Thoughts on John of Saxony's method for finding times of true syzygy. (Q1415594)

The author examines the method for finding the times from mean to true syzygy that was invented by John of Saxony around 1330. He argues that the method contains several ambiguities, but that only one of these ambiguities affects the time correction. Furthermore, the method yields times of true syzygy that correspond to the time when the true elongation, as computed by the Alfonsine Tables of 1483, makes its closest approach to \(0^\circ\) or \(180^\circ\). Hence John's method yields exact Alfonsine times, unlike all other known medieval methods or tables. In the last part of the article, it is shown that John Somer (c. 1380) and Regiomontanus (c. 1450) wielded John's method with considerable computational skill.