Publisher Description
This is a fascinating introduction to the history of Western astronomy, from prehistoric times to the origins of astrophysics in the mid-nineteenth century. Historical records are first found in Babylon and Egypt, and after two millennia the arithmetical astronomy of the Babylonians merged with the Greek geometrical approach to culminate in the Almagest of Ptolemy. This legacy was transmitted to the Latin West via Islam, and led to Copernicus's claim that the Earth is in motion. In justifying this Kepler converted astronomy into a branch of dynamics, leading to Newton's universal law of gravity. The book concludes with eighteenth- and nineteenth-century applications of Newton's law, and the first explorations of the universe of stars.
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About Marc Vietor
Marc Vietor, an AudioFile Earphones Award–winning narrator, is an actor working with the Eugene O’Neill Theater Center, Sundance Theatre Lab, Ravinia Festival, Royal Shakespeare Company, The Old Globe, and many others. His film and television credits include Asylum Seekers, Law & Order, and Onion News Network. He has narrated many books for Audible.com, including the award-winning 1Q84 by Haruki Murakami. He is a graduate of Yale University and The Juilliard School.