Blog

How to read a medieval astronomical calendar

Seb Falk

May 11, 2020
16 min

How to read a medieval astronomical calendar

What do all those columns of letters and numbers mean? This post explains how to make sense of all the information.

How did an Italian astrolabe end up on the New Zealand passport?

Seb Falk

Aug 16, 2015
5 min

How did an Italian astrolabe end up on the New Zealand passport?

A few years ago I enjoyed a blog post in which National Maritime Museum curator Rebekah Higgitt wrote about the “navigation” theme of the...

Seb Falk

Jul 13, 2015
1 min

Geoffrey Chaucer’s Inspirational Astronomy

OK, so I missed Andy Murray’s Wimbledon semi-final. And I missed seeing England hammer the Aussies in Cardiff. But I didn’t care. Beca...

Seb Falk

Jun 2, 2015
4 min

Drawing up a medieval horoscope

I’ve written a blog post entitled “How to cast a medieval horoscope” before. But I didn’t tell the whole story. Regular readers of this ...

Seb Falk

May 29, 2015
1 min

The vernacular in medieval astronomy – at Kalamazoo

I recently returned from the International Congress on Medieval Studies. It’s held every year at the University of Western Michigan in K...

Precision and accuracy in medieval astronomy

Seb Falk

Jan 21, 2015
4 min

Precision and accuracy in medieval astronomy

What is the difference between precision and accuracy? In modern English they are used almost interchangeably. But there is a difference...

Seb Falk

Jan 18, 2015
2 min

Is the Moon a planet or a star?

It’s rare that shopping channels grapple with complex problems in astronomy – but miracles do happen. Here’s the contributors to QVC dis...

Seb Falk

Dec 16, 2014
3 min

String Theory – Medieval-style

Apologies for the long hiatus! I’ve been busy with lots of things, among them the birth of my first child. I’ll post his horoscope here...

Seb Falk

Oct 8, 2014
1 min

Ships, Clocks & Stars

I recently visited, and very much enjoyed, the exhibition at the National Maritime Museum about the quest for longitude. It’s on until 4...

Seb Falk

Jun 20, 2013
4 min

How to cast a medieval horoscope

I wrote this post for the blog of the 24th International Congress of History of Science, Technology and Medicine (iCHSTM), which takes pl...

What’s the difference between an astrolabe and an equatorium?

Seb Falk

Jan 24, 2013
4 min

What’s the difference between an astrolabe and an equatorium?

This is a question I’ve been asked several times, and it’s a reasonable one given that this blog is called “Astrolabes and Stuff”, yet I’...

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