The Metonic Cycle, Which May Be Regarded As The Chef D'Oeuvre Of Ancient Astronomy, Is A Period Of Nineteen Solar Years, After Which The New Moons Again Happen On The Same Days Of The Year.
In 1778 he had selected the chef-d'oeuvre of some 400 specula which he made for the celebrated instrument of 7-ft.
Fraunhofer's chef-d'oeuvre, the great Dorpat refractor, made for Otto Struve about 1820, had a mounting of this type, and was the first equatorial of any importance to be provided with clockwork.
It will be a difficult feat to genuinely remain a deist after digesting the information contained in this chef-d'oeuvre.
Man is the chef-d'oeuvre of nature, which the gradual progression of beings was to have as its last term, and all lower creations are regarded as pre-conditions of man's existence, since nature " could only realize the human form by combining in all imaginable ways each of the traits which was to enter into it."