Abstract
THIS little book is an abstract of the larger publication on the same subject which was reviewed in NATURE, vol. ciii., p. 166. It is evidently intended for travellers who have seen one or more of these curious and gigantic instruments and wish to know something about their origin. All the tabular matter and similar details have been omitted, while the clear descriptions and some of the excellent pictures have been retained. We could have wished that the author had omitted from this guide-book his remarks about the supposed scientific knowledge of Jai Singh. It cannot be denied that this man, living in the eighteenth century, not only was quite unaware of what had been done in Europe during the previous two hundred years to improve the construction of instruments, but also did not even make the slightest advance on the work of the Greek and Arabian astronomers. All he did was to copy some instrumental monstrosities erected at Samarkand three hundred years before his time, and it is no wonder that little or no use was ever made of them.
A Guide to the Old Observatories at Delhi; Jaipur; Ujjain; Benares.
By G. R. Kaye. Pp. vii + 108 + xv plates. (Calcutta: Superintendent Government Printing, India, 1920.) Price 3s. 6d.
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A Guide to the Old Observatories at Delhi; Jaipur; Ujjain; Benares . Nature 106, 177 (1920). https://doi.org/10.1038/106177a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/106177a0