The Babylonian Theory of the Planets - Rilegato

Swerdlow, N. M.

Rilegato

ISBN 10: 0691011966 ISBN 13: 9780691011967

Casa editrice: Princeton Univ Pr, 1998

Riassunto

In the second millennium b.c., Babylonian scribes assembled a vast collection of astrological omens, believed to be signs from the gods concerning the kingdom's political, military, and agricultural fortunes. The importance of these omens was such that from the eighth or seventh until the first century, the scribes observed the heavens nightly and recorded the dates and locations of ominous phenomena of the moon and planets in relation to stars and constellations. The observations were arranged in monthly reports along with notable events and prices of agricultural commodities, the object being to find correlations between phenomena in the heavens and conditions on earth. These collections of omens and observations form the first empirical science of antiquity and were the basis of the first mathematical science, astronomy. For it was discovered that planetary phenomena, although irregular and sometimes concealed by bad weather, recur in limited periods within cycles in which they are repeated on nearly the same dates and in nearly the same locations.N. M. Swerdlow's book is a study of the collection and observation of ominous celestial phenomena and of how intervals of time, locations by zodiacal sign, and cycles in which the phenomena recur were used to reduce them to purely arithmetical computation, thereby surmounting the greatest obstacle to observation, bad weather. The work marks a striking advance in our understanding of both the origin of scientific astronomy and the astrological divination through which the kingdoms of ancient Mesopotamia were governed.

Su questo libro

Contenuti:

	Preface
	Introduction, Planetary Omens, Observations, and Calculations
	Ominous Phenomena in the Heavens	1
	Observation of Phenomena	16
	Calculation of Phenomena	23
Pt. 1	Periodicity and Variability of Synodic Phenomena
	Units of Distance and Location and of Time and Date	34
	Dates and Locations of Phenomena in the Diaries: Observed and True Dates	39
	Periods and Their Errors	57
	Synodic Arc, Synodic Time, and Their Relation	64
Pt. 2	Derivation of the Parameters for Synodic Arc and Time from the Dates of Phenomena
	Theoretical and Empirical Considerations	73
	System B	78
	System A	88
	Mercury: Systems A[subscript 1] and A[subscript 2]	104
Pt. 3	Alignment to the Zodiac, Initial Position, Elongation, Subdivision of the Synodic Arc and Time
	Alignment to the Zodiac	135
	Initial Position and Elongation	141
	Elongation and Subdivision of the Synodic Arc and Time	147
	Summary and Conclusion
App	Alternative Methods of Deriving Parameters
	Derivation of System A from the Number of Phenomena	183
	Finding the Synodic Arc from the Direct Measurement of Longitude	186
	Tables
	Figures
	Notation and Abbreviations
	References
	Index of Names
	Index of Subjects

Product Description:

Diagrammi e tavole esplicativi. Bibliografia . 8vo pp. 246 Rilegato tela, sovracoperta (cloth, dust jacket) Molto buono (Very Good)

Su questa edizione

• Editore: Princeton Univ Pr
• Data di pubblicazione: 1998
• ISBN 10: 0691011966
• ISBN 13: 9780691011967
• Rilegatura: Copertina rigida
• Numero di pagine: 246