Mark,
I know from earlier and more brain cells days, that reading about some thing in general was helpful, studying how it was done was another thing, then actually writing a functioning program was the ultimate learning experience.
Now I need to set aside the time to begin exploring this topic.
Most folks won’t give a rip. Just like any other area of interest, some are more into it than others.
Great to know others have or had some interest and can recognize the initial hurdle that Meeus had to do for the initial work.
Then I see predictions where on earth and what time a moon-grazing star occultation will occur to cast a shadow on the earth and am amazed at the math and understanding and precision some people posses.