Scott’s Calendar

Abstract

Taking not into account “Bruce’s Calendar” and a few reviews, we can make a conclusion that Russian calendars of the 18th century still remain unexplored. At the same time, they are unique sources for studying the history of mathematics and astronomy. Special attention should be paid to original author’s works that require special complex calculations. A copy of the printed “Scott’s Calendar” was recently found at the St. Petersburg branch of the Archive of the Russian Academy of Sciences. Benjamin Scott’s idea was creating a calendar, which could be used to determine the dates of Orthodox church (transient and non-transient) holidays and Russian state holidays, the times of sunrise and sunset, and to compare different time measurement systems (the Zodiacal, lunar, and solar calendars), perform trigonometric calculations. The calendar had an exquisite decorative design. Some figures used for its decoration had important symbolic meanings. However, the implementation of the idea cannot be estimated as a successful. Meeting of St. Petersburg Academy of Sciences considered it and all members agreed that it was impossible to use the calendar. Already in the 1760s it was interesting as a historical relic only. The article provides brief information about the biography of the master, presents the contents of the calendar, reveals the symbolic meaning of decorative elements; the source introduced into scientific circulation is presented in the historical context of the national history of calendars of the 18th century.