Episodes From the Early History of Astronomy


Book Description

Phenomena in the heavens are of great importance to many, and much of the lore of astronomy and astrology dates back to the earliest days of civilisation. The astronomy of the ancients is thus of interest not only as history but also as the basis for much of what is known or believed about the heavens today. This book discusses important topics in Babylonian and Greek astronomy.




Episodes from the Early History of Mathematics


Book Description

Among other things, Aaboe shows us how the Babylonians did calculations, how Euclid proved that there are infinitely many primes, how Ptolemy constructed a trigonometric table in his Almagest, and how Archimedes trisected the angle.




A History of Astronomy


Book Description

Well-balanced, carefully reasoned study covers such topics as Ptolemaic theory, work of Copernicus, Kepler, Newton, Eddington's work on stars, much more. Illustrated. References.




Science on Stage in Early Modern Spain


Book Description

Science on Stage in Early Modern Spain features essays by leading scholars in the fields of literary studies and the history of science, exploring the relationship between technical innovations and theatrical events that incorporated scientific content into dramatic productions. Focusing on Spanish dramas between 1500 and 1700, through the birth and development of its playhouses and coliseums and the phenomenal success of its major writers, this collection addresses a unique phenomenon through the most popular, versatile, and generous medium of the time. The contributors tackle subjects and disciplines as diverse as alchemy, optics, astronomy, acoustics, geometry, mechanics, and mathematics to reveal how theatre could be used to deploy scientific knowledge. While Science on Stage contributes to cultural and performance studies it also engages with issues of censorship, the effect of the Spanish Inquisition on the circulation of ideas, and the influence of the Eastern traditions in Spain.




Early Physics and Astronomy


Book Description

The book describes how the scientific account of the world arose among the Greeks and developed in the Middle Ages.




The Light, The Stones and The Sacred


Book Description

This book addresses a variety of topics within the growing discipline of Archaeoastronomy, focusing especially on Archaeoastronomy in Sicily and the Mediterranean and Cultural Astronomy. A further priority is discussion of the astronomical and statistical methods used today to ascertain the degree of reliability of the chronological and cultural definition of sites and artifacts of archaeoastronomical interest. The contributions were all delivered at the XVth Congress of the Italian Society of Archaeoastronomy (SIA), held under the rubric "The Light, the Stones and the Sacred" – a theme inspired by the International Year of Light 2015, organized by UNESCO. The full meaning of many ancient monuments can only be understood by examining their relation to light, given the effects that light radiation produces in “interacting” with lithic structures. Moreover, in addition to manifestations of the sacred through the medium of light (hierophanies), there are many ties between temples, tombs, megalithic structures, and the architecture of almost all ages and cultures and our star, the Sun. Readers will find the book to be a source of fascinating insights based on synergies between the disciplines of archaeology and astronomy.




In the Path of the Moon


Book Description

Celestial divination, in the form of omens from lunar, planetary, astral, and meteorological phenomena, was central to Mesopotamian cuneiform scholarship and science from the late second millennium BCE into the Hellenistic period. Beyond the boundaries of ancient Mesopotamia, the ideas, texts, and traditions of Babylonian celestial divination are traceable in Hellenistic sciences and philosophies. This collection of essays investigates features of Babylonian celestial divination with special focus on those aspects that influenced later Greco-Roman astronomy, astrology, and theories of signs. A multi-faceted collection of philological, historical, and philosophical investigations, In the Path of the Moon offers Assyriologists, Classicists, and historians of ancient science a wide-ranging series of studies unified around the theme of Babylonian celestial divination's legacy. "The collected essays in this volume, successive steps in an ordered path, constitute an invaluable contribution to a better understanding of Babylonian divination." Lorenzo Verderame, "Sapienza" Università di Roma "The reader interested in the multifaceted presentation of the problems related to the explanation of Babylonian celestial divination and well equipped with the knowledge of Akkadian will certainly be rewarded by the study of Rochberg’s latest publication." Henryk Drawnel, SDB




Technology and Society


Book Description

Technology and Society traces the history of developments in science and technology from the Stone Age to modern times. It analyses how cultural attitudes and values have influenced their development and use, as well as the ways that technology in turn has influenced our lives, morals and culture, for better and for worse. The book also looks at recent developments in information and space technology, and closely examines the many facets of our prospects for survival in a safe and sustained world. Students of science and the humanities, as well as general readers interested in the subjects will find this lucid, engaging text an invaluable introduction to this vast, exciting and essential topic.







Heliocentrism


Book Description