For a century Euler's dare found no response from lunar theorists. Then in two papers of 1877 and 1878, George William Hill (1838--1914), a mathematician in the U.S. Nautical Almanac Office, accomplished all that Euler could have wished.4 (We have no evidence that Hill ever read Euler's paper of 1766, but he was familiar with Euler's third lunar theory of 1772, which proceeds along the lines of the 1766 paper.) In his paper of 1878, Hill solved the very problem that Euler had proposed. He computed with high precision (to 15 decimal places) the numerical parameters defining the orbit that yields Tycho's Variation (he dubbed this orbit the `Variation Curve'). His method was such as to permit increasing the precision to any degree that might be required. Moreover, he laid out a plan for developing the entire lunar theory on the basis of the Variation Curve.5
...MoreDescription On Euler's challenge to solve the problem of variations in the lunar orbit, solved by Hill in the 1870s.
Book
Wilson, Curtis;
(2010)
The Hill-Brown Theory of the Moon's Motion: Its Coming-to-Be and Short-Lived Ascendancy (1877--1984)
(/isis/citation/CBB001220034/)
Article
Roque, Tatiana;
(2015)
L'originalité de Poincaré en mécanique céleste: pratique des solutions périodiques dans un réseau de textes
(/isis/citation/CBB001552876/)
Article
Stephenson, Craig;
(2009)
George Darwin's Lectures on Hill's Lunar Theory
(/isis/citation/CBB000933560/)
Book
Chambers, John;
Mitton, Jacqueline;
(2014)
From Dust to Life: The Origin and Evolution of Our Solar System
(/isis/citation/CBB001422209/)
Article
Ruiz-Castell, Pedro;
Suay-Matallana, Ignacio;
Bonet Safont, Juan Marcos;
(2013)
El cometa de Halley y la imagen pública de la astronomía en la prensa diaria española de principios del siglo XX
(/isis/citation/CBB001320249/)
Book
Samos, Aristarco de;
Commandino, Federico;
Massa Esteve, María Rosa;
(2007)
Sobre los tamaños y las distancias del sol y la luna
(/isis/citation/CBB000930384/)
Article
José Chabás;
Bernard R. Goldstein;
(2019)
The Medieval Moon in a Matrix: Double Argument Tables for Lunar Motion
(/isis/citation/CBB887078140/)
Article
Pumfrey, Stephen;
(2011)
The Selenographia of William Gilbert: His Pre-Telescopic Map of the Moon and His Discovery of Lunar Libration
(/isis/citation/CBB001023565/)
Article
Bellver, José;
(2008-2009)
Jābir b. Aflaḥ on the Lunar Eccentricity and Prosneusis at Syzygies
(/isis/citation/CBB001024038/)
Article
Wlodarczyk, Jaroslaw;
(2011)
Libration of the Moon, Hevelius's Theory, and its Early Reception in England
(/isis/citation/CBB001036170/)
Article
Brack-Bernsen, Lis;
Hunger, Hermann;
(2002)
TU 11: A Collection of Rules for the Prediction of Lunar Phases and of Month Lengths
(/isis/citation/CBB000202124/)
Article
Britton, John P.;
(2009)
Studies in Babylonian Lunar Theory: Part II. Treatments of Lunar Anomaly
(/isis/citation/CBB000932081/)
Article
K. Rupa;
S.K. Uma;
Padmaja Venugopal;
S. Balachandra Rao;
(2023)
References to 'Parallel Phenomenon’ in Indian Astronomy and Inscriptions
(/isis/citation/CBB740994014/)
Article
Ning, Xiaoyu;
(2007)
The Lunar Theories in Xinfa Suanshu
(/isis/citation/CBB000933486/)
Chapter
Steele, J. M.;
(2010)
Dunthorne, Mayer, and Lalande on the Secular Acceleration of the Moon
(/isis/citation/CBB001021802/)
Article
Maeyama, Y.;
(2006)
On the Extreme Lunar Velocities
(/isis/citation/CBB000670060/)
Book
Brunier, Serge;
Luminet, Jean-Pierre;
(2000)
Glorious Eclipses: Their Past, Present and Future
(/isis/citation/CBB000101825/)
Article
Thomas T. Gough;
(2018)
Refraction and Precise Lunar Alignments
(/isis/citation/CBB600633524/)
Article
Jacques Gapaillard;
(2021)
The heliocentric path of the Moon
(/isis/citation/CBB676071810/)
Chapter
Wayne Orchiston;
(2015)
The Amateur-Turned-Professional Syndrome: Two Australian Case Studies
(/isis/citation/CBB385487505/)
Be the first to comment!