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From Kelly's Spherics, 1796:
"other ingenious  [graphical] methods have been since contrived, but the most
approved performance  of th graphic kind is that lately executed by Mr.
Margetts; a work of great  labour, ingenuity, and correctness."

He doesn't say, 'run out and buy  it'. Maybe he should have! Instead, he
offers a simple graphical solution of his  own.

Ken, you wrote:
"Did Nathaniel Bowditch become famous because he  had made a simpler method
for clearing lunars?"

Not so much, I would say.  In the 20th century, the importance of his "new
method" has been significantly  exaggerated in various accounts of his life. But
his streamlined method, the one  I have called "Bowditch's Principal Method"
was definitely less tedious and  probably saved a minute of work on each
clearing. Every little bit  helps.

-FER
42.0N 87.7W, or 41.4N  72.1W.
www.HistoricalAtlas.com/lunars

   

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