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Celestial Geometry: Understanding the Astronomical Meanings of Ancient Sites
Since the dawn of civilization, humans have sought inspiration and guidance in the night sky. Celestial Geometry explores the remarkable achievements of ancient astronomers at over 60 archaeological sites, from European stone circles like Stonehenge to the pyramids of Egypt and Central America, the medicine wheels of North America, the carved monoliths of Easter Island, and lesser-known structures like the sun clock of Goseck. Combining myths and legends with modern science, this beautifully illustrated book is a profoundly illuminating celebration of human curiosity and creativity.
240 pages, Hardcover
First published October 2, 2012
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Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews
October 30, 2013
Yay! This was purchased for me by an author for editing her book!
Book Info: Genre: Metaphysics/Archeoastronomy/Mythology
Reading Level: Adult
Recommended for: those interested in these ideas
My Thoughts: What an absolutely fascinating book! The only problem is that this is a heavily illustrated book in e-galley format that I was trying to read on a Kindle PaperWhite, which means the formatting was a mess. A lot of the pictures didn't show up at all, and those that did were not necessarily where they should have been, the picture subtitles were interspersed into the text, sentences would begin and never end, or stop half-way and finish two or three pages later... it was pretty hard to maintain the thread of the text.
However, I managed to keep myself more or less on the path they had put in front of me, and I really enjoyed reading this. I've always been interested in stuff like this, and to learn some of the fascinating things I did was particularly good. For instance, the Newgrange observatory is over half a millennium older than the Great Pyramid! The ancient Irish were more advanced then the Egyptians, how about that? I was also fascinated to learn that the hymns to Aten (worshipped during the time that Moses was growing up the son of a princess in Egypt) are very similar to the hymns that Moses later wrote and dedicated to Jehovah... There are actually a lot of parallels in the Bible to earlier myths and legends, which makes me think that a lot of the Bible is basically plagiarism.
At any rate, people who are interested in the history of astronomy, and in various ancient cultures and how they saw the skies, should find this book fascinating. I absolutely want a hard copy of this book so I can view it properly, with all the pictures and labels in the correct places, so I'll be adding the book to my wishlist as soon as I finish with my review. If it sounds like your sort of thing, don't hesitate—it's a fascinating read.
Disclosure: I received an e-galley through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.
Synopsis: Since the dawn of civilization, humans have sought inspiration and guidance in the night sky. Celestial Geometry explores the remarkable achievements of ancient astronomers at over 60 archaeological sites, from European stone circles like Stonehenge to the pyramids of Egypt and Central America, the medicine wheels of North America, the carved monoliths of Easter Island, and lesser-known structures like the sun clock of Goseck. Combining myths and legends with modern science, this beautifully illustrated book is a profoundly illuminating celebration of human curiosity and creativity.
Book Info: Genre: Metaphysics/Archeoastronomy/Mythology
Reading Level: Adult
Recommended for: those interested in these ideas
My Thoughts: What an absolutely fascinating book! The only problem is that this is a heavily illustrated book in e-galley format that I was trying to read on a Kindle PaperWhite, which means the formatting was a mess. A lot of the pictures didn't show up at all, and those that did were not necessarily where they should have been, the picture subtitles were interspersed into the text, sentences would begin and never end, or stop half-way and finish two or three pages later... it was pretty hard to maintain the thread of the text.
However, I managed to keep myself more or less on the path they had put in front of me, and I really enjoyed reading this. I've always been interested in stuff like this, and to learn some of the fascinating things I did was particularly good. For instance, the Newgrange observatory is over half a millennium older than the Great Pyramid! The ancient Irish were more advanced then the Egyptians, how about that? I was also fascinated to learn that the hymns to Aten (worshipped during the time that Moses was growing up the son of a princess in Egypt) are very similar to the hymns that Moses later wrote and dedicated to Jehovah... There are actually a lot of parallels in the Bible to earlier myths and legends, which makes me think that a lot of the Bible is basically plagiarism.
At any rate, people who are interested in the history of astronomy, and in various ancient cultures and how they saw the skies, should find this book fascinating. I absolutely want a hard copy of this book so I can view it properly, with all the pictures and labels in the correct places, so I'll be adding the book to my wishlist as soon as I finish with my review. If it sounds like your sort of thing, don't hesitate—it's a fascinating read.
Disclosure: I received an e-galley through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.
Synopsis: Since the dawn of civilization, humans have sought inspiration and guidance in the night sky. Celestial Geometry explores the remarkable achievements of ancient astronomers at over 60 archaeological sites, from European stone circles like Stonehenge to the pyramids of Egypt and Central America, the medicine wheels of North America, the carved monoliths of Easter Island, and lesser-known structures like the sun clock of Goseck. Combining myths and legends with modern science, this beautifully illustrated book is a profoundly illuminating celebration of human curiosity and creativity.
November 21, 2013
Nice astronomical outline of a large number of global ancient sites with a photograph or illustration on nearly every page. Not too technical.
Includes such things as alignment with the solstices, the equinoxes, solar burials, alignments with patron saints feast days, cross-quarter days, alignments important to various deities and mythology, lunar alignments, lunar standstill, lunar eclipses, and alignments with various planets, stars, & constellations.
Includes such things as alignment with the solstices, the equinoxes, solar burials, alignments with patron saints feast days, cross-quarter days, alignments important to various deities and mythology, lunar alignments, lunar standstill, lunar eclipses, and alignments with various planets, stars, & constellations.
February 22, 2019
A Thorough and Even-handed Introduction
This book is not in von Daniken "Chariots of the Gods" territory. It is, rather, an honest, substantial and even-handed attempt to introduce the reader to archaeoastronomy and to most of the famous and many of the lesser known sites where interesting work is being done. It succeeds admirably.
The author has divided the book into sections defined by the type of astronomical orientation involved. So there are the sun sites and the lunar sites and sites oriented to certain constellations or planets, and the like. This is an interesting approach, because it means that certain astronomical events, (say, a summer solstice), only need to be described or demonstrated or diagrammed once, and then can be illustrated by reference to numerous sites, from all over the globe, that all focus on that one astronomical event. This turns out to be much more helpful than a book organized along geographic lines or time periods.
The author has also written the book and entries in a scaled fashion. By that I mean that the description of a site, (say Stonehenge or Chaco Canyon), starts with a simple intro and then moves through progressively more detailed and demanding text. A reader can proceed as deeply as his interest or understanding allows, and can then move on to the next site. This sort of reminded me of the old Scientific American articles that started out at a middle grade science level and ended up somewhere at a post-graduate level. You could read as far as you could before you started to get lost. (That said, except for a few fairly detailed explanations of some lunar phase phenomena and the like, this book is not overly technical and should be accessible to anyone with a basic physical science grounding.)
The book benefits greatly from a very well thought out pattern of illustrations. It is not just full of pretty postcard pictures, (although there is some of that, which is fine given the beauty of the locations.) Rather, there are diagrams of on the ground phenomena, maps of sites and their measurements and orientations, photos of the astronomical effects being described, and photos of the most important structures at the most important sites. For example, the Castillo, (Kukulkan Pyramid), at Chichen Itza has a stairway that twice a year is shadowed by the sun to create the impression of a monstrous black serpent running down the stairs. There is a photo of the stairway showing exactly that effect. So, you don't just read about the effect, and you don't just see the effect without an explanation - you get both, which lets you appreciate both more.
On top of all this, it is a nice touch that the author is a congenial but unobtrusive companion. There is a bit of personality to the writing, but no hectoring and no salesmanship. The author is not trying to convince or dissuade, but is engaged rather in conducting a tour of something he finds fascinating and thinks you might like. That is a plus in my book.
So, a very nice find and worth consideration if you find any of these sorts of sites to be of interest. (Please note that I received a free advance will-self-destruct-in-x-days Adobe Digital copy of this book without a review requirement, or any influence regarding review content should I choose to post a review. Apart from that I have no connection at all to either the author or the publisher of this book.)
This book is not in von Daniken "Chariots of the Gods" territory. It is, rather, an honest, substantial and even-handed attempt to introduce the reader to archaeoastronomy and to most of the famous and many of the lesser known sites where interesting work is being done. It succeeds admirably.
The author has divided the book into sections defined by the type of astronomical orientation involved. So there are the sun sites and the lunar sites and sites oriented to certain constellations or planets, and the like. This is an interesting approach, because it means that certain astronomical events, (say, a summer solstice), only need to be described or demonstrated or diagrammed once, and then can be illustrated by reference to numerous sites, from all over the globe, that all focus on that one astronomical event. This turns out to be much more helpful than a book organized along geographic lines or time periods.
The author has also written the book and entries in a scaled fashion. By that I mean that the description of a site, (say Stonehenge or Chaco Canyon), starts with a simple intro and then moves through progressively more detailed and demanding text. A reader can proceed as deeply as his interest or understanding allows, and can then move on to the next site. This sort of reminded me of the old Scientific American articles that started out at a middle grade science level and ended up somewhere at a post-graduate level. You could read as far as you could before you started to get lost. (That said, except for a few fairly detailed explanations of some lunar phase phenomena and the like, this book is not overly technical and should be accessible to anyone with a basic physical science grounding.)
The book benefits greatly from a very well thought out pattern of illustrations. It is not just full of pretty postcard pictures, (although there is some of that, which is fine given the beauty of the locations.) Rather, there are diagrams of on the ground phenomena, maps of sites and their measurements and orientations, photos of the astronomical effects being described, and photos of the most important structures at the most important sites. For example, the Castillo, (Kukulkan Pyramid), at Chichen Itza has a stairway that twice a year is shadowed by the sun to create the impression of a monstrous black serpent running down the stairs. There is a photo of the stairway showing exactly that effect. So, you don't just read about the effect, and you don't just see the effect without an explanation - you get both, which lets you appreciate both more.
On top of all this, it is a nice touch that the author is a congenial but unobtrusive companion. There is a bit of personality to the writing, but no hectoring and no salesmanship. The author is not trying to convince or dissuade, but is engaged rather in conducting a tour of something he finds fascinating and thinks you might like. That is a plus in my book.
So, a very nice find and worth consideration if you find any of these sorts of sites to be of interest. (Please note that I received a free advance will-self-destruct-in-x-days Adobe Digital copy of this book without a review requirement, or any influence regarding review content should I choose to post a review. Apart from that I have no connection at all to either the author or the publisher of this book.)
August 12, 2018
A very fascinating read. I've been interested in archaeoastronomy for quite a while and this book, with its lavish illustrations and long list of sites, is the perfect introduction to the subject. The book is divided into chapters on the Sun, the moon and the stars and planets. In the beginning of each chapter, there's a short introduction to the celestial object in question, including astronomical knowledge as well as a quick introduction to religious ideas of past societies linked to that specific celestial object. The rest of the chapter is mainly examples of ancient sites aligned towards the object in question throughout the world. There are both pictures and illustrations enough to satisfy and the explanations are, in my opinion, easy enough for most people to follow. Where I think the book could have given a little more information is in the actual interpretation of a specific site. For me, it's just not enough to acknowledge that a specific building is aligned to this and this point on the night sky. I want to know why and the book doesn't really provide this. There's a bit of it in the introduction, where different deities are presented, but there was definitely room for more. Still, this book comes highly recommended to anyone interested in archaeoastronomy and sites such as Teotihuacan or Stonehenge.
May 6, 2019
Archaeoastronomy... Who knew there was a word for looking back in time to figure out where the heavenly features used to be and lining them up with ancient sites around the globe? What an exciting undertaking! This book covers 60 ancient sites, evaluating them against potential alignment with the Sun, Moon, planets, and other notable stars. I was impressed by the author's frank admission that we cannot know for certain how the sites were used in honor of the celestial bodies, and even more so by his admission that there does not appear to be a celestial connection to the stars in some cases, as with the Nazca lines. Instead, he posits that those sites were related to ancient agriculture. An expert with an open mind is refreshing, and it is nice that he isn't trying to sell his audience on theories that may not quite fit. I thoroughly enjoyed reading about the different sites, their history, and their layouts. Unfortunately, the Kindle version doesn't format well with the pictures, and I believe something significant was lost in the shift from hard copy to electronic. I would say that the hard copy is definitely worth a read. Educational, interesting... makes me want to travel and spend time in these locations at night!
Thank you to NetGalley for a free copy of this book to read and review. All opinions above are my own.
Thank you to NetGalley for a free copy of this book to read and review. All opinions above are my own.
June 6, 2019
I so enjoy watching the shows on this subject, I just knew a book on them would be even better- and I wasn't disappointed! It's interesting to read about how the ancients lined up their creations with the stars and planets. And that so many ancient cultures world wide have done so must have some meaning. Why go to the trouble unless there is something. Well written and researched. Enjoyable book.
I received a Kindle arc from Netgalley in exchange for a fair review.
I received a Kindle arc from Netgalley in exchange for a fair review.
April 7, 2019
Excellent, concise book with easy to understand details and language. Stunning pictures for demonstration purposes, this book was an absolute delight to read.
I was grateful to receive this ARC from Netgalley in exchange for my honest opinion
#celestialgeometry #netgalley
I was grateful to receive this ARC from Netgalley in exchange for my honest opinion
#celestialgeometry #netgalley
April 21, 2024
Great stuff - interesting, wide-ranging, and some gorgeous photos.
January 12, 2026
This is a beautiful book, with sites that I’ve never seen enjoyed.
June 24, 2019
Take one of my favorite topics, the night sky, and combine it with another really curious subject like a study of archaeological sites such as Stonehenge or Easter Island, and you've got one great book. Here, Taylor takes a deep dive into the field of archaeoastronomy and why humankind has built things based on their alignment with the sun, moon, stars or planets. This book was fascinating. *Advance copy provided by the publisher in exchange for my honest review.
July 19, 2016
This book has fantastic pictures but is more of a coffee table book or encyclopedia than a book that can/should be read cover-to-cover. There are some more "lyrical" passages which seem to be trying to give the reader a more "emotional" rather than intellectual appreciation of the way ancient peoples viewed the sky. These are generally unsuccessful and come off as hoakie rather than poetic.
December 28, 2012
A fascinating subject. I watch every show on the Science and History channels dealing with this subject. This book was better than most of the programs! The illustrations were fantastic. If you have an interest in this subject (as I do) this is the book for you!
June 10, 2013
I enjoyed learning of all the locations around the world where structures and statues have been erected in relation to our cosmos. Have to admit there was a lot more detail then was need for me but a great book for the more studious.
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April 11, 2014520.9 T2437 2012
March 30, 2019
This was my introduction to archeoastronomy, however I have always thought that ancient places like Stonehenge and the pyramids have a connection to the astronomical sky. It is very detailed and you do get a clearer understanding of these relationships from this book. Well worth the read for anyone interested in either of these interests.
Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews