NavList:
A Community Devoted to the Preservation and Practice of Celestial Navigation and Other Methods of Traditional Wayfinding
From: Wolfgang Köberer
Date: 2012 Oct 25, 08:52 -0700
Astrology and astronomy were - of course - more closely related in those times, but Zacuto is regarded in all serious research on the history of science as an astronomer. The crucial divide would be between somebody who uses astronomical tables to make horoscopes: an astrologer, and someone who develops such tables by astronomical observations and theories: an astronomer. Zacuto clearly belongs to the second category.
You may look at the Wikipedia entry in Portuguese:
http://pt.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abra%C3%A3o_Zacuto
that calls him "astrónomo, matemático e historiador judeu".
Best
Wolfgang
----------------------------------------------------------------
NavList message boards and member settings: www.fer3.com/NavList
Members may optionally receive posts by email.
To cancel email delivery, send a message to NoMail[at]fer3.com
----------------------------------------------------------------
