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Observations and Predictions of Eclipse Times by Early Astronomers

  • Book
  • © 2000

Overview

Authors:
  1. John M. Steele

    1. University of Durham, UK

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Part of the book series: Archimedes (ARIM, volume 4)

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Table of contents (11 chapters)

  1. Front Matter

    Pages i-xi
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  2. Introductory Orientations

    1. Front Matter

      Pages 1-1
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    2. Introduction

      • John M. Steele
      Pages 3-17

  3. The Western Heritage

    1. Front Matter

      Pages 19-19
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    2. Mesopotamia

      • John M. Steele
      Pages 21-83

    3. The Greco-Roman World

      • John M. Steele
      Pages 85-105

    4. The Islamic Near East

      • John M. Steele
      Pages 107-124

    5. Late Medieval and Renaissance Europe

      • John M. Steele
      Pages 125-158

  4. The Eastern Heritage

    1. Front Matter

      Pages 159-159
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    2. China

      • John M. Steele
      Pages 161-215

    3. Japan

      • John M. Steele
      Pages 217-228

  5. Conclusions

    1. Front Matter

      Pages 229-229
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    2. Discussion

      • John M. Steele
      Pages 231-236

  6. Appendices

    1. Front Matter

      Pages 237-237
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    2. Late Babylonian Eclipse Records

      • John M. Steele
      Pages 239-262

    3. Chinese Sunrise and Sunset Times

      • John M. Steele
      Pages 263-267

    4. Timed Chinese Eclipse Records

      • John M. Steele
      Pages 269-292

  7. Back Matter

    Pages 293-323
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Keywords

About this book

Eclipses have long been seen as important celestial phenomena, whether as omens affecting the future of kingdoms, or as useful astronomical events to help in deriving essential parameters for theories of the motion of the moon and sun. This is the first book to collect together all presently known records of timed eclipse observations and predictions from antiquity to the time of the invention of the telescope. In addition to cataloguing and assessing the accuracy of the various records, which come from regions as diverse as Ancient Mesopotamia, China, and Europe, the sources in which they are found are described in detail. Related questions such as what type of clocks were used to time the observations, how the eclipse predictions were made, and how these prediction schemes were derived from the available observations are also considered. The results of this investigation have important consequences for how we understand the relationship between observation and theory in early science and the role of astronomy in early cultures, and will be of interest to historians of science, astronomers, and ancient and medieval historians.

Reviews

`The book is lucidly written and well organized, and contains just the right amount of background in general and astronomical history to orient non-specialist readers.'
Annals of Science, 58(2001)

Authors and Affiliations

  • University of Durham, UK

    John M. Steele

Bibliographic Information

  • Book Title: Observations and Predictions of Eclipse Times by Early Astronomers

  • Authors: John M. Steele

  • Series Title: Archimedes

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-015-9528-5

  • Publisher: Springer Dordrecht

  • eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive

  • Copyright Information: Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht 2000

  • Hardcover ISBN: 978-0-7923-6298-2Published: 31 July 2000

  • Softcover ISBN: 978-90-481-5454-8Published: 06 December 2010

  • eBook ISBN: 978-94-015-9528-5Published: 17 April 2013

  • Series ISSN: 1385-0180

  • Series E-ISSN: 2215-0064

  • Edition Number: 1

  • Number of Pages: XII, 324

  • Topics: History, general, Astronomy, Observations and Techniques

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