13. Defamed

Lunar eclipses were the only Babylonian observations that entered Ptolemy's calculations. He judged their regular observations unreliable and argued convincingly for excluding them. Nevertheless, modern investigators find the Babylonians accurately observed and recorded many celestial events.

Presumably Ptolemy was aware that his calculations were incompatible with Babylonian observations, and he reacted as theorists often do - he focused on compliant evidence. Experimental results in complex studies are often contradictory. Hence the incongruous Babylonian data did not deter Ptolemy from the belief that celestial bodies move in perfect circles and have done so since time immemorial.