Norriss S. Hetherington - Böcker

Students in an introductory physics class learn a variety of different, and seemingly unconnected, concepts. Gravity, the laws of motion, forces and fields, the mathematical nature of the science - all of these are ideas that play a central role in understanding physics. And one thing that connects all of these physical concepts is the impetus the great scientists of the past had to develop them - the desire to understand the motion of the planets of the solar system. This desire led to the revolutionary work of Copernicus and Galileo, Kepler and Newton. And their work forever altered how science is practiced and understood.

While astronomy is a burgeoning science, with tremendous increases in knowledge every year, it also has a tremendous past, one that has altered humanity's understanding of our place in the universe. The impact of astronomy on culture - whether through myths and stories, or through challenges to the intellectual status quo - is incalculable. This volume in the Greenwood Guides to the Universe series examines how human cultures, in all regions and time periods, have tried to make sense of the wonders of the universe. Astronomy and Culture shows students how people throughout time have struggled with the complexities apparent in the night sky, complexities that modern science has only just begun to understand.

This book is a collection of contributions examining cosmology from multiple perspectives. It presents articles on traditional Native American and Chinese cosmologies and traces the historical roots of western cosmology from Mesopotamia and pre-Socratic Greece to medieval cosmology.

The Encyclopedia of Cosmology, first published in 1993, recounts the history, philosophical assumptions, methodological ambiguities, and human struggles that have influenced the various responses to the basic questions of cosmology through the ages, as well as referencing important scientific theories.Just as the recognition of social conventions in other cultures can lead to a more productive perspective on our own behaviour, so too a study of the cosmologies of other times and places can enable us recognise elements of our own cosmology that might otherwise pass as inevitable developments.Apart from modern natural science, therefore, this volume incorporates brief treatments of Native American, Cave-Dweller, Chinese, Egyptian, Islamic, Megalithic, Mesopotamian, Greek, Medieval and Copernican cosmology, leading to an appreciation of cosmology as an intellectual creation, not merely a collection of facts. It is a valuable reference tool for any student or academic with an interest in the history of science and cosmology specifically.