Posted by Steve Holmes2 at 23:37 on 2013 Mar 21
No, this is not a rhetorical question but the return to life of a thread which attracted mass interest a year or so ago – 859 views! The question in fact refers to an infamous BBC2 programme of the same name which was stuffed with inaccuracies. I was able (after long and detailed discussion with the programme’s producers) to persuade them to correct the worst errors, but not all. In doing so, however, I became so engrossed in the subjects under discussion that I decided to produce full-scale scientific articles about them for publication on my website. As I say in the introduction to them, they are written at a very much higher level than could sensibly have been included in the programme, so I have also added a "60-second summary" of the salient points in each one, to demonstrate that a scientifically accurate but understandable explanation could have been given if the producers had done their research properly.Anyway – the above is really by means of an introduction to the statement that after a very great deal of research the articles are now available for perusal! They can be found on the Astronomical Theory section of my website, which can be accessed by clicking the following link:Astronomical Theory sectionOnce there, the article you want is "Do We Really Need The Moon?" (unsurprisingly enough!). Click on the title to go into the introductory page or on the green cross next to it for a basic index.While you’re in the Theory section you might like to check out the other articles also – the major work on Saros Series contains genuinely novel information, based on my extensive research into the topic, which answers many questions posed by other notable mathematical astronomers including Jean Meeus, and that on Ecliptic Limits finds that the limits for annular and "full" eclipses are different, a fact which I have not seen reported before. If you do browse, please let me know what you think.Steve Holmes