Thomas Macho

This project aims to conduct exemplary research into and to present the cultural history of the calendar from the perspective of the integration of image, script and number. One initial focus of our project work will be on the relationship between astronomy and geometry (in ancient Greece), and ancient Roman activities in calendar politics (primarily after the Julian calendar reform). The second area of enquiry will be the transition from late medieval computus to the astronomical visual language of the Renaissance; the third focus will be the problem of alternative, future calendar systems, a question primarily associated today with the »Y2K« debate. Our overall objective is to document the drivers of calendar calculation in scientific and cultural history as exemplified by selected examples from the past and present day.