Domninus of Larissa

Domninus of Larissa (Greek: Δομνῖνος; c. 420 – c. 480 AD) was an ancient Hellenistic Syrian mathematician.

Life

Domninus of Larissa, Syria was, simultaneously with Proclus, a pupil of Syrianus. Domninus is said to have corrupted the doctrines of Plato by mixing up with them his private opinions. This called forth a treatise from Proclus, intended as a statement of the genuine principles of Platonism.[1] Marinus writes about a rivalry between Domninus and Proclus about how Plato's work should be interpreted,

[Syrianus] offered to discourse to them on either the Orphic theories or the oracles; but Domninus wanted Orphism, Proclus the oracles, and they had not agreed when Syrianus died...[2]

The Athenian academy eventually choose Proclus' interpretation over Domninus' and Proclus would later become the head of the Academy. After Proclus' promotion, Domninus left Athens and returned to Larissa.

It is said that once when Domninus was ill and coughing up blood, he took to eating copious amounts of pork, despite the fact that he was Jewish, because a physician prescribed it as a treatment.[1] He is also said to have taught Asclepiodotus, until Asclepiodotus became so argumentative that Domninus no longer admitted him into his company.[1]

Works

Domninus is remembered for authoring a Manual of Introductory Arithmetic (Greek: Ἐγχειρίδιον ἀριθμητικῆς εἰσαγωγῆς), which was edited by Boissonade and had two articles by Tannery written about it. The Manual of Introductory Arithmetic was a concise and well arranged overview of the theory of numbers. It covered numbers, proportions and means. It is important since it is a reaction against Nicomachus' Introductio arithmetica and a return to the doctrine of Euclid.

Domninus is also believed to have authored a tract entitled how a ratio can be taken out of a ratio (Greek: Πῶς ἔστι λόγον ἐκ λόγου ἀφελεῖν), which studies the manipulation of ratios into other forms. Bulmer-Thomas believe that it was written, at least in part, by Domninus, but Heath casts some doubt on the authorship by stating that if it wasn't written by Domninus then it at least comes from the same period as him.[3] Domninus may have also written a work entitled Elements of Arithmetic as referred to near the end of his Manual of Introductory Arithmetic, although whether or not he ever wrote this book is unknown.
See also

Heliodorus of Larissa

Citations and footnotes

Damascius, Life of Isidore in the Suda, Domninos
Bulmer-Thomas (1970-1990)

Heath p. 538, (1981)

References

Heath, Thomas Little (1981). A History of Greek Mathematics, Volume II. Dover publications. ISBN 0-486-24074-6.
Ivor Bulmer-Thomas, Biography in Dictionary of Scientific Biography (New York 1970-1990).
Peter Brown, The Manual of Domninus in Harvard Review of Philosophy (2000)

External links

O'Connor, John J.; Robertson, Edmund F., "Domninus of Larissa", MacTutor History of Mathematics archive, University of St Andrews.

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Ancient Greek and Hellenistic mathematics (Euclidean geometry)
Mathematicians
(timeline)
Anaxagoras Anthemius Archytas Aristaeus the Elder Aristarchus Apollonius Archimedes Autolycus Bion Bryson Callippus Carpus Chrysippus Cleomedes Conon Ctesibius Democritus Dicaearchus Diocles Diophantus Dinostratus Dionysodorus Domninus Eratosthenes Eudemus Euclid Eudoxus Eutocius Geminus Heliodorus Heron Hipparchus Hippasus Hippias Hippocrates Hypatia Hypsicles Isidore of Miletus Leon Marinus Menaechmus Menelaus Metrodorus Nicomachus Nicomedes Nicoteles Oenopides Pappus Perseus Philolaus Philon Philonides Porphyry Posidonius Proclus Ptolemy Pythagoras Serenus Simplicius Sosigenes Sporus Thales Theaetetus Theano Theodorus Theodosius Theon of Alexandria Theon of Smyrna Thymaridas Xenocrates Zeno of Elea Zeno of Sidon Zenodorus
Treatises
Almagest Archimedes Palimpsest Arithmetica Conics (Apollonius) Catoptrics Data (Euclid) Elements (Euclid) Measurement of a Circle On Conoids and Spheroids On the Sizes and Distances (Aristarchus) On Sizes and Distances (Hipparchus) On the Moving Sphere (Autolycus) Euclid's Optics On Spirals On the Sphere and Cylinder Ostomachion Planisphaerium Sphaerics The Quadrature of the Parabola The Sand Reckoner
Problems
Angle trisection Doubling the cube Squaring the circle Problem of Apollonius
Concepts/definitions
Circles of Apollonius
Apollonian circles Apollonian gasket Circumscribed circle Commensurability Diophantine equation Doctrine of proportionality Golden ratio Greek numerals Incircle and excircles of a triangle Method of exhaustion Parallel postulate Platonic solid Lune of Hippocrates Quadratrix of Hippias Regular polygon Straightedge and compass construction Triangle center
Results
In Elements
Angle bisector theorem Exterior angle theorem Euclidean algorithm Euclid's theorem Geometric mean theorem Greek geometric algebra Hinge theorem Inscribed angle theorem Intercept theorem Pons asinorum Pythagorean theorem Thales's theorem Theorem of the gnomon
Apollonius
Apollonius's theorem
Other
Aristarchus's inequality Crossbar theorem Heron's formula Irrational numbers Menelaus's theorem Pappus's area theorem Problem II.8 of Arithmetica Ptolemy's inequality Ptolemy's table of chords Ptolemy's theorem Spiral of Theodorus
Centers
Cyrene Library of Alexandria Platonic Academy
Other
Ancient Greek astronomy Greek numerals Latin translations of the 12th century Neusis construction

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