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Anonymous of Ravenna wrote the Cosmography at the beginning of the eighth century, but his creation of the work cannot be determined more precisely. The Cosmography contains descriptions of the entire world in five books, the fourth of which includes a narration of Provincia Valeria Media. In describing the province, Anonymous of Ravenna referred to several authors’ works, including the Tabula Peutingeriana, Marcomir and Jordanes’ works, and other sources of unknown origin. Anonymous noted that Provincia Valeria Media was located between the Pannonia Superior and Pannonia Inferior, covering the area of the ancient provinces of Valeria and Savia. Anonymous listed the toponyms in Provincia Valeria Media’s territory, which he took from an early copy or transcript of the Tabula Peutingeriana. In Cosmography, Carniola was the western neighbour of Provincia Valeria Media, and it was bounded on the south by Liburnia Tarsaticensis. Regarding the name of Carniola, this researcher can assume that it was a later addition to the text of the Cosmography. Scholars disputed whether Provincia Valeria Media existed in the fifth century or whether Anonymous took its name from historical sources. Recent research has suggested that Anonymous borrowed the name Valeria from Jordan and the name Media Provincia from the Tabula Peutingeriana. He merged the two terms into Provincia Valeria Media. The actual historical value of the Cosmography is not the creation of the name Provincia Valeria Media but the early medieval data that Anonymous recorded in his book.

With its model-independent approach, cosmography has emerged as an invaluable tool for faithfully representing a wealth of astrophysical observations, free from theoretical biases. This study employs cosmography to investigate two innovative cosmological models, B (z) CDM models 1 and 2, which introduce novel corrections to the standard Λ CDM model, B (z) = sin (z) and B (z) = log (1 + z) , respectively. By analyzing a variety of observational datasets, including 31 measurements from cosmic chronometers (C C), 1048 data points from the P a n t h e o n dataset, 6 measurements from baryon acoustic oscillations (B A O), and data from cosmic microwave background (C M B) measurements, we derive constraints on model parameters and assess their compatibility with real-world observations. We find that the present values of the deceleration parameter for B (z) CDM models 1 and 2 are q 0 = − 0. 5 4 − 0. 23 + 0. 24 and q 0 = − 0. 5 6 − 0. 40 + 0. 45 , respectively, for the combined datasets. The results reveal intriguing transitions in the expansion of the universe, confirming the presence of DE and quintessence-like behavior within the framework of B (z) CDM models. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper is devoted to explore bouncing cosmology in f (T ,) modified gravity. In the background of f (T ,) modified theory with T being Torsion scalar and being the trace of energy–momentum tensor, the Hubble parameter is considered for the isotropic, flat, and homogenous universe. The standard bouncing scale factor has employed the exponential term to unify bounce with late-time acceleration. Phase portrait analysis reveals us that Minkowskian origin transfers to de Sitter origin in (H , Ḣ) -plane and as past infinite time t → − ∞ ⇒ a (t) → 0 and (H , Ḣ) → constant which corresponds to some physical cosmological scenarios. Since field equations of f (T ,) gravity are of second order, a one-dimensional autonomous system has been extracted. Finally, outcomes have been plotted graphically, and any type of singular behavior has not been experienced. The study of the equation of state parameter against cosmic time reveals that phantom phase is quite significant for both models. The inertial force in terms of Hubble parameter and cosmic time gives rise to pseudo Rip. The study of cosmographic parameters tells us that the present model corresponds to Λ CDM at a large value of cosmic time. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Measurements of time-delay cosmography of lensed quasars can provide an independent probe to explore the expansion history of the late-time Universe. In this paper, we employ the time-delay cosmography measurements from seven lenses (here abbreviated as the TD data) to constrain interacting dark energy (IDE) models. We mainly focus on the scenario of vacuum energy (with w  = −1) interacting with cold dark matter, and consider four typical cases of the interaction form Q. When the TD data alone are employed, we find that the IDE models with Q  ∝ ρde seem to have an advantage in relieving the H 0 tension between the cosmic microwave background (CMB) and TD data. When the TD data are added to the CMB+BAO+SN+ H 0 data, we find that (i) the coupling parameter β in all the considered IDE models is positive within 1σ range, implying a mild preference for the case of cold dark matter decaying into dark energy; (ii) the IDE model with Q  = β H 0ρc slightly relieves the S 8 tension, but the other considered IDE models further aggravate this tension; (iii) the Akaike information criteria of the IDE models with Q  ∝ ρc are lower than that of the ΛCDM model, indicating that these IDE models are more preferred by the current mainstream data. We conclude that the considered IDE models have their own different advantages when the TD data are employed, and none of them can achieve good scores in all aspects. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Studies on the climatic history of America in the 16th-17th centuries, in the Hispanic-American historiographic academic field, have not been sufficiently addressed until today with regard to the interpretation of the documentary sources, or proxy-data, produced in those centuries. This situation is mainly due to the fact that climate reconstruction studies have focused on scientific or "direct" sources, such as dendrochronology, and the analysis of soil sediments or glacier layers, methods that provide empirical information on the variability of a historical period for which no scientific records are available. However, there are various categories of historical sources that allow the climatic reconstruction of an era according to the subjective descriptions left in them, since they express a multiplicity of perspectives on how the climate was understood and interpreted in the "being-in-the-world" of the subjects in the 16th-17th centuries, periods belonging to the so-called Maunder Minimum of the Little Ice Age. For this reason, this article is intended to be an introductory study, or a reference manual, on the types of scientific and historical documentation that exist for the construction of the climate history of the first two centuries of the colonial period of America. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Universum is the property of Instituto de Estudios Humanisticos Juan Ignacio Molina, Universidad de Talca and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

This essay is about irenicism and science, i.e. about the interrelationship between the quest for peace on earth and the quest for knowledge about the world. Both are global aspirations, the former focused on achieving concord among rival peoples and ideologies, nations, and religions; the latter on comprehending the earth and the heavens and the way the things in them are made. Sir Francis Bacon (1561–1626), Viscount St. Alban and sometime Lord Chancellor of England, who, citing in Latin the Biblical prophecy in Daniel 12:4 – "Many shall go to and fro, and knowledge shall be increased" – linked together the increase of geographical knowledge in his own day with the prospect for new discoveries in all fields of learning. For Bacon, the advancement of all branches knowledge, fated to come together in the same age, would in time bring religious unity and with it this-worldly peace, thereby paving the way for the fulfillment of the apocalyptical prophecy in the Book of Daniel, which in Christian discourse was interpreted to mean the Second Coming of Christ. This essay explores Bacon's discussions of his aims and the methods he advocated as addressed the consequences of "discovery" for mending world back to its wholeness. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we consider the extension of the Hilbert–Einstein action to analyze several interesting features of the theory. More specifically, the Lagrangian f (R) is replaced by f (R , L m) in action, where R is the Ricci scalar, and L m is the matter Lagrangian. We derive the motion equations for a test particle in the Friedmann–Lemaître–Robertson–Walker (FLRW) flat and homogeneous spacetime. We also derive the energy conditions in this framework. Then, we use the cosmographic parameter such as Hubble, deceleration, jerk and snap parameters to constraint the model parameters. As a result, we observe that with the constraint range of model parameters, our model shows the current accelerated expansion of the universe. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cosmography is a phenomenological and relatively model-independent approach to cosmology, where physical quantities are expanded as a Taylor series in the cosmological redshift, or in related variables. Here we apply this methodology to constrain possible cosmological variations of the fine-structure constant, α. Two peculiarities of this case are the existence of high-redshift data, and the fact that one term in the series is directly and tightly constraint by local laboratory tests with atomic clocks. We use this atomic clock data, together with direct model-independent high-resolution astrophysical spectroscopy measurements of α up to redshift z∼7 and additional model-dependent constraints on α from the cosmic microwave background and big bang nucleosynthesis, to place stringent (parts per million level) constraints on the first two terms in the α cosmographic series.

The locations of cities, their social and cultural structures, architecture, economies, history, roads, and distances to other nearby cities are the main subjects of interest to geographers. Kâtib Çelebi, the author of Cihânnümâ [An Ottoman Cosmography], is one of those geographers. In both copies of Cihânnümâ, cities are in the foreground. The first part of the work discusses general geographical information such as the structure of the Earth, its shape, mountains, seas, rivers, lakes, climates (both mathematically and by regional locations), and countries, after which the work describes many cities on different continents through their important features. The work Esâmî-i’l-Aktâr ve’l-Büldân ve’l-Kurâ min Cihannümâ (Beyân-ı Memâlik) is registered under no.1803 in the Murad Molla Section of the Süleymaniye Manuscripts Library and exclusively contains information about cities. One of the most important features of the work, as the name itself suggests, is its relationship with Cihânnümâ. Its author, Es‘ad Efendi, decided to write this work while he was pondering Cihânnümâ. Es‘ad Efendi had classified cities in alphabetical order under the heading Iklîm-i Rûm in the manuscript of the first edition of Cihânnümâ and rewrote them within the framework of certain subjects he had determined. This study comparatively discusses and evaluates the contents and the information given about the cities in the work and compares the two versions of Cihânnümâ and their importance in the literature on Ottoman geography. The end of the study presents the text of the work for researchers working in the field of geography and city history to evaluate. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This is the first translation into Spanish of the first chapter of the Buddhist work Mahāvastu from the beginning of the Common Era, composed in mixed Sanskrit. "The Sūtra on the Section of Hells" (Narakaparivartanāmasūtra) offers descriptions of the eight hells, explaining the causal connections between the punishments and the behaviors that lead beings to experience them. The text stands out by presenting one of the oldest systematic arrangements of the hells within Buddhism, revealing the interest of ancient Buddhists in fashioning a meticulous and well-structured cosmography. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Anos 90 is the property of Anos 90 and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Desenvolvimento e Meio Ambiente is the property of Universidade Federal do Parana and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

This article analyzes the links between the first travel accounts of the New World and the production of cartographic images of America in Guillaume Le Testu’s Cosmographie Universelle (1556). Produced in 1556 and dedicated to Admiral of France Gaspard de Coligny, the Norman pilot’s manuscript atlas was created in the context of growing French colonial interest in Terra Brasilis. The transposition of America’s founding narratives into cartographic images as presented in Le Testu’s Cosmographie is interpreted here as an act of translation lato sensu. The translation of the continent’s travel accounts in the strictest sense of the word, and the adaptation of New World information to new audiences and political contexts are also examined in the analysis of this manuscript nautical atlas.

In light of the statistical performance of cosmological observations, in this work we present the cosmography in f (T, B) gravity. In this scenario we found a cosmological viable standard case that allows the reduction of the degeneracy between several f (T, B) models already proposed in the literature. Furthermore, we constrain this model using Pantheon SNeIa compilation, cosmic chronometers and a newly GRB calibrated data sample. We found that with an appropriate strategy for including the cosmographic parameter, we do produce a viable cosmology with our model within f (T, B) gravity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Padé cosmography has been widely used to probe the cosmic evolution and to investigate the nature of dark energy. In this paper, we find that the Padé approximant can describe the cosmic evolution better than the standard cosmography, and if the luminosity distance d L (z) described by the Padé approximant is used to reconstruct the dark energy equation of state w (z) , then the reconstructed w (z) will approach a constant, i.e. 1 / 3 or 0, when the redshift is very high. This result is general since it is independent of the coefficients in the Padé approximant and the value of the present dimensionless matter density parameter. This intrinsic character will bias the w (z) reconstruction and lead to misconception of the property of dark energy. Therefore, one must exercise caution in investigating the property of dark energy from Padé cosmography when the high redshift data, i.e. z > 2 , are included. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Around 1905, W.E.B. Du Bois wrote about the 'Megascope', a device through which its wearers could see 'the Far Great and the Near Small but not the Great Near.' The Great Near refers to realities that are simultaneously so near and powerful that they are usually imperceptible. Du Bois' speculative short-fiction has become a reality in the multiverse era where virtual gateways don't have to remain tied to traditional notions of technology in the physical world – they can be imaginative realms with different physics. We can see this demonstrated in the cosmogram, a cultural diagram of the Universe. This essay considers the function and style of this design across cultures and in virtual worlds. Artists such as Houston Conwill, Jean-Michel Basquiat, Xenobia Bailey, Sanford Biggers and Saya Woolfalk incorporate cosmograms in their works. Artists simulate the algorithmic qualities of the design that include physical, spiritual or ritual performances. They use the cosmogram – a diagram usually in the form of a circle – to make connections between the archetypal world of invention and the multidimensional nature of time. This essay explores these symbolic occurrences and various connections, looking to uncover a set of principles underlying and guiding Afrofuturistic production. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The earliest maps entirely or at least partially dedicated to Muscovy appeared in Europe in 1520s as a result of an increasing interest in this land. Around this time a famous Italian humanist Paolo Giovio promised in his book «Libellus de legatione Basilii magni Principis Moscouiae ad Clementem. VII. Pont. Max.» to reproduce a map of Muscovy in print (in tabula typis excusa). But the map didn’t appear either in the first nor in succeeding editions of the Giovio’s book.Nevertheless, the map was discovered even in two versions. The first was found in manuscript atlas made in the first half of the 16th century in Venice by cartographer from Genoa Battista Agnese. The second one is a printed map prepared, as it seems, by Paolo Giovio for his book but for some reasons not added to it. Both maps have much in common, as a kind of introduction to them serves almost the same inscription: «Moscoviae tabula relatione Dimetrij legati descrypta sicuti ipse a pluribus accepit, cum totam prouinciam minime peragrasse fateatur anno M.D.XXV. octobris».After examining the two earliest maps of Muscovy I can support the opinion already expressed in historiography that for their resemblance they might be the variants of the same map. Nevertheless, there are some important and obvious differences in location of geographical objects and their names, which are difficult to account for in case the one map is a reproduction of the other.The fact that the first two European maps of Muscovy appeared in autumn 1525 coinciding with publication of three books about this country written by Paolo Giovio, Albertus Campensis and Johann Fabri is indicative of a great and intense attention which Europe payed to Muscovy in its oriental boundaries around this time. These maps complement the descriptions of Muscovy in above mentioned books by giving detailed and visual representation of Muscovy land as a complicated geographical object. We must acknowledge their authors – in spite of a great number of mistakes – were able to cope with this task.

This article argues that astronomers' discourses about cosmology, specifically their arguments for an ordered cosmos comprised of uniformly revolving orbs, were in a conversation with ʿilm al-kalām during the period under discussion, which is from the end of the fourteenth century through the mid-sixteenth century. In kalām , Taftāzānī's Sharḥ al-Maqāṣid contended that the astronomers' views of cosmic order were but a conviction (iʿtiqād) for which there was no demonstration. Mīrim Çelebī's commentary on the popular astronomy text al-Risāla al-Fatḥiyya noted, however, the theological value of the astronomers' ordered cosmos. Another astronomer contemporary with Mīrim Çelebī, Bīrjandī, was well-versed in kalām texts and certainly agreed with other astronomers about how the cosmos was ordered. Yet Bīrjandī did not explore the theological ramifications of an ordered cosmos. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article examines codicological evidence for the presence of an illustrated Persian cosmography ('ajā'ib al-makhlūqāt) (British Library Add 23564) at the fifteenth-century Bahmani court (1347–1538) of Deccan India. It traces this manuscript's itinerary from the dating of its colophon 1441, to its place in Bahmani Bidar, to a subimperial Mughal library, to its move to 'Adil Shahi Bijapur in 1618, and finally to its arrival at the British Library in 1860. It argues that distinguishing manuscript genre from textual genre when considering book production over a longue durée enables one to see books more clearly through the lens of their makers and readers. By establishing this cosmography's place in South Asia, this article enables it to be situated within the activity of this manuscript genre throughout the Deccan's early modern period. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Strongly lensed explosive transients such as supernovae, gamma-ray bursts, fast radio bursts, and gravitational waves are very promising tools to determine the Hubble constant (H 0) in the near future in addition to strongly lensed quasars. In this work, we show that the transient nature of the point source provides an advantage over quasars: The lensed host galaxy can be observed before or after the transient's appearance. Therefore, the lens model can be derived from images free of contamination from bright point sources. We quantify this advantage by comparing the precision of a lens model obtained from the same lenses with and without point sources. Based on Hubble Space Telescope (HST) Wide Field Camera 3 (WFC3) observations with the same sets of lensing parameters, we simulate realistic mock data sets of 48 quasar lensing systems (i.e. adding AGN in the galaxy centre) and 48 galaxy–galaxy lensing systems (assuming the transient source is not visible but the time delay and image positions have been or will be measured). We then model the images and compare the inferences of the lens model parameters and H 0. We find that the precision of the lens models (in terms of the deflector mass slope) is better by a factor of 4.1 for the sample without lensed point sources, resulting in an increase of H 0 precision by a factor of 2.9. The opportunity to observe the lens systems without the transient point sources provides an additional advantage for time-delay cosmography over lensed quasars. It facilitates the determination of higher signal-to-noise stellar kinematics of the main deflector, and thus its mass density profile, which, in turn plays a key role in breaking the mass-sheet degeneracy and constraining H 0. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A dark-energy, which behaves as the cosmological constant until a sudden phantom transition at very low redshift (z < 0.1), seems to solve the >4σ disagreement between the local and high-redshift determinations of the Hubble constant, while maintaining the phenomenological success of the Λ cold dark matter model with respect to the other observables. Here, we show that such a hockey-stick dark energy cannot solve the H 0 crisis. The basic reason is that the supernova absolute magnitude MB that is used to derive the local H 0 constraint is not compatible with the MB that is necessary to fit supernova, baryon acoustic oscillation, and cosmic microwave background data, and this disagreement is not solved by a sudden phantom transition at very low redshift. We make use of this example to show why it is preferable to adopt in the statistical analyses the prior on MB as an alternative to the prior on H 0. The three reasons are: (i) one avoids potential double counting of low-redshift supernovae, (ii) one avoids assuming the validity of cosmography, in particular, fixing the deceleration parameter to the standard model value q 0 = −0.55, (iii) one includes in the analysis the fact that MB is constrained by local calibration, an information which would otherwise be neglected in the analysis, biasing both model selection and parameter constraints. We provide the priors on MB relative to the recent Pantheon and DES-SN3YR supernova catalogs. We also provide a Gaussian joint prior on H 0 and q 0 that generalizes the prior on H 0 by Supernova H0 for the Equation of State. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The cosmography method is a model-independent technique used to reconstruct the Hubble expansion of the Universe at low redshifts. In this method, using the Hubble diagrams from Type Ia Supernovae (SNIa) in Pantheon catalog, quasars and Gamma-Ray Bursts (GRB), we put observational constraints on the cosmographic parameters in holographic dark energy (HDE) and concordance Λ CDM models by minimizing the error function χ 2 based on the statistical Markov Chain Monte Carlo (MCMC) algorithm. Then, we compare the results of the models with the results of the model-independent cosmography method. Except for the Pantheon sample, we observe that there is a big tension between standard cosmology and Hubble diagram observations, while the HDE model remains consistent in all cases. Then we use different combinations of Hubble diagram data to reconstruct the Hubble parameter of the model and compare it with the observed Hubble data. We observe that the Hubble parameter reconstructed from the model-independent cosmography method has the smallest deviation from the Hubble data and the Λ CDM (HDE) model has the largest (middle) deviation, especially when we keep the observational data point 226 - 0.8 + 8.0 at redshift z = 2.36 in the analysis. On the contrary, in the redshift z < 1 , we see that the compatibility of Λ CDM cosmology and observation is even better than the model independent cosmography method. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper presents an Ottoman map, which in one part shows in more detail the area of the Bosnian eyalet with its surroundings, i.e. parts of the area of early modern Croatia and Bosnia and Herzegovina. Its author is Haji Khalifa or Katib Çelebi, an Ottoman historian and bibliographer from the mid-17th century. The map is in the autograph of the first version of his work Cosmography (Cihânnümâ) from 1648, preserved in the Austrian National Library in Vienna. The aim of the paper was to establish how the mentioned geographical area was observed by the Ottoman cartographer, what is the possible reason for the creation of the map and what were the sources of information contained in it. As the map was made during the Candian War, after the fall of Klis into Venetian hands in 1648, it is possible that the author himself made the map with the aim of visualizing the Ottoman border in the Dalmatian hinterland and explaining its significance in the Ottoman centre. Solid precision in positioning and listing local toponyms, the direction of providing road communications as well as the content of marginal notes on the map, indicate that the author probably consulted someone familiar with local circumstances. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article interprets a recently recovered manuscript, Tratado de astronomía y la reformaçión del tiempo, composed by Antonio Sánchez in New Granada c.1696, in the context of the Spanish and Renaissance cosmographies. Sánchez's Tratado proposes a spherical astronomy, in which celestial bodies – including comets — move in orbs containing pyramidal knots that explain the changing speed observed in the motion of planets. From this astronomy and following the peninsular style of repertorios, Sánchez derives two major conclusions: the corrected length of the solar year and a revised birth date of Jesus. Taking as center of reference Vélez, where Sánchez was based, these claims led to conclusions in domains ranging from calendric astronomy to eschatology, including the incorporation of the indigenous peoples into salvation narrative and a demonstration of the arrangement of the celestial orbs at the Last Judgment. Sánchez's Tratado constitutes an expansion of the Spanish mathematical cosmography that sheds light on the production of knowledge in the Spanish-American world and, at the same time, provides elements to reassess our understanding of the global circulation of Renaissance and early modern ideas. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

David Barrado Navascués' book, "Cosmography in the Age of Discovery and the Scientific Revolution," covers a wide range of historical topics related to cosmography. The book is divided into five chapters, exploring subjects such as the exploration and cartography of the Portuguese and Spanish, the role of humanism in the scientific revolution, the new astronomy of Copernicus, Kepler, and Galileo, the quest for longitude at sea, and attempts to determine the size and shape of the Earth. While the book focuses on developments in and around the Iberian peninsula, it also includes other territories and actors to support its narrative. However, the book has limitations, as it relies heavily on secondary sources and overlooks important primary sources and recent scholarship. Additionally, the author's dismissal of astrology and lack of engagement with other cultural contexts may be concerning to some readers. Overall, while the book may provide valuable insights for readers new to Spanish and Portuguese narratives, there are already more persuasive accounts available on the subject. [Extracted from the article]

In this paper we propose an alternative cosmography by considering Hořava–Lifshitz gravity as a model of quantum gravity (QG) to search for quantum effects at the cosmological level. For our analyses we consider current late Universe surveys and a gravitational waves forecast from Einstein telescope. We found naturally a non-flat scenario with with , without showing the standard reported 3.4-σ inconsistency. Furthermore, we obtained a specific value for the Hořava parameter ω ≈ −3.8 × 10−14, which can be interpreted as a measure of a quantum effect and could be used to further test this QG model. We conclude that classically, according to the ΛCDM model, our Universe seems to be spatially flat, but in fact, it is curved from a quantum point of view. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Anthony Ascham's Sphere is historically significant since it appeared a generation earlier than William Thomas's 1553 work, which historians had considered the earliest English‐language rendering of De Sphaera. Ascham completed his folio‐sized manuscript in 1527 at St. John's College, Cambridge. Suffused with color, diagrams, maps, and volvelles, The Sphere prompts the modern scholar to wonder which printed Latin edition of Sacrobosco's De Sphaera Ascham utilized for translation, and about the intended audience and the work's purpose. This paper demonstrates that Ascham's principal source was Jacques Lefèvre's remarkable Latin commentary on De Sphaera, which he chose to simplify, yet enhance. Ascham abridged Lefèvre's cosmography by removing most of the commentary and simplified it by deleting the advanced mathematics. But he enhanced it by adding more diagrams and tables, an atlas of constellations and their myths, a worldwide geography of maps, and stunning planetary motion volvelles. As the major attraction, he wrote it in English, perhaps as an aristocratic presentation copy, perhaps for the majority of English readers (those without a strong grasp of Latin and mathematics), or perhaps for other reasons outlined in this article. By its ease of comprehension, I suggest that one purpose of The Sphere was to serve as an enticing introduction—a visual primer—to Lefèvre's edition and the entire De Sphaera genre. Yet the single extant manuscript, with no evidence for a print edition, implies that Ascham never achieved this goal. After providing context, this paper discusses how Ascham utilized Lefèvre's volume, and other print sources such as Peter Apian's 1524 Cosmographicus Liber and Hyginus's De Astronomia, to produce The Sphere. The paper concludes by situating Ascham's Sphere within England's 16th‐century engagement with the genre of De Sphaera. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper considers a cosmographical approach to analyze cosmological models. Cosmography is a method to describe the kinematics of the cosmological expansion based only on the cosmological principle. We consider a method of treating free parameters of a cosmological model in terms of the directly observable cosmographic values related to the time-derivatives of the Hubble parameter (deceleration, jerk, snap). The method is applied to analyze two cosmological models involving the time-dependence of the cosmological constant in the form Λ(t)→Λ(H) when this approach is especially efficient. Both models interpret the dark energy in the form of the cosmological constant as energy of physical vacuum, which is currently the most supported treatment. The first one means being proportional to the Hubble parameter, and the second one involves a constant and a quadratic term. As a result, the free parameters of both models are expressed in terms of the currently observed values of the Hubble parameter, deceleration, and jerk. The obtained expressions for model parameters are exact, as the method does not involve any additional assumptions. Furthermore, it leads to deal with algebraic equations instead of differential ones. After this procedure, solutions of the evolution equations are obtained in the form of the time-dependence of the Hubble parameter. The obtained model parameters are substituted to the solutions, which are analyzed for a typical range of cosmographic scalars taken from recent observations. Finally, the proposed approach is used to eliminate free parameters from both models and to obtain constraints for the directly observable cosmographic values that can be tested to correspond to present observations data. For the considered cases, such constraints are received respectively for the jerk and the snap parameters with respect to the deceleration. The constraint for the linear model is compared with current observational value ranges for the deceleration and the jerk parameters.

The article presents an analysis of certain peculiarities of the Russian translation of chapters about the British Iles from the Mercator-Hondius Atlas (published in 1613). These sections were based on the historical and topographical treatise «Britannia» written by the English antiquarian William Camden (1551–1623). The translation was accomplished in Moscow, in the Ambassadorial Office, by Bogdan Lykov and Ivan Dorn, in 1637, and became known as «Mercator’s Cosmography». The comparison of the Latin text and the Russian translation reveals numerous distinctions between them, which shows difficulties the translators faced with. The variety of their problems turned to be rather broad. Also the insufficient knowledge of the Latin language, particularly of its complicated syntactic constructions, compounded their work. Lykov and Dorn had to rethink many things to bring new terms and onyms into another national context that differed from one in what they were created. Proper names, topographic objects, historical facts, terms, the structure of society, government institutions caused perplexities. As an example of this uneasy work, the evolution of the interpretation of the proper name – the name of the text's author William Camden – is examined here. A detailed analysis reveals the mechanisms of adaptation of the new onym and its incorporation to the Russian language. The situation with the interpretation of extracts about social hierarchy, political, administrative and juridical institutes of England looks more complicated. One of such examples is the problem of the interpretation of the most important term for the English history – term «parliament». The difference of the perception of the parliament's functions by the English antiquarian Camden and by the Ambassadorial Office translators is clearly revealed. Lykov and Dorn found themselves in a difficult position: they had to construe this term relying on their own knowledge about English realias which in fact were very limited.

The “Myth of the Heavenly Cow” is the conventional title of an Egyptian mythological narrative that relates how humanity once rebelled against the sun god and how thereupon the sun god reorganized the cosmos. The narrative is embedded in the so-called Book of the Heavenly Cow, which is preserved in several versions dating to the New Kingdom. It is an etiological myth explaining the origins of certain natural phenomena and religious festivals as well as legitimizing the institution of Egyptian kingship.

One of the primary mission objectives of the Roman Space Telescope is to investigate the nature of dark energy with a variety of methods. Observations of Type I supernovae (SNe Ia) will be one of the principal anchors of the Roman cosmology program through traditional luminosity distance measurements. This SNe Ia cosmology program can provide another valuable cosmological probe, without altering the strategy of the mission: time delay cosmography with gravitationally lensed supernova (SN). In this work, we forecast lensed SN cosmology constraints with the Roman Space Telescope, while providing useful tools for future work. Using the anticipated characteristics of the Roman SNe Ia survey, we have constructed mock catalogs of expected resolved lensing systems, as well as strongly lensed Type Ia and core-collapse (CC) SN light curves, including microlensing effects. We predict Roman will find ∼11 lensed SNe Ia and ∼20 CCSNe, depending on the survey strategy. Next, we estimate the time delay precision obtainable with Roman (Ia: ∼2 days, CC: ∼3 days), and use a Fisher matrix analysis to derive projected constraints on H0,Ωm, and the dark energy equation of state, w, for each SNe Ia survey strategy. A strategy optimized for the discovery of high-redshift SNe Ia is preferred when considering the constraints possible from both SNe Ia and lensed SN cosmology, also delivering ∼1.5 times more lensed SNe than other proposed survey strategies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We present a determination of the Hubble constant from the joint, free-form analysis of eight strongly, quadruply lensing systems. In the concordance cosmology, we find |$H_0{} = 71.8^{+3.9}_{-3.3}\, \mathrm{km}\, \mathrm{s}^{-1}\, \mathrm{Mpc}^{-1}{}{}$| with a precision of |$4.97{{\ \rm per\ cent}}$|⁠. This is in agreement with the latest measurements from supernovae Type Ia and Planck observations of the cosmic microwave background. Our precision is lower compared to these and other recent time-delay cosmography determinations, because our modelling strategies reflect the systematic uncertainties of lensing degeneracies. We furthermore are able to find reasonable lensed image reconstructions by constraining to either value of H 0 from local and early Universe measurements. This leads us to conclude that current lensing constraints on H 0 are not strong enough to break the 'Hubble tension' problem of cosmology. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Anonymous of Ravenna wrote his Cosmography in the early 9th century. This work is a detailed description of the world. The first and fourth books of Cosmography contain a description of Dacia. The present study examines the Dacia chapter. The study finds that Anonymous of Ravenna used Jordans’ Getica (The Origin and Deeds of the Goths) and History of Rome (Romana), an early version of the Tabula Peutingeriana, and Paul the Deacon’s History of the Lango-bards. Anonymous of Ravenna described the territory, rivers, cities and inhabitants of Dacia. Dacia appeared in Cosmography under the following names: Dacia Minor, Magna and Dacia Prima et Secunda. Anonymous of Ravenna also named Dacia under the name Gepidia because the Gepids occupied the territory of Dacia. He took this information from Getica. Anonymous of Ravenna listed the rivers of Dacia: Tisia, Tibisia, Drica Marisia, Ariane, Gilpit, Grisia, Flautasis, Danube (Ister). The names of the rivers of Dacia came from Jordan’s Getica. The territory of Dacia, based on the rivers, can be drawn. The fourth book of Cosmography contains the names of the cities in Dacia (Drubetis, Medilas, Pre-torich, Panonin, Gazanam, Masclianis, Tibis, Tema, Tiviscum, Gubali, Bersovia, Arcibada, Canonia, Potula, Bacaucis). Anonymous of Ravenna may have taken most of the toponyms from an early version of the Tabula Peutingeriana, but Tema, Canonia and Bacaucis are new names between the settlements. According to Anonymous, the Huns or Avars inhabited Dacia. Anonymous of Ravenna took this information from Paul the Deacon’s Langobard history. In the Cosmography, the description of Dacia differed from that of Dacia written by antique writers. Anonymous of Ravenna supplemented the data from antique books with information from his century. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Bourdieu’s concept of cultural capital can be used to show that the cosmography of the learned bishop Isidore of Seville (560–636) was intended to acculturate the Visigothic elite to the Roman worldview, shedding new light on the relations of these two ruling elites. By being the provider and guardian of the culture, the Hispano–Roman aristocracy retained significant power and exercised its influence through the Catholic Church. Three dialectical categories — transformation of quantity to quality, development through contradiction, spiral forms of development — help advance the analysis of Isidore’s cosmography. A case study on Isidorian planetary orbital values provides an illustration of this dialectical development. It was, therefore, cultural capital as exemplified by Isidore that enabled the Hispano–Roman aristocracy to maintain its position as a ruling elite. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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