Gerald J. Toomer

Who is Gerald J. Toomer?

Gerald James Toomer is a historian of astronomy and mathematics who has written numerous books and papers on ancient Greek and medieval Islamic astronomy. In particular, he translated Ptolemy's Almagest into English.

Formerly a fellow of Corpus Christi College, Cambridge University, he moved to Brown University as a special student in 1959 to study "the history of mathematics in antiquity and the transmission of these systems through Arabic into medieval Europe." He joined the History of Mathematics department in 1963, became an associate professor in 1965, and was the chairman from 1980 to 1986.