The great Kepler was obliged to print an astrological almanac in
virtue of his position as astronomer of the court of the King of
Austria. But, notwithstanding the popular belief that astronomy
had its origin in astrology, the astronomical writings of all ages
seem to show that the astronomers proper never had any belief in
astrology. To Kepler himself the necessity for preparing this
almanac was a humiliation to which he submitted only through the
pressure of poverty. Subsequent ephemerides were prepared with
more practical objects. They gave the longitudes of the planets,
the position of the sun, the time of rising and setting, the
prediction of eclipses, etc.
They have, of course, gradually increased in accuracy as the
tables of the celestial motions were improved from time to time.
At first they were not regular, annual publications, issued by
governments, as at the present time, but the works of individual
astronomers who issued their ephemerides for several years in
advance, at irregular intervals. One man might issue one, two, or
half a dozen such volumes, as a private work, for the benefit of
his fellows, and each might cover as many years as he thought
proper.
The first publication of this sort, which I have in my possession,
is the Ephemerides of Manfredi, of Bonn, computed for the years
1715 to 1725, in two volumes.
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