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A Community Devoted to the Preservation and Practice of Celestial Navigation and Other Methods of Traditional Wayfinding
From: Robin Stuart
Date: 2017 Feb 10, 06:37 -0800
Lars,
You noted: "In a 5-figure table it should be given as 8.87661."
I don't know what actually done to compute the tables but whether a 5-figure table gives 8.87661 or 8.87662 may depend on the exact method used. If they used some sort of series expansion for log(cos) the final digit could depend on how rapid the convergence is (i.e. how big the unincluded terms can be) and whether convergence is from above, below or alternating. They might have just started with someone elses, say 6 figure, tables for log and cosine and performed multiple look ups to compile the table.
An actual error in the tables would be the clincher but we don't see any in what we have. Alternatively if we do find an error in the particular values in a candidate volume for "the epitome" then it can be excluded.
Regards,
Robin
