An analysis of the \textit{Tabulae magistrales} by Giovanni Bianchini (Q332278)

The fifteenth-century work by Bianchini, \textit{Tabulae magistrales}, compiles values of various trigonometric quantities useful in astronomy. In modern terms, five of the tables give scalings of the sine, cosecant, and tangent functions. Three other tables compute more complex expressions related to quantities like ascensions and declinations. The present paper examines the contents of each table. The author stresses Bianchini's innovations: the work ``seems to be the first set of tables in Latin specifically devoted to mathematical tools for computational astronomy'' and also employs several scaling factors based on powers of~10, rather than the traditional~60.