Cosmos: An Illustrated History of Astronomy and Cosmology

by John North

For millennia humans have studied the skies to help them grow crops, navigate the seas, and earn favor from their gods. We still look to the stars today for answers to fundamental How did the universe begin? Will it end, and if so, how? What is our place within it? John North has been examining such questions for decades. In Cosmos , he offers a sweeping historical survey of the two sciences that help define our place in the astronomy and cosmology.
            Organizing his history chronologically, North begins by examining Paleolithic cave drawings that clearly chart the phases of the moon. He then investigates scientific practices in the early civilizations of Egypt, Greece, China, and the Americas (among others), whose inhabitants developed sophisticated methods to record the movements of the planets and stars. Trade routes and religious movements, North notes, brought these ancient styles of scientific thinking to the attention of later astronomers, whose own theories—such as Copernicus’ planetary theory—led to the Scientific Revolution.
            The work of master astronomers, including Ptolemy, Galileo, Kepler, and Newton, is described in detail, as are modern-day developments in astrophysics, such as the advent of radio astronomy, the brilliant innovations of Einstein, and the many recent discoveries brought about with the help of the Hubble telescope. This new edition brings North’s seminal book right up to the present day, as North takes a closer look at last year’s reclassification of Pluto as a “dwarf” planet and gives a thorough overview of current research.
            With more than two hundred illustrations and a comprehensive bibliography, Cosmos is the definitive history of astronomy and cosmology. It is sure to find an eager audience among historians of science and astronomers alike.

Genres: Science, Astronomy, History, History Of Science, Nonfiction

876 pages, Paperback

First published July 15, 2008

About the author

John David North, FBA (19 May 1934 – 31 October 2008) was an historian of science, whose speciality was the history of astronomy and cosmology, publishing strikingly original interpretations of Chaucer, Holbein and Richard of Wallingford as well as numerous works on archaeology, literature and art. He was appointed Librarian and Assistant Curator at the Museum of the History of Science, Oxford, 1968-77, and served as Professor of History of Philosophy and the Exact Sciences at the University of Groningen, Netherlands, 1977-1999.

Reviews

[Steve · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excellent 2nd edition of a very detailed history of astronomy. The late Professor North did an excellent job of not only outlining the western history of astronomy, but also describing the rise of the astronomy in the Middle East and Asia. Recommend this book very much. Prof. North passed away in October of 2008. It is sad to realize that his pen is now still.

[David Spanagel · Rating 4 out of 5]

Hard to believe that I could assign most of a 784 page book to students in my first ever, hastily-prepared remote learning course experience, and find out that most of them would stick with it to the end! This book served me so well, I think, because it was riddled both with specific historical and with contextually-rich technical details, and it was also peppered with periodic revisitations to a collection of big ideas.

[Daniel Silveyra]

I didn't actually finish this book

I've always been interested in the history of science, and as astronomy has been one of the earliest applications of mathematics it is particularly relevant. So when I heard about this book (it is supposedly the magnum opus of the field) I ponied up the cash.

Well, it turns out to be something more of an encyclopedia.

A lot of history of science books attempt to highlight the progression of ideas or paradigms through history; this makes it easier on the reader, since historical cases are presented in the context of an overarching concept. No such luck with North's compendium.

What you get is a meticulously researched account of astronomical studies throughout the entirety of recorded history, in all the relevant cultures of the world. The result is, unsurprisingly, a book that can be measured in inches, not pages.

So I gave up on the idea of reading it from end to end. I'll just move around the chapters that sound interesting (e.g. Copernicus, Kepler). It is officially off the regular track.