Historic Questions

[David Stanton]

by SteveS on Thu Mar 26, 2009 12:08 pm

Jim, I have read that accurate astronomical tables did not exist until the 17th century to produce accurate Solar & Lunar Returns. Do you generally agree with this statement?

Regards, Steve

[David Stanton]

by Jim Eshelman on Thu Mar 26, 2009 12:14 pm

SteveS wrote:
Jim, I have read that accurate astronomical tables did not exist until the 17th century to produce accurate Solar & Lunar Returns. Do you generally agree with this statement?

No. The ancients had really accurate methods. Particularly with Lunar Returns, it was no big deal to get close enough - for example, Ptolemy's Almagest could get that close.