VARIETY IN ALMANACS.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXVIII, Issue 20762, 3 January 1931, Page 6

VARIETY IN ALMANACS.

FUND OF INFORMATION.

"'SEAMEN'S BIBLE" HISTORY. MANY COMPUTATIONS INVOLVED. The present ir the season for almanacs. Enterprising business men with an eye to keeping their firm's name prominently before the public for tho whole of the coming year have distributed large numbers of attractively printed cards to their customers and many and varied are the types. Many other types of almanac, having lain dormant in the book shops for many months, are now proudly showing themselves. Besido the diminutive almanac attached to one form of Christmas card, many specialised types of almanac can be seen. For instance, there is tho gardening almanac, very useful in reminding the forgetful gardener of the time to plant potatoes or to weed the onions. Budding photographers and experts in many other lines are also catered for. For a consideration one can also secure the type of almanac which for a whole year in advance tears away tho veil which generally hides the future from us. Hero one can read items like the following:—"At Wellington Saturn will bo in conjunction with Mars in September. This will be accompanied by political upheavals and the prices of primary products will improve." It is surely worth half-a-crown to read such cheering news. iJompendiunis of Information. A step higher in tho social scale of almanacs we find those books which cater in their pages for a variety of tastes. The position of the sun, the phases of the moon, or tho time of high tide at .Westminster Bridge, London, can be found in an instant. In the following pages one is treated to a short encyclopaedic description of the world, the solar system, and this stars. Delving even deeper into the pages of such a publication one may find such valuable information as the population of Czechoslovakia,. the annual rainfall in Great Britain, or the complete list of United States Presidents. All these types of almanac are founded on the British Nautical Almanac, or one of its foreign' contemporaries published in Washington, Paris, or Berlin. . The British Nautical Almanac is a bulky publication of nearly 900 pages. About 8000 copies are printed "of each annual issue. Unlike its smaller offshoots, the Nautical Almanac consists exclusively of tables relating to celestial movements. The daily positions of tho sun, moon and seven planats are given. There are also ephemeridea of about 500 stars. The movements of the satellites of the principal planets are also traced. Information of eclipses and the times of rising and Betting of sun and mooa are among the useful data contained in its pages. Evolution of Naut-ical Almanac. The Almanac is published by the Admiralty mainly for the use of seamen, and bo great is the accuracy of this publication that it is commonly referred to as "the Seamen's Bible." As much of the Almanac is not of interest to seamen, however, a separate, abridged edition is now issued for the use of mariners. The history of the Nautical Almanac, ■which was first published in 1766, makes interesting reading. ■' In those days the seaman could obtain his position to within a degree as a result cf several hours' computing.' Nowadays a position 60 / times more accurate can be obtained from a few minutes spent in calculations. The early almanac soon fell into disrepute and became notorious for its errors, even February 29 being forgotten in one / leap year. Early in the nineteenth century the Admiralty appealed to the Royal Astronomical Society for suggestions in rehabilitating the decadent almanac. The society was quick to seize its opportunity and laid down a comprehensive reformation, which was adopted by the Admiralty in its entirety. This accounts for the strong astronomical bias which the almanac possesses even to this day. So irrinute was the detail suggested that the almanac how gives the commencement of the fast of Ramadan, as being of use to officers cruising in the neighbourhood of Mohammedan States. The computations required in the pro- t duction of the premier almanac art> very extensive, highly-trained mathematicians, aided by calculating-machines, being employed in the production of the data. Nearly every country publishes ?.n almanac / of its own, it being necessary that the ■various essential tables should be intelligible to its nationals. In 1896 a plan for international co-operation was inaugurated whereby a great deal of duplicate computation was avoided, all hough duplicate printing continued as before. Eclipses, for example, are now computed at Washington, although the positions of thel sun and moon, necessary for their calculation, are :omputed in Great Britain. Printing Two Years Ahead. The Nautical Almanac: is always printed in advance of requirements. The almanac for 1951 has been on side for a consider- \ able time, the pages of the 1932 edition are now in the press, and a great deal of ; matter for the 1933 edition has already ; been computed. In some instances 1940 has been reached in the computations. This advance printing was very necessary 100 years ago, when it was not uncommon for a vessel to be voyaging for sereral years. Although thß need does not exist to tho same extent at the present time the early production of the almanac serves tho convenience of the compilers of the host of smaller almanacs and facilitates the work of those engaged in predicting the times of tides. The story is told that a former superintendent of the Nautical Almanac on one occasipfi post-dated a cheque two years ahead! This was perhaps a pardonable mistake for one whose attention was concentrated on events due to occur in futuro years. It is perhaps a matter for pride to New Zealanders that the superintendent of the Nautical Almanac; Dr. L. J. Comrie, is an ex-Aucklander. Although he has only recently taken control of the almanac office he has been for some years deputysuperintendent, and tha greatly enlarged and improved edition of the almanac for 1931 is mainly duo to his interest in the problems of computational astronomy.