The Gregorian calendar reform. I. (Q2012006)

In this paper, the Gregorian calendar reform is described, going back to the work \textit{Romani calendarii explicatio} (1603) by Christoph Clavius. In a sequel to this paper (as Part II), a formula for the determination of the date of Easter will be described. In the paper under review, one finds the astronomical principles, the Alexandrian Easter cycle, the necessity for reform by means of the Gregorian reform; in short, furthermore, all details about understanding the ``hows'' and ``whys''. The contents of both papers are in fact a condensed (but nice) review of the details as appearing in a promising book by the authors, called ``Kalendermathematik''. Last but not least: in the references one finds the work of Ben Mose, Jehuda and Isaak ben Sid (1252); Erasmus Reinhold (1551); Eduard Schwartz (1905), as invaluable older sources. See the references!