Editing Alfonso X of Castile (section)

===Astronomy===

As an intellectual he gained considerable scientific fame based on his encouragement of [[astronomy]], which included [[astrology]] at the time and the [[Ptolemaic system|Ptolemaic]] [[cosmology]] as known to him through the [[Arab]]s. He surrounded himself with mostly Jewish translators who rendered Arabic scientific texts into Castilian at Toledo. His fame extends to the preparation of the [[Alfonsine tables]], based on calculations of [[Abū Ishāq Ibrāhīm al-Zarqālī|al-Zarqali, "Arzachel"]]. [[Alexander Bogdanov]] maintained that these tables formed the basis for [[Copernicus]]'s development of a [[Heliocentrism|heliocentric]] understanding in astronomy.<ref name=Tektology>{{cite book|last1=Bogdanov|first1=Alexander|title=Bogdanov's Tektology: Book !|date=1996|publisher=Centre for Systems Studies|location=Hull|page= 27}}</ref>
Because of this work, the lunar crater [[Alphonsus (crater)|Alphonsus]] is named after him. One famous, but apocryphal, quote attributed to him upon his hearing an explanation of the extremely complicated mathematics required to demonstrate [[Ptolemy]]'s theory of astronomy was "If the Lord Almighty had consulted me before embarking on creation thus, I should have recommended something simpler."<ref>{{Harvcoltxt|Gingerich|1990|p=40 and 44n36}}</ref> Gingerich (1990) says that a form of this alleged quotation was mentioned (but rejected) as early as the 16th century by the historian [[Jerónimo Zurita y Castro|Jerónimo de Zurita]], and that Soriano Viguera (1926) states that "nothing of the sort can be found in Alfonso's writings."<ref>{{Harvcoltxt|Soriano Viguera|1926}}</ref> Nevertheless, [[Dean Acheson]] (U.S. Secretary of State, 1949–1953) used it as the basis for the title and epigraph of his memoir ''Present at the Creation.''<ref>{{Harvcoltxt|Acheson|1969}}</ref>