Father Antoine Thomas and the Birth of ‘Modern Astronomy’ in Thailand
‘Modern astronomy’ was introduced to Siam (present-day Thailand) when the Belgian Jesuit missionary-astronomer Father Antoine Thomas carried out astronomical observations in 1681 and 1682 in order to determine the latitude and longitude of Ayutthaya. Three years later a contingent of French Jesuit missionary astronomers observed a total lunar eclipse from Lop Buri, which marked the start of an int
