\begin{definition}[Definition:Astrolabe/Historical Note]
The '''astrolabe''' dates to the time of {{AuthorRef|Apollonius of Perga}}, although some sources credit it invention to {{AuthorRef|Hipparchus of Nicaea}}.
{{AuthorRef|Theon of Alexandria}} wrote a detailed treatise on the '''astrolabe'''.
It is supposed that {{AuthorRef|Ptolemy}} may have used an '''astrolabe''' to provide the data for his {{BookLink|Apotelesmatika|Ptolemy}}.
Some authors attribute the invention of the '''astrolabe''' to {{AuthorRef|Hypatia of Alexandria}}, based on a misinterpretation of a letter written by one of her students, but it is well established that it had been invented some $500$ years earlier.
Use of the '''astrolabe''' was adopted by the medieval Arab world, where its design was made considerably more sophisticated and intricate.
\end{definition}