The Tables in De le Stelle Fisse

A vital part of Piccolomini’s method for identifying stars in the night sky is the series of Tables, which make up the bulk of De le Stelle Fisse. Their inclusion in the book was not unusual in itself, given that, for centuries, Tables had been the primary tools of mathematical astronomy. The Tables designed by Piccolomini fit well in this astronomical tradition; but they also depart from it, in having an unusual and very specific purpose: they were designed as tools for use within a pedagogical programme for teaching the stars systematically by means of observation. In order to assess the value of Piccolomini’s Tables within the context for which they were designed, the present chapter attempts to discover how accurate the data in them is and to throw useful light on the strengths and weaknesses of Piccolomini’s compilation method.