Our Place in the Universe - Understanding Fundamental Astronomy from Ancient Discoveries (Paperback, 2nd ed. 2017)

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.

General

Imprint:	Springer International Publishing AG
Country of origin:	Switzerland
Release date:	April 2017
First published:	2017
Authors:	Sun Kwok
Dimensions:	235 x 155 x 24mm (L x W x T)
Format:	Paperback
Pages:	267
Edition:	2nd ed. 2017
ISBN-13:	978-3-319-54171-6
Categories:	Books > Science & Mathematics > Astronomy, space & time > Popular astronomy Books > Science & Mathematics > Astronomy, space & time > Space travel & exploration Books > Science & Mathematics > Physics > Relativity physics > General
LSN:	3-319-54171-4
Barcode:	9783319541716

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