of expert foreign advice. He called in Sosigenes, an Alexandrian Greek from Egypt. To restore the situation to normal he introduced two intercalary months between November and December totaling 67 days and one of 27 days after February producing the famous year of ‘ultimate confusion’ of 445 days in 46 BC. To ensure that harmony would continue he introduced what was the basic Egyptian year of 365 days plus a leap year every four years. This is in fact eleven minutes too long but it is a tribute to Sosigenes that it lasted for 1500 years before being modified.

Scientists. . 2011.

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  • Sosigenes — ist der Name folgender Personen: Sosigenes aus Alexandria, hellenistisch ägyptischer Astronom Sosigenes der Peripatetiker, aristotelischer Philosoph und Astronom Sosigenes ist auch de Name eines Mondkraters, siehe Sosigenes (Mondkrater) …   Deutsch Wikipedia

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  • Sosigĕnes — Sosigĕnes, peripatetischer Philosoph u. Mathematiker in Alexandria, dessen sich I. Cäsar zur Berichtigung des Kalenders bediente; ein Römer Flavius machte nach seiner Anordnung den neuen Kalender; vgl. Jahr B) a) bb). Er schrieb einen Commentar… …   Pierer's Universal-Lexikon

  • Sosígenes — (Sōsigénēs) ► (s. I a C) Astrónomo griego. Llevó a cabo la reforma del ant. calendario romano …   Enciclopedia Universal

  • Sosigenes — There were several historical figures called Sosigenes:*Sosigenes of Alexandria, an astronomer consulted by Julius Caesar for the design of the Julian calendar. *Sosigenes the Peripatetic, who was a peripatetic philosopher living at the end of… …   Wikipedia

  • SOSIGENES — I. SOSIGENES Archon Athenis, Olymp. 109. An. 3. II. SOSIGENES Astrologus Aegyptius, quem Caesar Dictator annos, vitio Pontificum per intercalandi licentiam, turbatos, ad Solis cursum redigens, adiutorem sibi adhibuit. Sueton. Dion. Plin. l. 18. c …   Hofmann J. Lexicon universale

  • Sosigenes the Peripatetic — was a philosopher living at the end of the 2nd century AD. He was the tutor of Alexander of Aphrodisias and wrote a work On Revolving Spheres , from which some important extracts have been preserved in Simplicius s commentary on Aristotle s De… …   Wikipedia

  • Sosigenes aus Alexandria — (agr. Σωσιγένης ὅ ᾿Αλεξανδρεύς, Sōsigénēs hó Alexandréus) war ein spät hellenistischer Astronom, der bei der Kalenderreform unter Gaius Iulius Caesar (Julianischer Kalender), neben anderen wie wahrscheinlich auch Acoreus, als Berater tätig war… …   Deutsch Wikipedia

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  • Sosigenes der Peripatetiker — war ein aristotelischer Philosoph (Aristotelismus) des 2. nachchristlichen Jahrhunderts, der im Zusammenhang mit der Rettung der Phänomene genannt wird, d.h. wie man die komplizierten Bewegungen der Himmelskörper, insbesondere von Sonne, Mond und …   Deutsch Wikipedia

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