Publication of Regiomontanus's Epitome of the Almagest

Johannes Hamman published the 'Epitome of the Almagest' in Venice on August 31, 1496. Georg von Peuerbach began the work, and his student Johannes Regiomontanus completed it after Peuerbach's death. The Epitome summarized Ptolemy's astronomical treatise while critiquing aspects of the Ptolemaic system, particularly noting that Ptolemy's lunar theory incorrectly predicted dramatic variations in the Moon's apparent size. Nicolaus Copernicus owned a copy, and this critique influenced his development of the heliocentric model.