Introduction...................................................................

2
0
Part I The Calendar in Theory..................................................
23
1 The calendar..........................................................
... 24
2 The astronomical background...........................................
... 38
3 Time and the clock....................................................
... 64
4 Writing and libraries.................................................
... 86
5 Numbers and arithmetic................................................
... 94
6 The variety of calendars..............................................
...111
7 The reform of the calendar............................................
...134
Part II The Calendars of the World.............................................1
48
8 Introduction..........................................................
...149
9 Prehistoric calendars.................................................
...153
10 The calendars of Babylon and the Near East...........................
...169
11 The Egyptian calendar................................................
...174
12 The calendars of China and East Asia.................................
...185
13 The calendars of India...............................................
...197
14 The Mayan and Aztec calendars........................................
...211
15 Four European calendars..............................................
...223
16 The Roman and Julian calendars.......................................
...233
17 The Jewish calendar..................................................
...248
18 The Islamic and Bah'i calendars.......................................
.260
19 The Gregorian calendar...............................................
...268
20 The French Republican calendar.......................................
...287
21 The week.............................................................
...295
PART III Calendar Conversions..................................................3
17
22 Calendar conversions.................................................
...318
23 Mathematical notes...................................................
...324
24 To calculate the day of the week.....................................
...331
25 The conversion of regular calendars..................................
...342
26 The Jewish calendar..................................................
...361

27 The Mayan calendar...................................................

...370
PART IV Easter.................................................................3
78
28 A short history of Easter............................................
...379
29 The date of Easter Sunday............................................
...388
30 A Book of Hours......................................................
...418
Appendices.....................................................................4
23
I Astronomical constants................................................
...424
II The names of the days of the week....................................
...430
III The names of the days of the year in the French Republican calendar.
...437
Glossary.......................................................................4
39
Further reading................................................................4
50
Index..........................................................................4
68