Wednesday, January 30, 2008

Grecian Formula

We could go on with speculation about the astronomy of the Far East, Near East, and New World (and those interested should read E. C. Krupp’s Echoes of the Ancient Skies: The Astronomy of Lost Civilizations, New York, 1983), but it would be just that: fascinating speculation. For these early astronomers left few written records, and those they did leave either note only their observations or link such observations to religion and mythology. These earliest records do not show any effort to use astronomical observation to explain the physical realities of the world and the cosmos. For these first attempts, we must turn to the Greeks.

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