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My thanks and admiration to George Huxtable for his beaut little monograph
"About Lunars".  It was compulsory reading last night, and I'm really keen
to attempt the second example - after reading the paper several more times
of course!!

This is the first time I have even begun to understand what all the fuss was
about, and thanks to all the List members who pushed for George to summarise
the subject.  As a fascinated reader of the List, and a very ignorant and
amateur navigator, I was really impressed with George's explanations and
examples.  He managed to reduce all the really technical stuff, assume very
little pre-existing knowledge, and still go ahead and produce a gem.  I
can't wait for Part 3!!!

Some suggestions which would help me, and probably others, are:

1.      Pictures and diagrams always make life easier for me, so I was
wondering if some could be included at a later date.
2.      The trig formulae are a little bit hard to visualise with the
notation used, and would be better written down with an Equation Editor or
similar.
3.      I'd also appreciate more information on how the early astronomers
actually did all the arithmetic.  What we do on a calculator or computer now
must have taken them years.

It is humbling to learn that the great navigator Captain Cook used only the
Lunar method to determine longitudes on his first voyage, and checked the
early chronometers with lunar calculations on his second and third voyages.
George's section entitled "Just Think" paints a vivid picture for me of all
the navigators calculating away under very difficult conditions.  This April
we in Australia will be celebrating the 200th anniversary of Matthew
Flinders encounter with the French explorer Baudin in Encounter Bay near
Victor Harbor in South Australia.  Flinders was the first to circumnavigate
Australia and the first to use the name Australia.  The navigational
calculations he would have done make my mind boggle.  It's so much easier to
understand and appreciate their accomplishments now.

Thanks again for the time and effort you devoted to this paper.


Greg Gilbert
35o10' S, 138o42' E.

   

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