If you have a passion for star gazing,
telescopes, the Hubble and the universe
and this thing we call “astronomy”,
you are far from alone. Of course, we
know that astronomy is a highly
respected science that has produced some
of the most amazing accomplishments of
the twentieth century. On top of that,
it is a thriving area of fascination
and one of the most exciting hobby areas
going with thousands of astronomy clubs
and tens of thousands of
amateur astronomers watching the stars
every night just like we do.
But did you know that astronomy is one
of the oldest and most respected
sciences of them all? As far back as
before the times of Christ, the wise and
thinking people of societies of the time
were looking at the stars and
finding ways to track and chart them. We
who love the hobby of astronomy can
chart a proud history of
astronomers that tracks across millennia
and through virtually every culture in
civilization. So for the sake of
having some really good trivia to toss
around at astronomy club next week,
let’s highlight some of the big
moments in the history of astronomy.
For many centuries the science of
astronomy was not distinct from the
practice of astrology. For clarity,
astronomy is the study of the stars,
planets, and the universe with a clearly
scientific approach. Astrology is the
study of the zodiac signs and how they
influence our growth, our personalities
and our daily lives. In modern
times, we as people of science discount
the astrological side and focus on the
astronomy of the heavens. But
they were one study for millennia before
the age of science made them separate.
There is historical evidence that
astronomy was a recognized science as
far back as the Babylonian civilization
hundreds of years before Christ. But the
study of the stars was not limited to
one country. There were similar
movements going on in China, India, and
Ancient Egypt and all over the Arabian
Peninsula. The integration of
astronomy and religion is so prevalent
that we see it in the Christmas story in
which the Magi, Zoroastrian
priesthood probably from the equivalent
of ancient Syria, followed a star to the
Christ child. These astronomers
were also astrologers and it was that
mixture that lead them to be part of
this historic event.
The first book on astronomy was written
by Ptolemy during the Greek empire.
Since that historic publication,
the who’s who list of great astronomers
charts a path right through the center
of modern science including
Copernicus, Galileo, Kepler, Sir Issac
Newton, Jung, Michelangelo, Benjamin
Franklin and more recently even
Einstein and Stephen Hawkings would join
that noble list. It seemed that from the
renaissance on to this day,
virtually any man or woman of intellect
dabbled in astronomy at least somewhat
and it has always been
considered a sign of the learned to know
about the universe and things
astronomical.
Astronomy has had an impact on so many
areas of our lives that we really don’t
recognize. Many words in our
language had their roots in astronomy
such as…
* Influenza which comes from the Latin
root word for influence. This reflects
an early belief that the
position of the moon and stars may
influence health and cause or cure
disease.
* Disaster which comes from the Latin
for “bad star”.
* Lunatic which has the root word "Luna"
in it which is the Latin word for moon.
This highlights the
long held belief that is even prevalent
today that irrational behavior and even
wild and dangerous things happen
during a full moon.
Astronomy and its interrelationship with
astrology has also influenced culture,
education and religion to a very
large extent over the centuries. In the
English language, the first two days or
our week, Sunday and Monday are
a reference to astronomy as their
literal interpretations would be “The
Day of the Sun” and “The Day of the
Moon.”
So if you have found astronomy becoming
a consuming passion in your thoughts and
what fascinates you about
the world we live in, you are in great
company as this area of study has been a
major part of culture and thought
virtually since the dawn of
civilization. And it will continue to
fascinate mankind for as long as those
beautiful
stars shine over our heads.
This was part 54 of the series watch for the
continuation
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