Customer Reviews

A History of Astronomy (Dover Books on Astronomy)

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The only reason I don't give this five stars is that some of the historical ideas in here have a sort of outdated feel. still it's beatifully written, and the professor who wrote it obviously really came alive while talking about astronomy. Look at some selections from the table of contents, and see if it whets your appetite. Old Babylonian Sky Lore... Assyrian Astrology... Chaldaean Tables (of the stars)... Gree Poets and Philosophers... Arabian Astronomy... Copernicus... Kepler... Newton...

If this is the kind of thing that floats your proverbial boat, you could do a lot worse than this book. It really is very beautifully written, too -- if you happen to be familiar with, and enjoy, Olaf Stapledon's writing style, you'll find this to be very pleasing. You might want to keep a dictionary of astronomical terms handy, if you are someone who loves the drama of the historical clash of Science versus Dogma, but aren't necessarily that familiar with words like "azimuth", "declination", etc. Also, if you like this, you may want to seek out the jourrnal "Isis", which specializes in the study of the history of science.

Although published in 1961, this book provides a lucid, engaging, and comprehensive review of the history and practice of astronomy from the pre-Babylonian era to the early 20th century. While lacking in depth due to the survey nature of the work, the information presented is relevant, insightful, and interesting. The flavor of the different eras when astronomy was practiced is certainly tasted as well as insights into the people who viewed the skies above. A great book for a survey of the history of astronomy. A useful project would be to append the book with the astronomical knowledge gleaned in the past century, which would show just how rapidly our knowledge of the universe has been expanding in the recent past.

This is more of a reference book than something you would sit down and read. The chapters on early Assyrian, Chaldean, Greek and Chinese astronomy are comprehensive and well-researched. If want an exciting read, I would recommend anything by E.C.Krupp (Echoes of the Ancient Skies) or Dava Sobel (Longitude) instead.