Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition/Autolycus of Pitane

AUTOLYCUS of Pitane, in Æolis, was one of the earliest Greek writers on mathematics and astronomy. As he is said to have given instruction to Arcesilaus, he probably flourished about the middle of the 4th century B.C. His extant works consist of two treatises ; the one, epl /avou,u,V?7s ox^cupas, contains some simple propositions on the motion of the sphere, the other, Trepl eVtroAwv /cat Suo-ewv, in two books, discusses the rising and setting of the fixed stars. Neither treatise is of much scientific value. There are several Latin versions of Autolycus, and a French translation by Forcadel, 1572.