Conon of Samos

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Conon of Samos (circa 280 BC - circa 220 BC) was a Greek astronomer and mathematician.

Conon was born on Samos, Ionia, and possibly died in Alexandria, Ptolemaic Egypt, where he was court astronomer to Ptolemy III Euergetes. He named the constellation Coma Berenices ("Berenice's Hair") after Ptolemy's wife Berenice II. She sacrificed her hair in exchange for her husband's safe return from the Third Syrian War, which began in 246 BCE. When the lock of hair disappeared, Conon explained that the goddess had shown her favor by placing it in the sky. Not all Greek astronomers accepted the designation. In Ptolemy's Almagest, Coma Berenices is not listed as a distinct constellation. However, Ptolemy does attribute several seasonal indications (parapegma) to Conon.

Conon was a friend of the mathematician Archimedes. Apollonius of Perga reported that he worked on conic sections.

[edit] Reference

• Bulmer-Thomas, Ivor. "Conon of Samos." Dictionary of Scientific Biography 3:391.

[edit] External link

• O'Connor, John J., and Edmund F. Robertson. "Conon of Samos". MacTutor History of Mathematics archive.