van der Werf, Siebren (Author)
Journal for the History of Astronomy
Volume: 50
Issue: 3
Pages: 326-338
It is believed that Vasco da Gama carried nautical tables on his first voyage to the Indies, 1497–1499, that had especially been produced for the years 1497–1500 by Abraham Zacut, then Royal Astronomer in the service of the Portuguese court. Maritime history writers have suggested two manuscripts as surviving copies of these da Gama tables. One of them is a set of declination tables in the 1519 edition of Suma de Geographia by Martín Fernández de Enciso. Analysis of all available data shows that these tables are indeed good candidates, though their production from the 1505–1508 astronomical tables of Regiomontanus and of Stöffler and Pflaum would be about equally likely. The other candidate is a set of solar ecliptic longitudes, found in the Livro de Marinharia, attributed to André Pires. It is shown that with certainty these have been taken from 1505 to 1508 of Regiomontanus/Stöffler-Pflaum and therefore cannot have served da Gama on his first voyage.
...MoreSimilar Citations
Article
Siebren van der Werf;
(2017)
History and Critical Analysis of Fifteenth and Sixteenth Century Nautical Tables
Article
Bernard R. Goldstein;
José Chabás;
(2018)
New Evidence on Abraham Zacut’s Astronomical Tables
Article
Glen Van Brummelen;
(2018)
The End of an Error: Bianchini, Regiomontanus, and the Tabulation of Stellar Coordinates
Book
Chabás, José;
Goldstein, Bernard R.;
(2009)
Abraham Zacut (1452--1515) y la astronomía en la Península Ibérica
Article
Rose, Susan;
(2004)
Mathematics and the Art of Navigation: The Advance of Scientific Seamanship in Elizabethan England
Book
Luís Fardilha;
Maria de Lurdes Correia Fernandes;
(2016)
Roteiro da Primeira Viagem de Vasco da Gama à Índia, 1497-1499 / Journal of the First Voyage of Vasco da Gama to India, 1497-1499
Book
Folkerts, Menso;
Kühne, Andreas;
(2006)
Astronomy as a Model for the Sciences in Early Modern Times: Papers from the International Symposium, Munich, 10--12 March 2003
Article
Lars Gislén;
(2024)
Longitudes, Syzygies, and Instruments in Regiomontanus’ Calendar for 1475–1531
Book
Cuyvers, Luc;
(1999)
Into the rising sun: Vasco da Gama and the search for the sea route to the east
Article
Guckelsberger, Kurt;
(2013)
Das moderne Kartenbild von Europa auf der Carta Itineraria Waldseemüllers von 1511/1520
Article
Husson, Matthieu;
(2014)
Remarks on Two Dimensional Array Tables in Latin Astronomy: A Case Study in Layout Transmission
Article
Lamprey, John P.;
(1997)
An examination of two groups of Georg Hartmann 16th-century astrolabes and the tables used in their manufacture
Article
Headley, John M.;
(2000)
Geography and Empire in the Late Renaissance: Botero's Assignment, Western Universalism, and the Civilizing Process
Book
Nielsen, Erling;
(2003)
An Ocean Too Wide: Columbus's Proposal for a Westward Voyage to the Riches of Asia
Chapter
Renda, Günsel;
(2006)
Mapping and Picturing: Maps as Records of History
Article
Small, Margaret;
(2007)
From Jellied Seas to Open Waterways: Redefining the Northern Limit of the Knowable World
Chapter
Brotton, Jerry;
(2005)
Printing the Map, Making a Difference: Mapping the Cape of Good Hope, 1488--1652
Thesis
Thompson, Katherine Anne;
(2010)
Monsters in Paradise: The Representation of the Natural World in the Historias of Bartolome de Las Casas and Gonzalo Fernandez de Oviedo
Book
Mario Negri;
(2023)
Cosmographica. Note edite e inedite di storia della navigazione e di cosmografia nautica
Chapter
González González, Francisco José;
(2011)
Astronomía y navegación en el Cádiz del siglo XVIII
Be the first to comment!