Determination of Longitude
(See Annex of book, ‘Determination of Longitude’ (approx. 15 pages) which constitutes a key part of the evidence, the relevance being that the longitude of the East African coast shown on the Cantino is nearly perfect. At that date (1502) Europeans were centuries away from being able to determine longitude but the Chinese could do so. Author contends the lunar eclipse of August 13, 1421 and the partial lunar eclipses of 6 February and 2 August 1422 enabled the Chinese to determine longitude, as did the transits of Jupiter’s moons which the Chinese observed with the naked eye (Rosa Mui evidence) two thousand years before Galileo. By using Jupiter’s moons, longitude could be calculated about 1000 times a year.
Related article: To view Rosa Mui and Paul Dong’s article on the transit of Jupiter’s satellites please click here.
View maps: The Cantino world, Piri Reis map
