Almagest

I am full of secrets. I am full of stars. My pages have circles and lines and tiny, tiny dots. When you look at me, it is like looking at the dark night sky. I hold the sun and the moon and all the sparkly stars inside me. Before there were big telescopes to peek at the sky, I was a special map of the heavens. I am a very special book called the Almagest. I am a book full of stars.

A kind man made me. His name was Ptolemy. He made me a long, long, long time ago, around the year 150. We lived in a sunny, bright city called Alexandria. Ptolemy loved to look up, up, up at the night sky. He would watch the big moon change its shape. He saw the little stars twinkle and shine. He watched bright lights wander and dance across the sky, and he knew they were planets. He used numbers and drew beautiful circles to put everything he saw onto my pages. He wanted everyone to learn about the stars' beautiful dance.

For more than one thousand years, I was the most important star book in the whole world. I was a map for dreamers. I helped sailors in their big boats find their way across the wide, blue water. I helped smart thinkers wonder about our big universe. Today, people have new maps of the sky. But I still remind everyone to look up at the night sky. I hope you will wonder about the dancing stars and all their secrets, waiting just for you.