Journal for the History of Astronomy, Volume 55, Issue 2, Page 207-278, May 2024. In 1524, Petrus Apianus published two closely related works—one the Latin Cosmographicus liber, aimed at an educated audience of international readers, and the other, Ein kunstlich Instrument, a shorter, more practical book for those who could read German but had no Latin. Both books nevertheless make use of most of the same instruments, including Apianus’ early volvelles. Most of these instruments also reappear in subsequent editions of Cosmographicus liber (or Cosmographia, a frequent alternative title). While ..read more

Journal for the History of Astronomy, Volume 55, Issue 2, Page 157-178, May 2024. In his Exegesis, Hipparchus explicitly states that he developed a method to calculate simultaneous risings and settings, It is generally assumed that Hipparchus used either Menelaus’ Theorem, or stereographic projections, even if both methods are only attested for later periods and their availability to Hipparchus is debated. In this article we argue that simultaneous risings and settings could be calculated using less advanced mathematical tools unquestionably available to Hipparchus: Elements I.47 (commonly kno ..read more

Journal for the History of Astronomy, Volume 55, Issue 2, Page 279-284, May 2024 ..read more

Journal for the History of Astronomy, Volume 55, Issue 2, Page 179-206, May 2024. This paper shows that the values for the phenomena related to υ Boö that Hipparchos claims in his Commentary on the Phenomena of Aratos and Eudoxos to have produced “by means of lines” (διὰ τῶν γραμμῶν) can all be computed using the ancient analemma ..read more

Journal for the History of Astronomy, Volume 55, Issue 2, Page 143-155, May 2024. Manuscripts in Oxford and Erfurt preserve evidence of the earliest known efforts made in Latin Europe to remeasure the eccentricity and maximum equation of the Ptolemaic solar model. The present article analyses and contextualizes this evidence, while also revisiting Ernst Zinner’s hypothesis according to which the relevant observations were made by Alard of Diest (fl.1308 ..read more

Journal for the History of Astronomy, Volume 55, Issue 2, Page 156-156, May 2024 ..read more

Journal for the History of Astronomy, Volume 55, Issue 1, Page 131-132, February 2024 ..read more

Journal for the History of Astronomy, Volume 55, Issue 1, Page 76-104, February 2024. German astronomer Max Wolf (1863–1932) pioneered photographic observation of asteroids and is credited as the discoverer of Trojan asteroids in 1906. His partnership with the Austro-Hungarian Empire astronomer Johann Palisa for visual confirmation led to the suggestion to call these bodies, with apparently common properties, “Trojans.” Wolf’s systematic approach led the Heidelberg-Königstuhl Observatory to be a world power in asteroid discovery around the turn of the twentieth century and led to the recogniti ..read more

Journal for the History of Astronomy, Volume 55, Issue 1, Page 105-130, February 2024. The instrument collection at the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences houses a historically significant 10-foot achromatic refractor crafted by London instrument maker John Dollond. The telescope came into use at the Academy’s Observatory in Stockholm in 1761 and remained in service into the 1820s. This paper aims to add to the biography of this instrument, encompassing its six decades of active service and, after 150 years in storage, its transformation into an exhibition showpiece. The paper begins by introdu ..read more

Journal for the History of Astronomy, Volume 55, Issue 1, Page 47-75, February 2024. The history of science in islands is not a well worked out discipline. This article offers the first thorough historical account of astronomical activities at Madeira, from the discovery of the uninhabited island in the fifteenth century (600 years ago), through its establishment as an astronomical observatory (300 years ago) and up to the recent past ..read more