Buenaventura Suarez, S.J. (1679-1750) Part 2: His book, lunario

Abstract

In the previous paper (part 1 Rev. Mex. Fis. E 57 (2011) 121--133) we have analyzed some aspects of the astronomical production of Buenaventura Suarez, a Jesuit missionary that worked in the Reductions of Paraguay in the early 18$^{th}$ century. To date, his only existing manuscript is the book ``Lunario de un Siglo''; a sort of almanac containing a hundred years calendar of: moon's phases, solar and lunar eclipses predictions and ecclesiastical dates. In this paper (part 2) we shall analyze the contents of Father Suarez's opus, its structure, scope and the accuracy of its predictions. Thereafter we shall concentrate on the reasons why Suarez translated from Portuguese into Spanish the book ``True Theory of Tides: according to the incomparable gentleman Isaac Newton'' by Jacob de Castro Sarmento, a London-based Portuguese physician and Fellow of the Royal Society. We suggest that Suarez probably shared with Sarmento the common conviction that the Moon's phases had an influence upon human beings. This might explain why Suarez included a Moon's phase calendar into his book.