The Starry Sky and Its History

"Where do we come from? What are we? Where are we going?" The stars have much to teach us about these questions. This book invites us to delve into the past and put ourselves in the shoes of the first humans who watched the sky unfold above them and wondered what it all meant. Some saw in it gods to be worshipped; others saw it more as a mechanism whose workings needed to be understood. We'll trace the evolution of human thought-from a sky that revolves around the Earth to an Earth that revolves around the Sun, from Babylon to Newton... or perhaps all the way back to the Big Bang? The stars are closer to us than we think: we are made up of atoms that were born in the stars. Perhaps you simply want to learn to recognize the constellations visible in the sky? This book is for you, too; it contains all the star charts you need, whether you're at the equator, in France, or in the Southern Hemisphere. Enjoy the journey!