Talk:Equant

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[edit] Serious problem with the article "Equant"

This article is accompanied by a figure that shows two points, one designated by an "x" and one designated by a dot. The caption does not explicitly indicate what these two points signify. I believe that the dot is the equant and the "x" is the center of the deferent. However, I'm not an expert in this area, so I'm not sure this is the correct interpretation. this problem is compounded by the fact that the text contains the following:

"The equant point is placed so that it is directly opposite the Earth from the center of the deferent, indicated in the diagram by the • ."

A reasonable parsing of this sentence would conclude that the phrase "indicated in the diagram by the •" modifies the phrase "center of deferent" and not the word "equant." Thus, if my understanding of these terms is correct, the text refers to the wrong point in the figure as the equant.

I would correct his myself, BUT I'M NOT SURE.

I think that the sentence referenced to above should probably be re-written as follows:

"The equant point, indicated in the diagram by the [dot], is placed so that it is directly opposite the Earth from the center of the deferent." —The preceding unsigned comment was added by Xorkster (talk • contribs) 15:53, August 20, 2007 (UTC).

I believe you are correct (sitting in a History of Math class learning about Equants right now) -- there are animations of how an Equant with an eccentric deferen and epicycle actually work -- check out http://people.scs.fsu.edu/~dduke/mars.html

I support this change. Ceramufary 18:44, 11 September 2007 (UTC)