Astronomy’s Lasting Influence on Human Thought

If my short study of Astronomy has taught one thing, it is how influential Astronomy has been on our way of thinking as a species. This influence can be seen in ancient times, when civilizations such as in Mesopotamia, Mesoamerica, Egypt, China, India, and Greece placed Astronomy and Astrology at the centers of their ideology, […]

Retrograde Motion: Illusions and Jinxes

Understanding the heavens has proven confusing for countless generations of humans in part because of the illusions caused by our perspective from earth. For millennia, the majority opinion was a geocentric universe, where the sun, moon, planets, and stars revolved around the earth, since they all seemed to do so from the earth’s perspective. All […]

A Short Reflection on Nicolaus Copernicus and some Events during his Life

Few individuals hold such prominence in historical Astronomy as Nicolaus Copernicus, the father of the so-called Copernican Revolution. He lived from 1473 to 1543 and started the shift which led to the jettisoning of the geocentric model of the solar system in favor of the (correct) heliocentric model. Copernicus thus followed in the footsteps of the […]