The Sky Atlas - The Greatest Maps, Myths and Discoveries of the Universe (Hardcover)

'Beautiful ... endless, brilliant unforgettable stories' Cerys Matthews, BBC Radio 6 'Combining myth and science, this breathtaking book [is] packed with stunning images' Daily Mail After the enormous international success of The Phantom Atlas and The Golden Atlas, Edward Brooke-Hitching's brilliant book unveils some of the most beautiful maps and charts ever created during mankind's quest to map the skies above us. This richly illustrated treasury showcases the finest examples of celestial cartography - a glorious genre of map-making often overlooked by modern map books - as well as medieval manuscripts, masterpiece paintings, ancient star catalogues, antique instruments and other appealing curiosities. This is the sky as it has never been presented before: the realm of stars and planets, but also of gods, devils, weather wizards, flying sailors, medieval aliens, mythological animals and rampaging spirits. The reader is taken on a tour of star-obsessed cultures around the world, learning about Tibetan sky burials, star-covered Inuit dancing coats, Mongolian astral prophets and Sir William Herschel's 1781 discovery of Uranus, the first planet to be found since antiquity. Even stranger are the forgotten stories from European history, like the English belief of the Middle Ages in ships that sailed a sea above the clouds, 16th-century German UFO sightings and the Edwardian aristocrat who mistakenly mapped alien-made canals on the surface of Mars. As the intricacies of our universe are today being revealed with unprecedented clarity, there has never been a better time for a highly readable book as beautiful as the night sky to contextualise the scale of these achievements for the general reader.

General

Imprint:	Simon & Schuster
Country of origin:	United Kingdom
Release date:	October 2019
Authors:	Edward Brooke-hitching
Dimensions:	246 x 189 x 28mm (L x W x T)
Format:	Hardcover
Pages:	256
ISBN-13:	978-1-4711-7893-1
Categories:	Books > Earth & environment > Geography > Historical geography Books > Earth & environment > Geography > Maps, charts & atlases > General Books > Earth & environment > Geography > Cartography, geodesy & geographic information systems (GIS) > Map making & projections
LSN:	1-4711-7893-5
Barcode:	9781471178931

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Fascinating text!

Tue, 27 Jul 2021 | Review by: Carolina P.

Thrilled to receive this! Absolutely fascinating chronicle of astronomy, showing how society's ideas have developed over the centuries. Filled with tons of colourful maps and illustrations. Beautiful coffee table book too! Can't wait to start reading.

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