Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in
Book cover

Ancient Astronomical Observations and the Study of the Moon’s Motion (1691-1757)

  • Book
  • © 2012

Overview

Authors:
  1. John M. Steele

    1. , Department of Egyptology and Ancient Wes, Brown University, Providence, USA

    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed   Google Scholar

  • Presents a detailed study of previously unexplored aspect of the history of astronomy
  • The study makes extensive use of previously unpublished and unstudied manuscript material
  • The work of eighteenth century lunar theory is place in a broader cultural context?

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this book

Log in via an institution
eBook USD 84.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book USD 109.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info
Hardcover Book USD 109.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Other ways to access

Licence this eBook for your library

Institutional subscriptions

Table of contents (9 chapters)

  1. Front Matter

    Pages i-xiv
    Download chapter PDF

  2. Introduction

    • John M. Steele
    Pages 1-10

  3. Edmond Halley’s Discovery of the Secular Acceleration of the Moon

    • John M. Steele
    Pages 11-21

  4. A Forgotten Episode in the History of the Secular Acceleration: William Whiston, Arthur Ashley Sykes and the Eclipse of Phlegon

    • John M. Steele
    Pages 23-36

  5. The Gradual Acceptance of the Existence of the Secular Acceleration During the 1740s

    • John M. Steele
    Pages 37-41

  6. Eighteenth-Century Views of Ancient Astronomy

    • John M. Steele
    Pages 43-72

  7. The First Detailed Study of the Moon’s Secular Acceleration: Richard Dunthorne

    • John M. Steele
    Pages 73-94

  8. An Integrated Approach: Tobias Mayer

    • John M. Steele
    Pages 95-122

  9. The Final Synthesis: Jérôme Lalande

    • John M. Steele
    Pages 123-135

  10. Epilogue

    • John M. Steele
    Pages 137-142

  11. Back Matter

    Pages 143-158
    Download chapter PDF
Back to top

Keywords

About this book

The discovery of a gradual acceleration in the moon’s mean motion by Edmond Halley in the last decade of the seventeenth century led to a revival of interest in reports of astronomical observations from antiquity. These observations provided the only means to study the moon’s ‘secular acceleration’, as this newly-discovered acceleration became known. This book contains the first detailed study of the use of ancient and medieval astronomical observations in order to investigate the moon’s secular acceleration from its discovery by Halley to the establishment of the magnitude of the acceleration by Richard Dunthorne, Tobias Mayer and Jérôme Lalande in the 1740s and 1750s. Making extensive use of previously unstudied manuscripts, this work shows how different astronomers used the same small body of preserved ancient observations in different ways in their work on the secular acceleration. In addition, this work looks at the wider context of the study of the moon’s secular acceleration, including its use in debates of biblical chronology, whether the heavens were made up of æther, and the use of astronomy in determining geographical longitude. It also discusses wider issues of the perceptions and knowledge of ancient and medieval astronomy in the early-modern period. This book will be of interest to historians of astronomy, astronomers and historians of the ancient world.

Authors and Affiliations

  • , Department of Egyptology and Ancient Wes, Brown University, Providence, USA

    John M. Steele

Bibliographic Information

Publish with us

Policies and ethics

Back to top

Search

Navigation