Chasing Shadows: Mathematics, Astronomy and the Early History of Eclipse Reckoning

By:

Montelle, Clemency

Publication details: Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 2011Description: 408ISBN:

9780801896910

Subject(s):

Eclipses

DDC classification:

523.38 MON

Summary: Lunar and solar eclipses have always fascinated human beings. Digging deep into history, Clemency Montelle examines the ways in which theoretical understanding of eclipses originated and how ancient and medieval cultures shared, developed, and preserved their knowledge of these awe-inspiring events. Eclipses were the celestial phenomena most challenging to understand in the ancient world. Montelle draws on original researchâ€”much of it derived from reading primary source material written in Akkadian and Sanskrit, as well as ancient Greek, Latin, and Arabicâ€”to explore how observers in Babylon, the Islamic Near East, Greece, and India developed new astronomical and mathematical techniques to predict and describe the features of eclipses. She identifies the profound scientific discoveries of these four cultures and discusses how the societies exchanged information about eclipses. In constructing this history, Montelle establishes a clear pattern of the transmission of scientific ideas from one culture to another in the ancient and medieval world. Chasing Shadows is an invitingly written and highly informative exploration of the early history of astronomy.

List(s) this item appears in: New Arrivals for the Month of January 2024

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Holdings
Item type	Current library	Collection	Call number	Status	Date due	Barcode	Item holds
Reference Book	Alliance School of Liberal Arts	Indian Knowledge Systems (IKS)	523.38 MON (Browse shelf(Opens below))	Not for loan		LA02805

Total holds: 0

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Previous	522.40954 SAR Archaic and the Exotic: Studies in the History of Indian Astronomical Instruments	523.38 KOL Studies in Indian Mathematics and Astronomy: Selected Articles of Kripa Shankar Shukla	523.38 MAD Sadratnamālā of Śankaravarman (Text on Indian Astronomy and Mathematics)	523.38 MON Chasing Shadows: Mathematics, Astronomy and the Early History of Eclipse Reckoning	523.38 SAR Facets of Indian Astronomy: A Collection of Articles of Prof. K.V. Sarma	540.934 RAY History Of Chemistry In Ancient And Medieval India: Incorporating the History of Hindu Chemistry	540.954 SUB Chemistry and Chemical Techniques in India vol. IV - Part 1	Next

Lunar and solar eclipses have always fascinated human beings. Digging deep into history, Clemency Montelle examines the ways in which theoretical understanding of eclipses originated and how ancient and medieval cultures shared, developed, and preserved their knowledge of these awe-inspiring events.

Eclipses were the celestial phenomena most challenging to understand in the ancient world. Montelle draws on original researchâ€”much of it derived from reading primary source material written in Akkadian and Sanskrit, as well as ancient Greek, Latin, and Arabicâ€”to explore how observers in Babylon, the Islamic Near East, Greece, and India developed new astronomical and mathematical techniques to predict and describe the features of eclipses. She identifies the profound scientific discoveries of these four cultures and discusses how the societies exchanged information about eclipses. In constructing this history, Montelle establishes a clear pattern of the transmission of scientific ideas from one culture to another in the ancient and medieval world.

Chasing Shadows is an invitingly written and highly informative exploration of the early history of astronomy.

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