tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3538502828554372917.post1354156576762901529..comments2024-03-28T07:57:49.338+00:00Comments on Poul Anderson Appreciation: Roma Mater IKetlanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08588156788583883454noreply@blogger.comBlogger6125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3538502828554372917.post-83373476038895796472022-01-31T19:11:48.468+00:002022-01-31T19:11:48.468+00:00Re: the technicalities
The problem was that a '...Re: the technicalities<br />The problem was that a 'tropical' year is slightly less than 365.25 days.<br />https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Year#Sidereal,_tropical,_and_anomalistic_years<br />so over centuries the Julian calendar got out of step with the seasons. The Gregorian pattern of leap years gets things closer so it will take millennia to get out of step.Jim Baerghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03182949391365921637noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3538502828554372917.post-55507392786206569922012-10-21T21:08:01.887+01:002012-10-21T21:08:01.887+01:00Hi, Paul!
And that's getting into technicali... Hi, Paul!<br /><br /> And that's getting into technicalities I'm not competent to comment on. I'm reminded of how Tolkien went into massive detail about the calendars used in his Middle Earth. In fact, we could use them! <br /><br /> SeanSean M. Brookshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13973738112230622557noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3538502828554372917.post-29307910256859270662012-10-21T19:01:41.449+01:002012-10-21T19:01:41.449+01:00Yes, I knew (something about) the changeover from ...Yes, I knew (something about) the changeover from the Julian to the Gregorian calendar. The Andersons say it was the precession of the equinoxes that made the solstice move from 25 to 21 December.Paul Shackleyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04180596532266581425noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3538502828554372917.post-6711204811606402032012-10-21T16:53:09.275+01:002012-10-21T16:53:09.275+01:00Hi, Paul!
I'm sorry, I was not clear enough,... Hi, Paul!<br /><br /> I'm sorry, I was not clear enough, it seems. I had in mind how the scholars of Julius Caesar who reformed the chaotic Roman calendar, still made certain errors in their calculations which in time caused the calendar to fall out of proper sync with the seasons. So much so that Pope Gregory XIII appointed the commission which revised and corrected the calendar to the one we still use. I don't have the exact details, but the Jesuit scholars who carried out the reform did such a good job that it would now take many centuries for errors amounting even to a few minutes to accumulate. But this can easily be googled!<br /><br /> SeanSean M. Brookshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13973738112230622557noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3538502828554372917.post-63374876372360657682012-10-21T10:04:01.672+01:002012-10-21T10:04:01.672+01:00Or rather, the solstice itself, an astronomical ev...Or rather, the solstice itself, an astronomical event, the Sun stopping its decline, "standing still", then rising higher in the sky each day, had moved from the 25th to the 21st? The solstice is the "rebirth" of the declining, apparently dying, Sun and the start of a new year so was mythologically the (re-)birth of the solar deity, Mithras. The celebration of the birth of a god continued on the 25th although meanwhile the solstice had shifted.Paul Shackleyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04180596532266581425noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3538502828554372917.post-9694718743424421322012-10-21T06:07:56.971+01:002012-10-21T06:07:56.971+01:00 Hi, Paul!
Just off the top of my head, I think... Hi, Paul! <br /><br /> Just off the top of my head, I think the Julian calendar had the winter solstice falling on December 25. But the Gregorian reform of the calendar correcting accumulated errors shifted the date to December 21. Logically, Christmas should have been celebrated on the new date as well. But people had gotten too used to December 25 to want to do that. So we still honor the birth of Christ on that date.<br /><br /> SeanSean M. Brookshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13973738112230622557noreply@blogger.com