The History of Science and Human Knowledge: Ancient Astronomy and the Changing Universe: The History of Star Maps, Calendars, Greek Cosmology, Islamic ... Galileo, and the Discovery of the Heavens - Couverture souple

N. Whitmore, Edward

Couverture souple

ISBN 13 : 9798189374173

Editeur : Independently published, 2026

Synopsis

For thousands of years, the night sky served as humanity’s clock, calendar, map, and greatest source of wonder. Ancient observers followed the movements of the Sun, Moon, planets, and stars, turning repeated celestial patterns into systems of timekeeping, navigation, agriculture, and knowledge.

The History of Science and Human Knowledge: Ancient Astronomy and the Changing Universe traces the transformation of astronomy from the earliest star maps and lunar calendars to the mathematical laws that reshaped humanity’s understanding of the cosmos.

The journey begins with the first sky watchers and the written observations of Mesopotamia, where generations of scribes recorded planets, eclipses, and celestial cycles on clay tablets. Egyptian astronomers connected Sirius, the Nile, temples, pyramids, and solar timekeeping within an ordered vision of the heavens.

Greek thinkers introduced natural explanations, geometry, the spherical Earth, and detailed models of planetary motion. Ptolemy’s Earth centered system became one of the most influential scientific achievements of the ancient world.

Across the Islamic world, translators, mathematicians, instrument makers, and astronomers preserved earlier knowledge while correcting measurements and rebuilding planetary models. The observatories of Baghdad, Maragha, and Samarkand helped advance star catalogues, astronomical tables, trigonometry, and the study of the heavens.

Copernicus placed Earth in motion around the Sun. Tycho Brahe produced observations of extraordinary precision. Johannes Kepler replaced perfect circles with elliptical planetary paths. Galileo’s telescope revealed mountains on the Moon, moons around Jupiter, sunspots, and the phases of Venus. Isaac Newton later united falling bodies and planetary motion through universal gravitation.

Clear explanations of the geocentric model, heliocentric theory, retrograde motion, eclipses, calendars, astronomical instruments, and planetary laws bring complex ideas into an accessible historical narrative.

A sweeping account of astronomy, scientific thought, and the civilizations that transformed the heavens from a mysterious field of signs into a measurable universe governed by observation, mathematics, and physical law.

Détails de l'édition

• Éditeur: Independently published
• Date d'édition: 2026
• Langue: anglais
• ISBN 13: 9798189374173
• Reliure: Broché
• Nombre de pages: 182
• Coordonnées du fabricant: Manufactured by Amazon on behalf of the author; https://www.amazon.fr/hz/contact-us; ; c/o Amazon Media EU S.à.r.l., 38 Avenue John F. Kennedy; Luxembourg; L-1855; Luxembourg