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Stairways to the Stars: Skywatching the Three Great Ancient Cultures (Paperback)

by Anthony F. Aveni (Author) "The Lakota Sioux say that when the constellation of the Chief's Hand (the lower portion of our Orion) disappears from the sky, the earth will..." (more)

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Product details

Paperback: 240 pages
Publisher: John Wiley & Sons Inc; Reprint edition (1 Jan 1999)
Language English
ISBN-10: 0471329762
ISBN-13: 978-0471329763
Product Dimensions: 23.4 x 15.6 x 1.7 cm

Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (1 customer review)

Amazon.co.uk Sales Rank: 1,171,888 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Product Description

Science Books and Films

In this work, Tony Aveni, a leading archaeoastronomer from Colgate University, has written a marvelous book about how the celestial rhythms influenced the cultures of the past . . . fascinating reading.

Planetarian

"Clearly, if we can know more about these people, their religion, their culture, their hopes and dreams, according to Dr. Aveni, it will make our understanding of their astronomy more meaningful. This is a good book worth several readings!"

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Inside This Book (Learn More)

First Sentence
The Lakota Sioux say that when the constellation of the Chief's Hand (the lower portion of our Orion) disappears from the sky, the earth will become infertile. Read the first page

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3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A new look at the stars, 26 April 1999

By A Customer

One of my earliest memories is of lying on my back in the snow, just looking up at the stars. I've long since lost the ability to look at stars through the eyes of a child, but Anthony Aveni's book, Stairways to the Stars, has given me a whole new way of looking at them. For ancient cultures, the night sky was an ever-present companion. They used it as both calendar and augur, to track and predict the seasons, foretell the future, and understand the present. But the night sky we see is strongly dependent on where we live. The stars and stellar events (such as eclipses) that we see change, depending on where we see them from.

In a society based on the sky, how much of the sky you can see (and what's in it) becomes critical. So what the Mayans chose to focus on will be different from what the Celts considered important. And that may have had far-reaching effects on their society. From charts of the planet Mars in ancient Mayan codexes to the role of Stonehenge as an observatory, watching the skies left lasting, tangible effects on societies.

It's an interesting, thoughtful book. I enjoyed it, even though it's not an overwhelmingly easy read. Certainly there are times when it feels like a textbook (and the section of exercises at the end certainly doesn't hurt that sense).

If you're a beginning stargazer, I'd suggest something a bit more straightforward. But if you've been looking up at the night sky for years ... or if you're interested in ancient societies, I think you'll probably find this book well worth your time. For more reviews, check out my web page at exn.ca/printedmatter

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