Astronomy Across Cultures
by Helaine Selin · first published 2000
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Astronomy Across Cultures: A History of Non-Western Astronomy consists of essays dealing with the astronomical knowledge and beliefs of cultures outside the United States and Europe. In addition to articles surveying Islamic, Chinese, Native American, Aboriginal Australian, Polynesian, Egyptian and Tibetan astronomy, among others, the book includes essays on Sky Tales and Why We Tell Them and Astronomy and Prehistory, and Astronomy and Astrology. The essays address the connections between science and culture and relate astronomical practices to the cultures which produced them. Each essay is w
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I've got a book you might like then. I recently discovered there was an 'Astronomy Across Cultures' book, as ethnoastronomy is something I've been interested in for a while (It's always neat to see how other people interact and describe the stars and sky. Shame a lot of this info is being lost as languages…
on “Ask HN: What Are You Learning?” ↗…the crescent moon was first visible after the new moon.) But I would like to devote at least a full episode on Jewish astronomy, both ancient and medieval. There's a nice chapter by Tzvi Langermann in Astronomy Across Cultures on the subject. My plan is to briefly cover the Romans after finishing with the Greeks, and then turn to the astronomy of cultures that fall outside the "main thread" of Western astronomy (e.g., paleolithic…
on “What did the ancient Babylonians discern in the skies above?” ↗