Join us this Friday December 10th as we welcome Bill Burnyeat Program Manager from Canadian Planetariums, as he discusses “The First Astronomers”.
“Today’s highly complex and mathematical astronomy, an outcome of modern society, is often seen as distinct from folk tales, star myths and the astronomical notions found in traditional society or historically remote epochs. Although some of these “perspectives” are mentioned, from time to time, the impression is given that only modern western based astronomy has any traction in reality and that the astronomy of other peoples and epochs are “just” fairy tales.
“What is missing from this simplistic model is the marked continuity that is evident from the earliest notions of the sky, leading, in ever increasing steps, to the current picture of the cosmos based on technical tools and astrophysical insights. The first notion, encountered in the earliest astronomy is a division, both of time and space, which leads to an increasing set of subdivisions, as the sky becomes networked by horizon and then meridian based subunits. The constellations are one example. As divisions become more general, and complex, as in the Astrology of Chaucer’s time, the very units used to make these divisions take on a life of their own and become a set of commonly held values that help organize life in the community.
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