Equatorie of Planetis

Front Cover
Cambridge University Press, Apr 19, 2012 - Science - 252 pages
This book, first published by Cambridge University Press in 1955, investigates the origins of The Equatorie of the Planetis, a fourteenth-century manuscript in the library of Peterhouse, Cambridge. Dr Price, a historian of science, examines the idea that it was composed and written by Geoffrey Chaucer. The chapters discuss the problems of ascription, bibliography and palaeography as well as giving an account of the theories and history of medieval astronomy and the Equatorie instrument. This edition reproduces, translates and describes the complete manuscript and uses various photographic techniques to examine erased words and analyse Chaucer's signature on the document. There are facsimiles of pages from the astronomical tables together with an analysis of their contents, and a selection of extracts from other unpublished Middle English astronomical texts are included in the appendices. A glossary is provided by R. M. Wilson.
 

Contents

INTRODUCTION
3
PROVENANCE AND PHYSICAL DESCRIPTION OF THE MANUSCRIPT
6
TRANSCRIPT AND FACSIMILES
17
TRANSLATION
47
NOTES ON THE TEXT
62
THE ASTRONOMICAL TABLES
75
Analysis of tables numerical values etc
79
Notes and other material inserted in the Tables
84
The Alfonsine precession
104
The technical terms of Ptolemaic astronomy as found in the text
107
Accuracy of the theory and the Equatorie
110
ΙΟ The calculation of planetary positions
116
HISTORY OF THE PLANETARY EQUATORIUM page
119
PALAEOGRAPHY
134
ASCRIPTION TO CHAUCER
149
GLOSSARY
167

THE PTOLEMAIC PLANETARY SYSTEM
93
General foundations of the theory
95
The Sun
97
Venus Mars Jupiter and Saturn
99
Mercury ΙΟΙ 6 The Moon
103
Cipher passages in the Manuscript
182
GENERAL INDEX
207
INDEX OF MANUSCRIPTS CITED
214
Copyright

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