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| For Sale: Bullialdus Estates: Main parcel amounts to about 60 square kilometers, not including adjacent areas denoted above as Bullialdus A et seq. Excellent parcel for expansion and speculation. Wonderful view of the oceans that includes the Atlantic and Gulf as well as the Pacific, Indian, Arctic, and Antarctic, and on a clear day, you can see from Miami to Moscow. Climate is dry and predictable, the pace very slow. A day might seem like a month. |
| Just kidding. It's not really for sale. But there are some cost-free claims to be considered concerning issues of ownership, influence, and naming. All in fun. Although Boulliau (Latin: Bullialdus) owned a certain amount of land (a house in Loudun and two in Paris) the lunar parcels named in his honor are somewhat larger than those owned by more powerful contemporaries. Versailles, for example, is famous but smaller, gardens included. One might wonder (only briefly) if Louis XIV felt slighted. The fact is, unlike the Medici family, no moons were named after the Sun King (until much later, as an historical curiosity, when Cassini offered up Saturn). Worse still, no part of our nearest neighbor (nary a mountain, sea, or crater) bears his name. |
| The story of how 'Boulliau' came to appear on the moon is worth telling. Well maybe. In any case, if you search the Net for the name 'Bullialdus' it consistently appears in reference to parts of the fourth (small) rock from the sun. All the web references (dozens and dozens) refer to the Bullialdus lunar craters, none to the astronomer who happened to name the moon's second inequality. Yes, Boulliau (=Bullialdus) called it evection, a term still with us. Boulliau, of course, is not. So it is perhaps fitting (in fair and equal exchange) to use the moon to reflect on part of Boulliau's career. But to what effect? If nothing else, think of the search engines working on 'Bullialdus' and all those heavenly hits! What will the cartographers think? Madness. |
| The rest of the moon shine will go here, much of it untold. As it turns out, Ismaël Boulliau had several offers from various quarters to tattoo his name on the moon. He was thus immortalized by Riccioli, Van Langren, and of course, in an inverted sort of way, by his good friend Hevelius. Ho-Hum I suppose. Another Dead-Guy story? Only maybe. Stay tuned. |
rah.viii.98 et seq
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