SKY-WATCHERS OF the ANCIENT WORLD: A Concise Guide to Astronomers Who First Mapped Heavens

THE STARS WERE THEIR GUIDE. CURIOSITY WAS THEIR LEGACY.Thousands of years before telescopes, satellites, and space probes, human beings were already looking toward the heavens.With nothing more than careful observation, mathematics, calendars, instruments, and extraordinary curiosity, ancient scholars tracked the movements of the Sun, Moon, planets, and stars - laying foundations for the astronomy we know today.Sky-Watchers of the Ancient World takes you on a journey across civilizations and centuries to meet the astronomers, philosophers, mathematicians, and scholar-priests who first mapped the heavens.Inside, discover the remarkable astronomical traditions of: - Mesopotamia - where astronomical observations were recorded on clay tablets- Ancient Greece - where philosophers transformed observations into mathematical models of the cosmos- Ancient China - where generations of court astronomers carefully recorded celestial events- Classical India - where astronomers developed sophisticated mathematical and astronomical ideas- The Islamic Golden Age - where scholars translated, tested, corrected, and advanced earlier astronomical knowledge- Mesoamerica - where Maya astronomer-priests independently developed highly precise calendars and observations of Venus and eclipsesMeet figures including Naburimannu, Kidinnu, Thales, Anaximander, Pythagoras, Aristarchus, Eratosthenes, Hipparchus, Ptolemy, Shi Shen, Gan De, Zhang Heng, Aryabhata, Brahmagupta, Varahamihira, Al-Battani, Al-Sufi, Al-Biruni, Ibn al-Haytham, Al-Tusi, Ulugh Beg, and the Maya astronomer-priests.Explore how astronomical knowledge traveled between cultures, how observations were preserved and refined, and how ideas about the Earth, planets, stars, calendars, and the cosmos evolved over time.A fascinating introduction to the people and civilizations who looked into the ancient night sky - and changed humanity's understanding of the universe.