  Accurate measurements of the cosmic microwave background (CMB) anisotropies
with an angular resolution of a few arcminutes can be used to determine
fundamental cosmological parameters such as the densities of baryons, cold and
hot dark matter, and certain combinations of the cosmological constant and the
curvature of the Universe to percent-level precision. Assuming the true theory
is a variant of inflationary cold dark matter cosmologies, we calculate the
accuracy with which cosmological parameters can be determined by the next
generation of CMB satellites, MAP and Planck. We pay special attention to: (a)
the accuracy of the computed derivatives of the CMB power spectrum C_L; (b) the
number and choices of parameters; (c) the inclusion of prior knowledge of the
values of various parameters.
