Early Astronomy

This book covers the history of astronomy from the earliest observations to the 16th century. It reveals how the work of earlier astronomers, of all civilizations, still remains as a triumph of the human intellect.

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The earliest investigations that we can relate to what is now science are observations of the sky: Astronomy. The earliest written records of every civilization we know of - from China, Egypt, the Tigris-Euphrates and Indus valleys, Central America, the Andes, and so forth - all contain at least some astronomical texts. There are in addition monuments and artifacts that show a clear interest in astronomy, such as Stonehenge and rock paintings, from cultures that left no written records. The interest in celestial phenomena contributed to the development of Babylonian arithmetic and Greek geometry.