I have just encountered _Marking Time: The Epic Quest to Invent the
Perfect Calendar_ by Duncan Steel, (Wiley, 2000) which contains
mind-numbing detail regarding not only the length of the year, but of
the day, month and second as well, all of which have several variant
definitions.
Al Pratt
Andrew James wrote:
>According to Britannica's article on Hipparchus, " ... observed the
>positions of the stars and compared his results with those of Timocharis of
>Alexandria about 150 years earlier and with even earlier observations made
>in Babylonia He proposed precession to account fo
According to Britannica's article on Hipparchus, " ... observed the
positions of the stars and compared his results with those of Timocharis of
Alexandria about 150 years earlier and with even earlier observations made
in Babylonia He proposed precession to account for the size of the
differe
Allan Pratt <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> writes:
> I guess getting within 6 minutes of accuracy isn't all that hard after
> all.
Hmmm, you're right. Since the length of the year happens to be so
close to 365 1/4 days, even a blind chicken (e.g., Julius Caesar) can
get a very accurate number without swea
Hi Art (and other list members)
I guess getting within 6 minutes of accuracy isn't all that hard after
all. With only four years of observations, you get a year of 365.25
days, or 365 plus 6 hours. This puts you within 12 minutes of accuracy,
since one source I've found says the exact value over 3
Hello happy dialists
I am staying in Ireland next week. Do you know any sundial to discover in the city of Dublin and
around Kilkenny ?
Thanks in advance
Jean-Paul CornecLANNIONFRANCE
Cadrans Solaires de Bretagne :http://perso.wanadoo.fr/jean-paul.cornec/index.html
Allan Pratt <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> writes:
> According to a source I read, Hipparchus, a 2nd C BC astronomer
> calculated the length of the year to within six minutes of accuracy.
> Considering that at best he had a sundial and a water clock, how did he
> do this?
I hope a historian will answer thi
