{{Short description|British astronomy and mathematics historian (born 1934)}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}}
{{Infobox academic
| name              = Gerald J. Toomer
| image             = <!--(as myimage.jpg, no 'File:')-->
| image_size        = 
| alt               = 
| caption           = 
| birth_date        = {{Birth date and age|1934|11|23|df=y}}
| birth_place       = [[Aldershot]], [[Hampshire]]
| death_date        = 
| death_place       = 
| discipline            = [[History of science]]
| workplaces        = [[Brown University]]<br />[[Utrecht University]]
| alma_mater        = 
| doctoral_advisor  = 
| doctoral_students = [[Jan Hogendijk]]
| awards            = 
}}

'''Gerald James Toomer''' (born 23 November 1934) 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, Oxford|Corpus Christi College]], [[Cambridge University]], he moved to [[Brown University]] as a [[Matriculation#Special student|special student]] in 1959 to study "the history of mathematics in antiquity and the transmission of these systems through Arabic into medieval Europe."<ref>Martha Mitchell. [https://www.brown.edu/Administration/News_Bureau/Databases/Encyclopedia/search.php?serial=H0160 "History of Mathematics"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210804070304/https://www.brown.edu/Administration/News_Bureau/Databases/Encyclopedia/search.php?serial=H0160 |date=4 August 2021 }} in ''Encyclopedia Brunoniana''.</ref> He joined the History of Mathematics department in 1963, became an associate professor in 1965, and was the chairman from 1980 to 1986.<ref>[http://www.oup.com/us/catalog/general/subject/HistoryOther/IntellectualHistory/?view=usa&ci=9780199207039 Author biography] from publisher's web site for ''Ptolemy's Almagest''.</ref><ref>{{citation|url=http://www.nap.edu/html/biomems/oneugebauer.pdf|title=Otto E. Neugebauer 1899–1990|authorlink=Otto Neugebauer|publisher=[[United States National Academy of Sciences]]|first=N. M.|last=Swerdlow|year=1998}}.</ref>

== Some works ==

* [[Diocles (mathematician)|Diocles]]: ''On Burning Mirrors. The Arabic Translation of the Lost Greek Original.'' ed., with English translation and commentary by G. J. Toomer. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg, New York 1976 (Sources in the History of Mathematics and Physical Sciences, 1).	{{isbn|3-540-07478-3}}.
* [[Apollonius of Perga|Apollonius]]: ''Conics, books V to VII.'' The Arabic translation of the lost Greek original in the version of the Banū Mūsā. In two volumes. Ed. with transl. and commentary by G. J. Toomer. Springer, New York, Berlin, Heidelberg, Springer (Sources in the History of Mathematics and Physical Sciences, 9). {{isbn|3-540-97216-1}}.
* "Lost Greek mathematical works in Arabic translation."  ''[[Mathematical Intelligencer]]'', volume 6, 1984, pages 32–38.
* ''Ptolemy's Almagest'', translated and annotated by G. J. Toomer. Duckworth, London & Springer, New York 1984. {{isbn|0-387-91220-7}}. Revised edn. Univ. Pr., Princeton, 1998, {{isbn|978-0-691-00260-6}}.
* ''[[Hipparchus]] and [[Babylonian astronomy|Babylonian Astronomy]].'' In: Erle Leichty, Maria de J. Ellis, Pamel Gerardi: ''A Scientific Humanist: Studies in Memory of Abraham Sachs.'' Philadelphia: Occasional Publications of the Samuel Noah Kramer Fund, 9, 1988.
* ''Eastern Wisedome and Learning. The study of Arabic in 17th century England.'' Oxford University Press 1996.
* ''[[John Selden]]. A life in scholarship.'' Oxford University Press, 2009.

== See also ==

* [[Ptolemy's table of chords]]

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
*{{mathgenealogy|id=13668|name=Gerald J. Toomer}}
*[https://www.brown.edu/Administration/News_Bureau/Databases/Encyclopedia/search.php?serial=H0160 History of the History of Mathematics Department] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210804070304/https://www.brown.edu/Administration/News_Bureau/Databases/Encyclopedia/search.php?serial=H0160 |date=4 August 2021 }} at [[Brown University]]
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Toomer, Gerald J.}}
[[Category:Historians of astronomy]]
[[Category:British historians of mathematics]]
[[Category:British historians of science]]
[[Category:1934 births]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:Writers from Aldershot]]
[[Category:Fellows of Corpus Christi College, Cambridge]]
[[Category:Brown University faculty]]
[[Category:Corresponding fellows of the British Academy]]