Tables, Observations and Hypotheses in La Hire Astronomical Practices: A Focus on the Moon

摘要

By the complexity of its motion and the prominent place it takes on the celestial scene, the moon is a fore front character of astronomy and its history. Also central to the history of astronomy is an analysis of the complex interplay between observations, mathematical tools and cosmological models. La Hire engagement with the moon is expressed in the various editions of his astronomical tables, in his carnets d'observation and in no less than fifty publications of the Academie. This contribution intend to be a preliminary study of La Hire treatment of the moon in the various expressions of his astronomical works. The meaning in astronomy of the word hypothese for La Hire and its relation to tables and observation will be clarified. I will establish also a corpus and point to a set of approaches that I hope will prove fruitful in further studies of La Hire.