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Re: Astronomy - History



On Thu, 26 Sep 1996, Paul Camp wrote:
Neugebauer is indeed a good choice, but I suggest Gingerich is more
accessable.


Al Bachman writes:

1) How does one determine the orbit of a superior planet, eg Mars,
from visual observations? A reference will do.

Kepler's method was to select from Brahe's set of observations only
those made on the same day in different years so that the Earth was
effectively frozen in place. Park's book The How and The Why has a
pretty good section on this. Good luck finding numerical data on
Ptolemy's model. You might try Neugebauer, A History of Ancient
Mathematical Astronomy, Springer-Verlag 1975. I don't know if it
contains this info since I am no longer at an institution whose
library has a copy. But it might.

Paul J. Camp "The Beauty of the Universe
Assistant Professor of Physics consists not only of unity
Coastal Carolina University in variety but also of
Conway, SC 29528 variety in unity.
pjcamp@csd1.coastal.edu --Umberto Eco
pjcamp@postoffice.worldnet.att.net The Name of the Rose
(803)349-2227
fax: (803)349-2926