Our place in the universe : understanding fundamental astronomy from ancient discoveries / Sun Kwok.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Kwok, S. (Sun), author.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Cosmology.

Astronomy--History.

Astronomy.

History.

Popular Science.

Popular Science in Astronomy.

Astronomy, Observations and Techniques.

Local Subjects:

Popular Science.

Popular Science in Astronomy.

Astronomy, Observations and Techniques.

Cosmology.

Physical Description:

267 pages : illustrations ; 24 cm

Edition:

Second edition.

Place of Publication:

Cham, Switzerland : Springer, [2017]

Summary:

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 tools, Prof. Sun Kwok tells this story in an entertaining and fascinating way. Since the beginning of human civilization, people have wondered about the structure of the cosmos and our place in the Universe. More than 2,000 years ago, our ancestors knew that the seasons were unequal, the Earth was an unattached object floating in space, and stars existed that they could not see. From celestial observations, they concluded that the Earth was round. Using simple tools and mathematics, ancient astronomers accurately determined the sizes of the Earth and Moon, the distance to the Moon, and the lengths of the months and year. With a clever device called the armillary sphere, Greek astronomers could predict the times of sunrise and sunset on any day of the year, at any place on Earth. They developed sophisticated mathematical models to forecast Mars' motions hundreds of years into the future. Find out how ancient observers achieved these remarkable feats. With minimal use of mathematics, this book retraces the footsteps of our ancestors, explains their intellectual journeys in simple terms, and explores the philosophical implications of these discoveries. .

Contents:

Preface; Prologue; Contents; About the Author; List of Figures; List of Tables; Chapter 1: Humans and the Sky; 1.1 Repeating Days and Nights; 1.2 Cycles of the Seasons; 1.3 Early Sky Watchers; 1.4 Worship of the Sun; 1.5 The Orderly Heaven; 1.6 Questions to Think About; Chapter 2: Effects of Celestial Motions on Human Activities; 2.1 Daily Motion of the Sun; 2.2 The Annual Motion of the Sun; 2.3 The Seasons; 2.4 Regular But Not Simple; 2.5 Questions to Think About; Chapter 3: Ancient Models of the Universe; 3.1 A Spherical Heaven; 3.2 Chasing the Shadows; 3.3 Not All Directions Are Equal

3.4 Path of the Sun3.5 Where Does the Sun Go at Night?; 3.6 Questions to Think About; Chapter 4: Turning of the Heavens; 4.1 The Pole of Heaven; 4.2 The Heaven Is Tilted; 4.3 A Free Floating Earth; 4.4 Questions to Think About; Chapter 5: A Spherical Earth; 5.1 The Sun Moves in Complete Circles; 5.2 A Different Show for Everyone; 5.3 Evidence for a Non-flat Earth; 5.4 The Changing Horizon; 5.5 How High Can the Sun Go?; 5.6 Different Lengths of Daylight; 5.7 Pole Star and Latitude; 5.8 Celestial Navigation; 5.9 Are There Stars We Cant́ See?; 5.10 Success of the Round-Earth Hypothesis

5.11 Questions to Think AboutChapter 6: Journey of the Sun Among the Stars; 6.1 The Sun Moving Through the Stars; 6.2 Two Kinds of Motion of the Sun; 6.3 Inclination of the Ecliptic; 6.4 Placing Stars on the Celestial Sphere; 6.5 An Asymmetric Universe; 6.6 Questions to Think About; Chapter 7: A Two-Sphere Universe; 7.1 An Inner Sphere for Humans, an Outer Sphere for Celestial Objects; 7.2 The Armillary Sphere; 7.3 Armillary Spheres as Observing Instruments; 7.4 The Two-Sphere Cosmology; 7.5 Questions to Think About; Chapter 8: Dance of the Moon; 8.1 Shifting Locations of Moonrise

8.2 Two Different Lengths of a Month8.3 Eclipses and Phases of the Moon; 8.4 Size and Distance to the Moon; 8.5 The Self-spinning Moon; 8.6 Questions to Think About; Chapter 9: The Calendars; 9.1 How Long Is a Year?; 9.2 Star Calendar; 9.3 What Defines a Year?; 9.4 Different Calendars Around the World; 9.5 Reform of the Julian Calendar; 9.6 What Is so Special About a 24-hour Day?; 9.7 Questions to Think About; Chapter 10: The Wanderers; 10.1 The Ten Patterns of Venus; 10.2 Mars at Opposition; 10.3 Moving Backwards; 10.4 Two Different Periods for Each Planet; 10.5 Astrology

10.6 Planets in the Scheme of the Universe10.7 Questions to Think About; Chapter 11: The Mystery of Uneven Seasons; 11.1 Is the Earth moving?; 11.2 Earth Not Exactly at the Center; 11.3 The Pole Is Moving; 11.4 Shifts of the Zodiac Signs; 11.5 Questions to Think About; Chapter 12: Size of the Earth; 12.1 First Measurement of the Size of the Earth; 12.2 How Far Away Is the Sun?; 12.3 Revival of a Flat Earth; 12.4 Practical Proof that the Earth Is Round; 12.5 Questions to Think About; Chapter 13: Cycles Upon Cycles; 13.1 Moving in Circles; 13.2 Three Artificial Constructions

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN:

3319541714

9783319541716

OCLC:

969852397