John of Saxony (astronomer)

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John of Saxony, or John Danko or Dancowe of Saxony was an astronomer who spent most of his active career, from about 1327-1355, at the University of Paris.

In 1327 he added an influential set of explanations and instructions (Canons) to the revision of the Alfonsine Tables by his master, John of Linières. In his Canons John divided the day into sixty parts, rather than 24 hours, consistently representing time by sexagesimal fractions and multiples of a day. It is in this form that the Alfonsine tables circulated in Western Europe for the next three centuries.[1]

Among his other contributions were a commentary on Alcabitius's Introduction to the art of astrology, which went through eleven printed editions, and an Almanach for the years 1336 to 1380 that he computed for the meridian of Paris using the Alfonsine tables.[2]

[edit] Notes

  1. ^ Lynn Thorndike, A History of Magic and Experimental Science, vol. 3, (New York: Columbia University Press, 1934), pp. 255-8, 267.
  2. ^ Lynn Thorndike, A History of Magic and Experimental Science, vol. 3, (New York: Columbia University Press, 1934), pp. 262-6.
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