GetWiki
Meton of Athens
ARTICLE SUBJECTS
being →
database →
ethics →
fiction →
history →
internet →
language →
linux →
logic →
method →
news →
policy →
purpose →
religion →
science →
software →
truth →
unix →
wiki →
ARTICLE TYPES
essay →
feed →
help →
system →
wiki →
ARTICLE ORIGINS
critical →
forked →
imported →
original →
Meton of Athens
please note:
- the content below is remote from Wikipedia
- it has been imported raw for GetWiki
{{Short description|5th century BC Greek astronomer}}{{Redirect|Meton|the insect genus|Meton (beetle)|the lunar formation|Meton (crater)}}- the content below is remote from Wikipedia
- it has been imported raw for GetWiki
factoids | |
---|---|
Work
The Metonic calendar incorporates knowledge that 19 solar years and 235 lunar months are very nearly of the same duration. Consequently, a given day of a lunar month will often occur on the same day of the solar year as it did 19 years previously. Meton's observations were made in collaboration with Euctemon, about whom nothing else is known. The Greek astronomer Callippus expanded on the work of Meton, proposing what is now called the Callippic cycle. A Callippic cycle runs for 76 years, or four Metonic cycles. Callippus refined the lunisolar calendar, deducting one day from the fourth Metonic cycle in each Callippic cycle (i.e., after 940 synodic lunar periods had elapsed), so as to better keep the lunisolar calendar synchronized with the seasons of the solar year.The world's oldest known astronomical calculator, the Antikythera Mechanism (2nd century BC), performs calculations based on both the Metonic and Callipic calendar cycles, with separate dials for each.JOURNAL, Wright, M.T.
, 2005
, Counting Months and Years: the Upper Back Dial of the Antikythera Mechanism
, Bulletin of the Scientific Instrument Society
, 87
, December
, 8-13, JOURNAL
, Freeth, Tony
, Y., Bitsakis
, X., Moussas
, etal
, Nature
, 444
, 587â591
, November 30, 2006
, Decoding the ancient Greek astronomical calculator known as the Antikythera Mechanism
, 10.1038/nature05357
, 17136087
, 7119
, 2006Natur.444..587F
, 4424998
,
The foundations of Meton's observatory in Athens are still visible just behind the podium of the Pnyx, the ancient parliament. Meton found the dates of equinoxes and solstices by observing sunrise from his observatory. From that point of observation, during the summer solstice, sunrise was in line with the local hill of Mount Lycabetus, while six months later, during the winter solstice, sunrise occurs over the high brow of Mount Hymettos in the southeast. So from Meton's observatory the Sun appears to move along a 60° arc between these two points on the horizon every six months. The bisector of the observatory's solstitial arc lies in line with the Acropolis. These topological features are important because the summer solstice was the point in time from which the Athenians measured the start of their calendar years. The first month of the new year, Hekatombaion, began with the first new moon after the summer solstice.Hannah, R. 'Greek and Roman Calendars'. London: Duckworth, pages 52-55.Meton appears briefly as a character in Aristophanes' play The Birds (414 BC). He comes on stage carrying surveying instruments and is described as a geometer.What little is known about Meton is related by ancient historians. According to Ptolemy, a stela or table erected in Athens contained a record of Meton's observations, and a description of the Metonic cycle.BOOK, Smith, William, Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology, Little, Brown and Company, 1867, 2, 1069, Meton (second) by A. De M., Archive.org, registration,weblink None of Meton's works survive., 2005
, Counting Months and Years: the Upper Back Dial of the Antikythera Mechanism
, Bulletin of the Scientific Instrument Society
, 87
, December
, 8-13, JOURNAL
, Freeth, Tony
, Y., Bitsakis
, X., Moussas
, etal
, Nature
, 444
, 587â591
, November 30, 2006
, Decoding the ancient Greek astronomical calculator known as the Antikythera Mechanism
, 10.1038/nature05357
, 17136087
, 7119
, 2006Natur.444..587F
, 4424998
,
Notes
References
- BOOK, G. J. Toomer, Toomer, G. J., Meton, Dictionary of Scientific Biography, 9, 337â40, Archive.org,weblink registration,
- Pannekoek, A. "Planetary Theories â the Planetary Theory of Kidinnu." Popular Astronomy 55, 10/1947, p 422
External links
- weblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20050418001245weblink">Meton of Athens
- Greek Astronomy
- content above as imported from Wikipedia
- "Meton of Athens" does not exist on GetWiki (yet)
- time: 5:01am EDT - Sat, May 18 2024
- "Meton of Athens" does not exist on GetWiki (yet)
- time: 5:01am EDT - Sat, May 18 2024
[ this remote article is provided by Wikipedia ]
LATEST EDITS [ see all ]
GETWIKI 23 MAY 2022
The Illusion of Choice
Culture
Culture
GETWIKI 09 JUL 2019
Eastern Philosophy
History of Philosophy
History of Philosophy
GETWIKI 09 MAY 2016
GetMeta:About
GetWiki
GetWiki
GETWIKI 18 OCT 2015
M.R.M. Parrott
Biographies
Biographies
GETWIKI 20 AUG 2014
GetMeta:News
GetWiki
GetWiki
© 2024 M.R.M. PARROTT | ALL RIGHTS RESERVED