Our Place in the Universe Understanding Fundamental Astronomy from A
If you have ever wanted to understand the basic principles of astronomy and celestial movements, you should read this book. Using pictures of the sky observed from different places on Earth, as well as drawings of ancient astronomical methods and too
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Our Place in the Universe
Understanding Fundamental Astronomy from Ancient Discoveries Second Edition
Our Place in the Universe
Sun Kwok
Our Place in the Universe Understanding Fundamental Astronomy from Ancient Discoveries Second Edition
Sun Kwok Faculty of Science The University of Hong Kong Hong Kong, China
This book is a second edition of the book “Our Place in the Universe” previously published by the author as a Kindle book under amazon.com. ISBN 978-3-319-54171-6 ISBN 978-3-319-54172-3 DOI 10.1007/978-3-319-54172-3
(eBook)
Library of Congress Control Number: 2017937904 © Springer International Publishing AG 2017 This work is subject to copyright. All rights are reserved by the Publisher, whether the whole or part of the material is concerned, specifically the rights of translation, reprinting, reuse of illustrations, recitation, broadcasting, reproduction on microfilms or in any other physical way, and transmission or information storage and retrieval, electronic adaptation, computer software, or by similar or dissimilar methodology now known or hereafter developed. The use of general descriptive names, registered names, trademarks, service marks, etc. in this publication does not imply, even in the absence of a specific statement, that such names are exempt from the relevant protective laws and regulations and therefore free for general use. The publisher, the authors and the editors are safe to assume that the advice and information in this book are believed to be true and accurate at the date of publication. Neither the publisher nor the authors or the editors give a warranty, express or implied, with respect to the material contained herein or for any errors or omissions that may have been made. The publisher remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations. Cover image: The Nebra Disk. Credit: By Dbachmann, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/ w/index.php?curid=1500795 Printed on acid-free paper This Springer imprint is published by Springer Nature The registered company is Springer International Publishing AG The registered company address is: Gewerbestrasse 11, 6330 Cham, Switzerland
Preface
There is a common perception among the general populace that astronomy is impractical and irrelevant. This could not be further from the truth. For thousands of years, astronomy was an extremely practical subject, and our ancestors relied on their astronomical knowledge to conduct their daily lives. Most ancient people were far more familiar with the behavior of the Sun, the Moon, and the stars than the average person is today. Astronomy also motivated intellectual thought and had a major impact on the social development of the human race throughout history. Our evolving perception of our place in the universe helped bring about important social changes over the last two thousand years. This book is not just about astronomy. It uses the historical development of astronomy to illustrate the process of rational reasoning and its effect on phi
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