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Re: Early lunars
From: Wolfgang K�berer
Date: 2010 Mar 20, 15:47 +0100
From: Wolfgang K�berer
Date: 2010 Mar 20, 15:47 +0100
According to Maddison ("Medieval scientific instruments and the development of navigational instruments in the XVth and XVIth centuries", 30) the nocturnal was first described by Ram�n Llull by the end of the XIIIth century, but this is based on an edition of 1721 and I would not place too much faith in it. Hester Higton ("Sundials at Greenwich", 387) also states that nocturnals were in use "by at least the tenth century"; she does not give any reference, though. Finally G�nther Oestmann has written an article in the SIS-Bulletin (No. 69, 5 - 9) on the history of the nocturnal and says that there must have been forerunners of the instrument that early and that - in contrast to the astrolabe - manuscripts on this type of instrument are rare; only 18 manuscripts describing the use and manufacture from the 15th and 16th century are known to him. Wolfgang