Astronomical Tables: Applications and Improvements During the Middle Ages
Overview
Medieval astronomers were frequently called upon to resolve practical questions pertaining to social or religious matters. This was especially true in the Islamic world, where the motions of heavenly bodies were, and still are, closely tied to religious law. Astronomers also had to respond to the technical demands of astrologers who occupied an important place in Islamic society. Efforts throughout the Middle Ages to address these and related needs adequately led to improvements in existing astronomical tables and produced important theoretical developments that had applications far beyond the specific problems they were intended solve. The culmination of this work was the Alfonsine Tables, introduced in Paris around 1320.
Background
Ever since the time of the Babylonians, theoretical models have been developed for predicting the time of occurrence and location of celestial phenomena. Unfortunately, without calculators or computers, performing even the simplest calculations with these models was cumbersome and time-consuming. Astronomical tables were constructed to simplify the procedure.
Medieval astronomical tables were based almost exclusively on Ptolemy's (100?-170?) geocentric models. Ptolemy developed his geometrical models in the Almagest. Computing planetary positions based on his theory required knowing the numbers that specified the actual geometry of the models.
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