The Role of Eclipses and European Observers in the Development of ‘Modern Astronomy’ in Thailand

Orchiston, Wayne; Orchiston, Darunee Lingling; George, M. V.; Soonthornthum, Boonrucksar; Gislén, Lars; Débarbat, Suzanne; Husson, Matthieu

doi:10.1007/978-981-13-3645-4_14

Cited by 10 publications

(5 citation statements)

References 23 publications

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“…From our viewpoint as astronomers we may view Tachard as an astro-politician par excellence, and Vongsuravatan (1992; would wholeheartedly agree, but others have (Orchiston et al, 2016) we have shown that this drawing is riddled with artistic licence, which is not surprising, perhaps, given that the artist never even visited Siam (en.wikipedia.com)! painted a far less flattering picture of him (e.g.…”

Section: Arrival Of the French Jesuitmentioning

confidence: 89%

“…Figure4: A drawing supposedly showing King Narai and the Jesuit astronomers observing the 11 December 1685 total lunar eclipse from the King's country retreat near Lop Buri. Elsewhere(Orchiston et al, 2016) we have shown that this drawing is riddled with artistic licence, which is not surprising, perhaps, given that the artist never even visited Siam (en.wikipedia.com)!…”

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confidence: 82%

“…We believe that the small building second from the left (with the conspicuous verandah) marks the site of the building were King Narai and the Jesuit astronomers were located when they observed the 30 April 1688 partial solar eclipse-see, also, Figure 10 (photograph: Darunee Lingling Orchiston). 30 April 1688 solar eclipse from his Palace in down-town Lop Buri, and through careful reviews of the published records and archival sources and associated on-site fieldwork we have even been able to postulate which particular buildings were used (for the 1685 eclipse see Orchiston et al, 2016). As we have seen in this paper, the 30 April 1688 solar eclipse was observed from King Narai's Palace-not from Wat San Paulo or from King Narai's water reservoir place-and it is important that this site is marked with a commemorative plaque or a display panel, like those installed at Wat San Paulo, for example.…”

Section: Commemorating the Early History Of Scientific Astronomy In Siammentioning

confidence: 99%

“…4. For details of the Jesuit astronomers, their instruments, the Moon map that they used for reference purposes, and their observations, see Gislén et al (2018) and Orchiston et al (2016). It is interesting that even though the presents that King Louis XIV gave King Narai included telescopes, the Siamese king did not use one of these to observe the lunar eclipse, relying instead on telescopes supplied on the night by the Jesuit astronomers.…”

Section: Notesmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…This paper is the latest in a series aimed at documenting seventeenth century Jesuit activities in Siam. Other papers in the series attempt to provide an overview (Orchiston, 2021b), or discuss solar and lunar eclipses visible from Lop Buri and Ayutthaya between 1681 and 1688 (Orchiston et al, 2019;c.f. Smithies, 2003), but especially the lunar eclipses of 22 February 1681 (Orchiston et al, 2021a) and 11 December 1685 (Gislén et al, 2018;Orchiston et al, 2016;c.f.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Showcasing Seventeenth-Century Jesuit Astronomy in Asia: The Lead Up to the First Scientific Observations of a Solar Eclipse Made in Siam

Orchiston¹,

Orchiston²,

Gislén³

et al. 2021

J. Astron. Hist. Herit.

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The first great ruler to encourage the adoption of Western culture and technology throughout Siam was King Narai, who also had a passion for astronomy. He showed this by encouraging French and other Jesuit missionaries, some with astronomical interests and training, to settle in Siam from the early 1660s. One of these was Father Antoine Thomas, and he was the first European known to have carried out scientific astronomical observations from Siam, in 1681 and 1682. Later, the lunar eclipse of 11 December 1685 assumed an important place in the history of Thai astronomy when a contingent of French missionary-astronomers joined King Narai and his court astrologers and observed it from the King's country retreat near Lop Buri. This event so impressed the King that he approved the erection of a large modern well-equipped astronomical observatory at Lop Buri. Construction of Wat San Paulo Observatory-as it was known-began in 1686 and was completed in 1687. A second contingent of French Jesuit astronomers settled in Lop Buri at about this time, and were involved in various astronomical observations. Arguably, the last of these of any importance was of the partial solar eclipse of 30 April 1688, just one week before the sudden demise of scientific astronomy in Siam.In this paper we examine King Narai's enlightened attitude towards Western science and technology and his growing interest in Western astronomy, before discussing the observations that he and/or the Jesuit missionaryastronomers made leading up to and including the partial solar eclipse of 30 April 1688. We then explore the growing disquiet among some members of the Royal Family that triggered a coup on 5 June 1688 when King Narai was overthrown and most of the Western missionary-astronomers were expelled from Siam.

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Section: Arrival Of the French Jesuitmentioning

confidence: 89%

mentioning

confidence: 82%

Section: Commemorating the Early History Of Scientific Astronomy In Siammentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Notesmentioning

confidence: 99%