Customer Reviews

Stairways to the Stars: Skywatching in Three Great Ancient Cultures

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One of my earliest memories is of lying on my back in the snow, just looking up at the stars. I've long since lost the ability to look at stars through the eyes of a child, but Anthony Aveni's book, Stairways to the Stars, has given me a whole new way of looking at them. For ancient cultures, the night sky was an ever-present companion. They used it as both calendar and augur, to track and predict the seasons, foretell the future, and understand the present. But the night sky we see is strongly dependent on where we live. The stars and stellar events (such as eclipses) that we see change, depending on where we see them from.

In a society based on the sky, how much of the sky you can see (and what's in it) becomes critical. So what the Mayans chose to focus on will be different from what the Celts considered important. And that may have had far-reaching effects on their society. From charts of the planet Mars in ancient Mayan codexes to the role of Stonehenge as an observatory, watching the skies left lasting, tangible effects on societies.

It's an interesting, thoughtful book. I enjoyed it, even though it's not an overwhelmingly easy read. Certainly there are times when it feels like a textbook (and the section of exercises at the end certainly doesn't hurt that sense).

If you're a beginning stargazer, I'd suggest something a bit more straightforward. But if you've been looking up at the night sky for years ... or if you're interested in ancient societies, I think you'll probably find this book well worth your time. For more reviews, check out my web page at exn.ca/printedmatter

I found this book with high hopes since I'm very interested in both astronomy and ancient civilizations, but this book's writing is just not strong enough to tie everything together. It reads like a textbook in many parts with unclear explanations to all but the scientifically adept. I wanted to know more about each of these societies and cultures (Incans, Mayans, Babylonians, etc...) but this book only scratches the surface. Despite the interesting topic and neat cover, I found the book disappointing for its lack of clear information, the necessary background and the often obtuse writing.

I came to the book as a part of a quick study on the origins of the 7 day week with particular regards to the Sabbath and the questions i have surrounding it.

I like the author's style of writing, comprehensiveness and scientific mindset, so much that i started his Empires of Time this morning. I think i read these two books in the wrong order, i'd recommend reading empires first and then this book. there are a few places that background information would have made stairways a bit easier to understand and perhaps flow a bit smoother.

I appreciate the author's expertise and ability to made difficult ideas understandable while at the same time explain what went into his thinking so that i can recapitulate from his data and perhaps understand his reasoning from the inside out. it is a field a bit confused by sloppy thinking and bad pseudoscience like astrology and numerology and i really appreciate his desire to present the best science and not speculate further than the data extends, a refreshing feeling after scanning lots of trash while getting the basic info for my study.

he must be an excellent teacher.

This book is fascinating and I love this author's methodical, reasoning and respectful approach to history and cultures. I loved his book on the Nazca Lines, Between the Lines, and then picked up this one. It is teaching me so much about how the sun, moon, and planets behave in the sky, how to look for them, and what these movements probably meant to each of the ancient cultures. I trust this author more than any I have read on the ancient cultures and meanings of the ancient monuments. He is very thorough in his research and his writing.