Chasing Shadows: Mathematics, Astronomy, and the Early History of Eclipse Reckoning

Title Page, Copyright, Dedication

Chasing Shadows Mathematics, Astronomy, and the Early History of Eclipse Reckoning  CLEMENCY MONTELLE The Johns Hopkins University Press BALTIMORE © 2011 The Johns Hopkins University Press All rights reserved. Published 2011 Printed in the United States of America on acid-free paper 2 4 6 8 9 7 5 3 1 The Johns Hopkins University Press 2715 North Charles Street Baltimore, Maryland 21218-4363 www.press.jhu.edu ISBN 13: 978-0-8018-9691-0 ISBN 10: 0-8018-9691-6 Library of Congress Control Number: 2009943460 A catalog record for this book is available from the British Library. Special discounts are available for bulk purchases of this book. For more information, please contact Special Sales at 410-516-6936 or specialsales@press.jhu.edu. The Johns Hopkins University Press uses environmentally friendly book materials, including recycled text paper that is composed of at least 30 percent post-consumer waste, whenever possible. All of our book papers are acid-free, and our jackets and covers are printed on paper with recycled content. To my three boys Well, after this, said Socrates, when I was worn out with my physical investigations, it occurred to me that I must guard against the same sort of risk which people run when they watch and study an eclipse of the sun; they really do sometimes injure their eyes, unless they study its reflection in water or some other medium. I conceived of something like this happening to myself, and I was afraid that by observing objects with my eyes and trying to comprehend them with each of my other senses I might blind my soul altogether. So I decided that I must have recourse to theories, and use them in trying to discover the truth about things. —Plato, Phaedo 99d–e; ed. Hamilton ...