The Astronomical Tables of Giovanni Bianchini (History of Science and Medicine Library, 12)

This book describes and analyses, for the first time, the astronomical tables of Giovanni Bianchini of Ferrara (d. after 1469), explains their context, inserts them into an astronomical tradition that began in Toledo, and addresses their diffusion. The Alfonsine Tables became the main computing tool for astronomers for about 250 years, from their compilation in Toledo ca. 1272 to the edition in 1551 of new tables based on Copernicus's astronomical models. It consisted of a set of astronomical tables which, over time, was presented in many different formats. Giovanni Bianchini (d. after 1469), an astronomer active in Ferrara, Italy, was among the few scholars of that extended period to compile a coherent and insightful set based on the Alfonsine Tables. His tables, described and analyzed here for the first time, played a remarkable role in the transmission of the Alfonsine Tables and in their transition from manuscript to print.Medieval and Early Modern Science, 10

The Alfonsine Tables became the main computing tool for astronomers for about 250 years, form their compilation in Toledo ca. 1272 to the edition in 1551 of new tables based on Copernicus's astronomical models. It consisted of a set of astronomical tables which, over time, was presented in many different formats. Giovanni Bianchini (d. after 1469), an astronomer active in Ferrara, Italy, was among the few scholars of that extended period to compile a coherent and insightful set based on the Alfonsine Tables. His tables, described and analyzed here for the first time, played a remarkable role in the transmission of the Alfonsine Tables and in their transition from manuscript to print.

Contents 6 Preface 8 List of Illustrations 10 Introduction 12 Chapter One. Giovanni Bianchini: Life and Work 24 Chapter Two. Analysis of the tables 34 1. Introduction 34 2. Tables in ed. 1495 39 3. Other tables in the manuscripts and ed. 1526 that are not included in ed. 1495 104 4. Other tables in ed. 1526 or in MS Nu that are not included in ed. 1495 or in MS Na 125 Notation 144 References 146 Index 150