Newton's forgotten lunar theory his contribution to the quest for longitude : includes the complete text of Isaac Newton's Theory of the moon's motion, 1702

In this engaging piece of detective work, Nicholas Kollerstrom has combined historical research with computer analysis to investigate long-unanswered questions about Newton's lunar theory of 1702 (whose complete text is included). The lunar theory turns out to have been the basis for numerous eighteenth century tables, and was used in China well into the twentieth century. It was taken (heavily disguised) into the Principia of 1713, with one important correction. In this form, it was remarkably accurate, about as good as the observations on which it was based, and was used by Halley (in a procedure explained here for the first time) to compute lunar positions with an accuracy of under one arcminute--good enough to have won the longitude prize. "Around the turn of the eighteenth century, one of the most pressing practical scientific problems was accurate prediction of the moon's position. Although Isaac Newton had hoped to solve this problem using the dynamic approach developed in Principia in 1687, he never succeeded in doing so. Instead, he reverted to an old-fashioned kinematic theory, using epicyclic motion. A terse summary of the theory was published in 1702 by David Gregory as part of his Astronomiae elementa. The present work includes Newton's full text with annotations explaining terms and relating the text to Kollerstrom's analysis. In this detailed study, Kollerstrom solves the enigma of Newton's "forgotten" lunar theory. He ascertains, for the first time ever, just what Newton's theory did and did not achieve."--Amazon Newton's lunar theory of 1702 turns out to have been the basis for numerous eighteenth century tables, and was used in China well into the twentieth century. It was taken into the "Principia" of 1713, with one important correction. Combining historical research with computer analysis, this title investigates questions about the lunar theory.