Astronomy from the Beginning

The story of how we learned about the Universe, from the earliest prehistoric observations to the first telescopes.

Early astronomy ranks among the greatest achievements of the human intellect ? but how did astronomers of the pre-telescopic era make accurate observations of the Sun, Moon, and planets, and predict their movements? How can we uncover the ancient knowledge of societies that left few or no written records?

★ Were present-day constellations, including Taurus and Orion, depicted in Upper Palaeolithic cave art? ★ Did Stonehenge and other Neolithic stone monuments serve astronomical functions ranging from lunar and solar markers to 'megalithic observatories', which tracked the movements of Sun and Moon with great precision? ★ How a 'void' zone in the star maps of the ancient world ? corresponding to stars not visible from the Mediterranean ? suggests that many constellations were devised by late Bronze Age sailors as an aid to navigation. ★ How the early Babylonian, Indian, Chinese, and Maya civilisations all developed advanced astronomical methods, for needs ranging from the compilation of reliable calendars to the prediction of eclipses and other ominous celestial phenomena. ★ How ancient Greek astronomers and mathematicians sought to explain as well as predict the movements of celestial bodies and set out the 'Theory of Everything' of the ancient world. ★ How Islamic Golden Age scholars refined the ancient world's intellectual tradition during the medieval period and laid the mathematical foundations for the Copernican revolution.

Astronomy from the beginning investigates these and many other topics. Avoiding sensationalism, it explores the history of astronomy, from prehistoric times to the Renaissance and the birth of modern science.