The Cambridge Illustrated History of Astronomy

Following the steps of human reasoning and technology from prehistoric stone observatories to modern astrophysics, the reader of this inviting volume receives an excellent overview of the development of astronomy as science. Edited by Hoskin, the editor of Journal for the History of Astronomy, the book is a concise yet compelling record of human intellectual progress embracing Mayan, Babylonian, Greek, Islamic, and medieval Latin astronomy and leading up to the arrival of Copernicus, Galileo, and Newton. Their influence provided the needed change in approach from geometry to physics and forced long-delayed acceptance of the elliptical orbits of planets, a sun-centered system, and an earth that moved within it. Besides significant figures and places, the book acknowledges historical and cultural forces at work in its story, while inserts explore other worthy tidbits such as the rather remarkable devices in use before the invention of the telescope.