Navigational Feat Unequaled For 200 Years
Andrés de San Martín, according to Tim Joyner, was the most eminent cosmographer in the fleet, unequaled by no one in the fleet, not even by the greatest mariner of all time, Ferdinand Magellan. Twice, he was able to calculate accurately, using astronomical measurement, the longitudes of two places, Port San Julian at Patagonia and Homonhon Island in the Philippines. At San Julian, he brought out his instruments, to quote Tim Joyner, "to test Faleiro's system for using conjunctions of the moon with the planets to determine longitude. His measurements resulted in the astonishingly accurate estimate of 61° west of Seville. Less than one degree in error, this was an accomplishment far beyond the capabilities of the other pilots." Again, at Homonhon Island, in central Philippines, he was able to measure its longitude, according to Rolando A. Laguardia Trias. Trias asserts that the reading of 189° longitude "from the meridian" which meant the line of demarcation at 47° west of Greenwich. In today's system of reckoning Homonhon Is. is at 125° 42.8' east longitude.
This reading is only two degrees in error, Trias asserts. No other had shown such mathematical skill. Indeed, for two hundred years his calculations were not matched by anyone.
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