Axial gnomons and riots
Many thanks to Roger Bailey for helpful information re axial gnomons although it's clear the problem of how they appeared in the west is still not totally understood. Also to Paul Murphy; I too have Duncan's book, The Calendar, and I too thought it was excellent. But Duncan's account of the 1752 riots (p.312) is of just the kind that Robert Poole in his History Today article refutes. In considering the Oxford and Bristol reports and Hogarth's painting (reproduced in the article) Poole believes there is no evidence to support the stories of riots. The UK tax year used to end on Lady Day, 25 March. Since 1752 it has continued to end on old Lady Day, now 5 April, new style, 11 days later. The new tax year begins on 6 April. Because of this, nobody in 1752 paid taxes early but I believe many had to pay rent and leases early. And the great festivals, e.g. Christmas, were displaced in time and this too caused a good deal of grumbling and discontent. -- Frank Evans
Re: Act of 1752
May I recommend David Ewart Duncan's 'The Calendar' recently published by 4th Estate for an interesting insight into the calculation of the year etc. Paul Murphy I'll second that; it was a very good read. The full title is Calendar : Humanity's Epic Struggle to Determine a True and Accurate Year by David Ewing Duncan Here's an Amazon.com link if you want to learn more about it... http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0380793245/qid=942943896/sr=1-3/002-3183584-8100040 Jim 40N45, 111W53 --- -- | Jim Cobb | 540 Arapeen Dr. #100 | [EMAIL PROTECTED] | | Parametric| Salt Lake City, UT | (801)-588-4632 | | Technology Corp. | 84108-1202 | Fax (801)-588-4650 | --- -- Repartee is something we think of twenty-four hours too late. -- Mark Twain
Re: Axial gnomons and riots
Frank Evans wrote: but I believe many had to pay rent and leases early. The law (in England) adopting the calendar change specified that this was *not* to happen, though I would not be surprised if unscrupulous landlords with uninformed tenants pulled off this trick anyway. Birthdays and various anniversaries were to be likewise adjusted so that a full 365 (or 366) days would elapse between the celebrations. That's why George Washington's birthday moved (as was cited in an earlier message on this thread). And the great festivals, e.g. Christmas, were displaced in time and this too caused a good deal of grumbling and discontent. Yes, I believe Christmas and Easter moved. The point was to move Easter back to it's 'correct' date, as determined by Gregory's blue ribbon panel. Frank Evans Jim 40N45, 111W53 --- -- | Jim Cobb | 540 Arapeen Dr. #100 | [EMAIL PROTECTED] | | Parametric| Salt Lake City, UT | (801)-588-4632 | | Technology Corp. | 84108-1202 | Fax (801)-588-4650 | --- -- For my birthday I got a humidifier and a de-humidifier. I put them in the same room and let them fight it out. -- Steven Wright
Re: Act of 1752
May I recommend David Ewart Duncan's 'The Calendar' recently published by 4th Estate for an interesting insight into the calculation of the year etc. Paul Murphy
Re: Ah hah! and EQT
At 05:22 PM 11/16/99 -0800, Ryan Weh wrote: One question if anybody can answer--when was the analemma realised? That is, there must have been clocks that were known to be accurate, in order to prove the effect. Was it at this time that the phenomena was discovered, or was it discovered/would it be possible to be understood before then? Hi Ryan, I believe that the first Astronomer Royal John Flamsteed (1646-1719) was the first derived accurate tables for the Equation of Time. See http://www.swan.ac.uk/astra/astro/flamsteed/flamsteed.htm. He founded the Greenwich Observatory. The royal support for construction came from Charles II as the Longitude Problem became critically important for navigation. Time is the essence of the determination of longitude so knowing the difference between solar time and star time was the first step. Flamsteed is famous for the accuracy of his observations. To aid in determining the Equation of Time, he utilized two mechanical clocks with 13 foot pendulums and a micrometer on his telescope. His accurate star charts formed the basis for astronomy and navigation to this century I doubt that Flamsteed was the first to note the difference between sun and star time. In the second century, Ptolmey noted in The Almagst that there was a time difference with longitude in the time of eclipse observations. From this and other observations he concluded that the earth, taken as a whole , is sensibly spherical. His observations and this conclusion were correct. Too bad he also concluded that the earth is in the middle of the heavens and the earth does not in any way move locally. However Ptolmey's theory of the universe and mathematics work quite well for sundial design. Roger Bailey N 51 W 115
Re: Ah hah! and EQT
URL correction: See http://www.swan.ac.uk/astra/astro/essays/flamsteed/flamsteed.htm. Spelling Correction: The Almagest Roger Bailey N 51 W 115
Re: Ah hah! (?)
Could not the EOT have always been detected by comparing observations on stars with solar time? Astronomers would know about the 366 vs. 365 days per year, but would notice slight variations about even that - the EOT. I would be surprised if, say, Hipparchus had not know its value. - Original Message - From: Tom McHugh [EMAIL PROTECTED] To: Ryan Weh [EMAIL PROTECTED]; sundial@rrz.uni-koeln.de Sent: Wednesday, November 17, 1999 9:22 AM Subject: Re: Ah hah! (?) (...) I suspect, though, that as soon as the elliptical nature of the earth's orbit was established, that it was quickly realized that there would be an EOT variation, even though clocks may not have been accurate enough to show it. I do not know if there was a mathematical discovery of EOT predating accurate clocks. (...)
Act of 1752
One of the things about the Act of 1752 which bothered me for a long time was Why did we only lose 11 days The Julian calendar started in 45BC, so there were 1752+45=1797 years (there is no year 0) The Julian calendar is 11mins 14 seconds out = 1 day every 128 years 1797/128=14.03 days So why did we only lose 11 days? I can reveal the answer, for all those out there who, like me, have spent time worrying about this. The spring equinox was not on 21st March in 45 BC, but it had moved to 21st March by the time of the Council of Nicea in 325 AD. This was when Emperor Constantine - the first Christian Emperor of Rome - established, among other things, the rules for Easter (and there's another story). By the time that the Gregorian calendar was introduced in 1582 - and the driving force was to keep the date of Easter correct - the calendar had shifted by:- 1582-325=1257 1257/128=9.82 years So there was a 10 day adjustment. In 1752, we (UK and America) altered our calendar to keep us in line with the rest of Europe, a phrase that still seems to have a certain ring of familiarity. So now you can sleeep easy in your beds. Mike [EMAIL PROTECTED] 53.37N 3.02W Chester, UK
