Next message: Frank Reed: "Re: Universe of the ancient Greeks."
George H asked:
"So was Sumner guilty of tinkering with the position of Smalls light, to
make a better
story? The evidence, so far, seems to point that way."
Yes, I think that's very likely. I don't have any reason to doubt that the
story he tells happened the way he said it did back in 1837, but when he was
writing it up a few years later, it wouldn't surprise me in the least if he
had to reconstruct the details to suit his memory. Also, I think it's worth
remembering that the booklet he published was not a work of navigational
science, but rather a bit of practical salesmanship.
-FER
42.0N 87.7W, or 41.4N 72.1W.
www.HistoricalAtlas.com/lunars
