September 9, 2025 • 12 mins
"Astrological Myth" by John Frederick Blake, published in 1877, explores the connections between astronomy and mythology, examining how celestial bodies influenced ancient beliefs and narratives.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Ready for another deep dive. Listeners, Today, we're traveling through
time and space to explore the very dawn of astronomy.
We're going to uncover how ancient cultures looked up at
the night sky and tried to make sense of all
those stars.
Speaker 2 (00:13):
It's fascinating stuff. Really, they didn't have fancy telescopes or anything, right, it.
Speaker 1 (00:17):
Was all about observation. So to guide us on this journey,
we've got Astronomical Myths by John Frederick Blake. Now, this
book was published around eighteen seventy seven, so it's a
bit of a classic.
Speaker 2 (00:28):
It's based on the work of French astronomer Kamille Flamrian though,
so it's packed with amazing stories and inexcites about early astronomy.
Speaker 1 (00:35):
It really highlights how people used to understand the universe.
So where do we even begin.
Speaker 2 (00:40):
Well, the book starts by diving into different civilizations. Greeks, Chinese, Egyptians,
Babylonians each had their own unique astronomical traditions.
Speaker 1 (00:49):
Okay, so we're not just talking about like looking up
and saying, ooh, pretty stars, not at all.
Speaker 2 (00:53):
These were complex systems they were developing. They observed the
sky meticulously recorded celestial events and tried to explain it all.
Speaker 1 (01:01):
They were laying the groundwork for everything we know today.
And there are some truly mind blowing examples in here,
like check this out. There's a Chinese record from twenty
one to sixty nine BC, over four thousand years ago,
describing a large star near the polls and.
Speaker 2 (01:19):
Get this, Modern astronomers have looked back and realized it
lines up perfectly with the star Alpha Draconis at that time.
Speaker 1 (01:25):
No way, so they weren't just looking up a guessing.
Speaker 2 (01:27):
Not even. They were making precise observations. And what's really
incredible is that they kept these records for centuries.
Speaker 1 (01:33):
Passing down that knowledge through generations. Makes you wonder what
else we'll discover about their astronomical skills as we dig deeper.
Speaker 2 (01:40):
Oh absolutely, And speaking of impressive observations, the book also
delves into the Egyptians and their fascination with the Pleiades
star cluster.
Speaker 1 (01:49):
Huh you mean seven sisters. Yeah, yeah, it's a beautiful cluster,
even visible to the naked eye. No wonder they were captivated.
Speaker 2 (01:56):
They were. And what's interesting is that it wasn't just
about admiring it for its the Egyptians linked the Pleiades
directly to their calendar and even to their religious practices,
especially the festival of Aijia, which honored the dead.
Speaker 1 (02:08):
So the stars weren't just like distant points of light
for them, They were woven into their entire worldview. I'm
already sensing a theene here, definitely.
Speaker 2 (02:17):
Now imagine yourself gazing at the night sky. You see
these fixed points of light against this huge dark backdrop.
Many ancient cultures envisioned the stars as being embedded on
this giant, rotating dome which surrounded the Earth. This is
the concept of the celestial sphere.
Speaker 1 (02:33):
Like a giant celestial snow globe. I can see why
they'd think that, especially without understanding that the Earth rotates
on its.
Speaker 2 (02:40):
Axis precisely, and without knowing the vast distances between those stars,
the celestial sphere makes perfect sense.
Speaker 1 (02:48):
So it was a logical conclusion based on what they
could observe. But obviously we know now that it's not
entirely accurate, of.
Speaker 2 (02:53):
Course not, but it was a crucial step. The celestial
sphere model formed the basis for their astronomical calculations and
help them track things like time and seasons.
Speaker 1 (03:03):
Wow. So this seemingly simple model actually laid the groundwork
for centuries of observation and discovery.
Speaker 2 (03:09):
Exactly. It was the foundation for how they understood the universe.
Speaker 1 (03:12):
Okay, so they had this dome of stars figured out.
But did they see those stars as just random pinpricks
of light or did they find patterns and stories up there? Oh?
I bet they didn't just see random stars. I'm ready
to hear about the stories they found of there.
Speaker 2 (03:26):
Well, that's where constellations come in. Those patterns weren't just
pretty pictures to them. They were deeply connected to their myths,
their beliefs, even their daily lives.
Speaker 1 (03:34):
So we're not just talking about the Greek myths I
vaguely remember from school? Are we not?
Speaker 2 (03:38):
At all? Many familiar constellations like Orian the Hunter or
ursa Major the Great Bear, these have roots far older
than ancient Greece.
Speaker 1 (03:47):
Wow.
Speaker 2 (03:48):
Really, these stories were passed down through generations, you know,
connecting people to the cosmos and their ancestors. It's amazing
how these tales traveled across time and continence.
Speaker 1 (03:58):
It's like a giant celestial game of telephone. Did different
cultures have their own unique constellations or were there some
common themes.
Speaker 2 (04:06):
There's evidence of both. Actually, the book mentions this really
interesting detail. Some Greek and Indian constellation names are surprisingly similar.
Speaker 1 (04:15):
You're kidding which ones we're.
Speaker 2 (04:17):
Talking Andromeda, Cephius, Cassiopeia, Perseus, they're all clustered together in
the sky, no way. It really makes you wonder if
there was some shared, even more ancient source for these stories,
like a common thread stretching back through human history.
Speaker 1 (04:32):
That's incredible. We're not just talking about astronomy anymore. It's archaeology, mythology.
It all comes together exactly.
Speaker 2 (04:38):
But constellations weren't just for storytelling. They served a very
practical purpose too.
Speaker 1 (04:42):
Oh how so.
Speaker 2 (04:44):
Well, think of them like giant celestial mnemonic devices thermonic devices.
You mean they help people remember the positions of the stars.
Speaker 1 (04:52):
Okay, I see it.
Speaker 2 (04:53):
And that was crucial for navigation obviously, and timekeeping, especially
in a world without all our modern technology.
Speaker 1 (05:02):
So ancient civilizations used the stars as a giant map
and clock. That's amazing, But how did that actually work.
Speaker 2 (05:08):
Imagine you're a farmer in ancient times. You need to
know when to plant your crops right.
Speaker 1 (05:13):
Right, it's their livelihood.
Speaker 2 (05:14):
Exactly, so the appearance of certain constellations at specific times
of the year signaled those crucial changing seasons.
Speaker 1 (05:21):
It's like a giant cosmic calendar in.
Speaker 2 (05:23):
The sky precisely. Can I give you an example please? Okay,
So let's take towards the bowl. Way back in ancient times.
We're talking four hundred and forty fifty six to twenty
four hundred BC. The position of Taurus marked the spring equinox.
Speaker 1 (05:36):
The spring equinots, so when day and night are roughly.
Speaker 2 (05:38):
Equal exactly, that was a critical moment for agriculture.
Speaker 1 (05:41):
Wow. They weren't just stargazing for fun then, not at all.
Speaker 2 (05:45):
Their lives depended on it.
Speaker 1 (05:47):
It makes our modern obsession with horoscopes seem a bit trivial,
doesn't it. Okay, So we've talked about how these ancient
cultures viewed the stars, the patterns they saw, But what
about their understanding of the earth itself. Did they always
picture it as a sphere or were there some more
creative interpretations along the way.
Speaker 2 (06:06):
Oh, I have a feeling creative as an understatement, I'm
ready to have my mind blown by these ancient theories
about the Earth.
Speaker 1 (06:12):
Okay, we'll get ready for this. Some early cultures actually
believe the Earth was flat.
Speaker 2 (06:16):
Okay, so far, so good.
Speaker 1 (06:17):
And get this. They thought it was held up by pillars.
Speaker 2 (06:21):
Pillars like holding the earth up from underneath. What were
they made of? Giant elephants standing on a turtle's back,
you laugh, But some cultures did envision something like that,
though the exact nature of those pillars it kind of varied.
But what's fascinating is just how wide spread this belief was.
The book mentioned similar ideas popping up in cultures that
were geographically super far apart, like we're talking Greeks and Greenlanders.
Speaker 1 (06:45):
So even without any contact, they came to similar conclusions
about the Earth's shape. I guess when you look at
the horizon it does kind of seem flat, right.
Speaker 2 (06:53):
It makes a certain amount of sense. But not everyone
was on board with the whole flat earth idea.
Speaker 1 (06:57):
Of course, Oh good, tell me someone came up with
a better theory.
Speaker 2 (07:00):
There were a few other interesting theories out there. For example,
an Aximander, a Greek philosopher, he imagined the earth as
a cylinder.
Speaker 1 (07:10):
Instead of flat. It's upright, like a giant owling.
Speaker 2 (07:12):
Pin exactly, although not just any cylinder. He envisioned one
that was only one third.
Speaker 1 (07:17):
As high as it was wide, so like a squat
little cylinder Earth. I can't even picture it. What could
have led him to that conclusion.
Speaker 2 (07:25):
It just goes to show you they were really trying
to make sense of their observations with a pretty limited
understanding of the world around them.
Speaker 1 (07:32):
I guess. So it's all about trying.
Speaker 2 (07:33):
Right and it gets even wilder believe it or not. Plato,
another Greek philosopher, he believed the Earth was shaped like
a cube.
Speaker 1 (07:41):
A cube. Now that one really throws me for a loop.
How did they explain things like, you know, day and
night or the movement of the sun and stars with
a cube Earth.
Speaker 2 (07:51):
Well, it's important to remember that these early models were
often philosophical just as much as they were scientific. They
tried to blend observation with mythology to create worldview that
made sense to them.
Speaker 1 (08:01):
So it wasn't just about being right or wrong at
that point. It was about trying to make sense of
this giant, mysterious universe around them exactly.
Speaker 2 (08:09):
But eventually, thankfully, people started to figure out the whole
Earth is a sphere thing.
Speaker 1 (08:14):
Okay, good, tell me they got there eventually.
Speaker 2 (08:17):
The book mentions that even while these other more imaginative
ideas were still floating around, some Greek thinkers, like Strabo,
for example, they were already arguing for a spherical.
Speaker 1 (08:29):
Earth based on what evidence how they figure that out?
Speaker 2 (08:32):
Well, they'd observed things like ships disappearing hull first over
the horizon, which suggested a curvature to the Earth's surface.
And they'd also taken note of the circular shadow that
the Earth casts during a lunar eclipse.
Speaker 1 (08:44):
Ah okay, so they started putting those pieces together. So
even while some people were still clinging to the flat
or cube shaped earth theories, others were like, hold on,
I think we're onto something here.
Speaker 2 (08:54):
Precisely. It just goes to show you scientific progress. It's
not always a straight line. It's more of a winding
path with lots of detours, wrong turns, and even dead
ends along.
Speaker 1 (09:04):
The way, and somehow we managed to find our way.
It's amazing when you think about it. But as they
were grappling with the shape of the world, they also
started trying to represent it, which I imagine led to
some very interesting maps.
Speaker 2 (09:17):
Oh, you have no idea. These weren't the maps we're
used to seeing today. These medieval maps were this incredible
blend of what they knew about geography mixed with mythology
and their religious beliefs. They weren't just tools for navigation.
These maps were a reflection of how people saw the
world and their place in it.
Speaker 1 (09:35):
Okay, I need to hear about some specific examples. What
kind of fantastical details did they include?
Speaker 2 (09:40):
Well, take the Hereford Map of Mundy, for example, which
was created around thirteen hundred a d. This massive map,
it not only showed the land masses in the seas,
but it also depicted things like monstrous races, biblical events
like the Tower of Babel, and even the Garden of Eden,
all illustrated in vivid details.
Speaker 1 (09:58):
So they were trying to capture like the entire Uniti Verse,
both real and imagined, all on one map exactly.
Speaker 2 (10:03):
They weren't just mapping the physical world. They were mapping
their understanding of history, religion, mythology, all of it. And
of course these maps also highlighted the limits of their
geographical knowledge at the time.
Speaker 1 (10:13):
It's like a snapshot of what they knew and what
they imagined filled the gaps. It's fascinating, But how did
they go from those early imaginative maps and those, let's
be honest, sometimes wacky models to a more accurate understanding
of the Earth in its place in the universe.
Speaker 2 (10:28):
Well, the book dives into a really pivotal moment, the
shift from an Earth center to a Sun centered model
of the cosmos. We often call this the Copernican Revolution.
Speaker 1 (10:38):
Copernicus right with a heliocentric model exactly.
Speaker 2 (10:41):
But what a lot of people don't realize is that
Copernicus wasn't actually the first one to propose this idea.
Speaker 1 (10:47):
Wait, are you telling me the idea of a sun
centered universe predates Copernicus. Who else was brave enough to
challenge the status quo back then?
Speaker 2 (10:54):
Well, the book mentions a Greek astronomer named Aristarchus of
Samos who lived way back in the third Center. He
proposed a heliocentric model with the Sun at the center,
centuries before Copernicus.
Speaker 1 (11:05):
Wow, so the seeds of this revolutionary idea were actually
planted over eighteen hundred years before it really took hold.
Why didn't Aristarkus's ideas catch on back then?
Speaker 2 (11:14):
You know, It's probably because they were simply too radical
for their time. This idea challenged deeply held beliefs about
the Earth's centrality and humanity's place in the cosmos, and
those beliefs were hard to shake.
Speaker 1 (11:27):
I can imagine. So it took until Copernicus and later
Galileo for the heliocentric model to gain wider acceptance. And
even then, I bet it wasn't easy, not at all.
Speaker 2 (11:37):
They faced significant resistance, especially from certain religious authorities who
were reluctant to let go of the idea of an
earth's centered universe.
Speaker 1 (11:45):
It really puts into perspective just how groundbreaking and maybe
even a little bit dangerous it was to challenge the
accepted view of the universe back then. It's pretty remarkable
when you think about these individuals who dared to see
things differently.
Speaker 2 (11:58):
Absolutely, it took real courage to go against the grain
like that.
Speaker 1 (12:01):
It really makes you appreciate how far we've come in
our understanding of the universe, from those early attempts to
make sense of the cosmos with flat earths and celestial
spheres to our current understanding of the vastness of space.
It's been an incredible journey of discovery, it really has.
Speaker 2 (12:19):
And the most exciting part is we're still making new
discoveries all the time. Who knows what incredible wonders await
future generations. What will they uncover that might make our
current understanding seem as well as quaint as the idea
of a flatter.
Speaker 1 (12:34):
That's a great question and a great place to leave
our listeners with something to ponder. So to everyone listening,
keep looking up at those stars and never stop asking questions,
because who knows what you might discover. Until next time,
happy stargazing.
Ready for another deep dive. Listeners, Today, we're traveling through
time and space to explore the very dawn of astronomy.
We're going to uncover how ancient cultures looked up at
the night sky and tried to make sense of all
those stars.
Speaker 2 (00:13):
It's fascinating stuff. Really, they didn't have fancy telescopes or anything, right, it.
Speaker 1 (00:17):
Was all about observation. So to guide us on this journey,
we've got Astronomical Myths by John Frederick Blake. Now, this
book was published around eighteen seventy seven, so it's a
bit of a classic.
Speaker 2 (00:28):
It's based on the work of French astronomer Kamille Flamrian though,
so it's packed with amazing stories and inexcites about early astronomy.
Speaker 1 (00:35):
It really highlights how people used to understand the universe.
So where do we even begin.
Speaker 2 (00:40):
Well, the book starts by diving into different civilizations. Greeks, Chinese, Egyptians,
Babylonians each had their own unique astronomical traditions.
Speaker 1 (00:49):
Okay, so we're not just talking about like looking up
and saying, ooh, pretty stars, not at all.
Speaker 2 (00:53):
These were complex systems they were developing. They observed the
sky meticulously recorded celestial events and tried to explain it all.
Speaker 1 (01:01):
They were laying the groundwork for everything we know today.
And there are some truly mind blowing examples in here,
like check this out. There's a Chinese record from twenty
one to sixty nine BC, over four thousand years ago,
describing a large star near the polls and.
Speaker 2 (01:19):
Get this, Modern astronomers have looked back and realized it
lines up perfectly with the star Alpha Draconis at that time.
Speaker 1 (01:25):
No way, so they weren't just looking up a guessing.
Speaker 2 (01:27):
Not even. They were making precise observations. And what's really
incredible is that they kept these records for centuries.
Speaker 1 (01:33):
Passing down that knowledge through generations. Makes you wonder what
else we'll discover about their astronomical skills as we dig deeper.
Speaker 2 (01:40):
Oh absolutely, And speaking of impressive observations, the book also
delves into the Egyptians and their fascination with the Pleiades
star cluster.
Speaker 1 (01:49):
Huh you mean seven sisters. Yeah, yeah, it's a beautiful cluster,
even visible to the naked eye. No wonder they were captivated.
Speaker 2 (01:56):
They were. And what's interesting is that it wasn't just
about admiring it for its the Egyptians linked the Pleiades
directly to their calendar and even to their religious practices,
especially the festival of Aijia, which honored the dead.
Speaker 1 (02:08):
So the stars weren't just like distant points of light
for them, They were woven into their entire worldview. I'm
already sensing a theene here, definitely.
Speaker 2 (02:17):
Now imagine yourself gazing at the night sky. You see
these fixed points of light against this huge dark backdrop.
Many ancient cultures envisioned the stars as being embedded on
this giant, rotating dome which surrounded the Earth. This is
the concept of the celestial sphere.
Speaker 1 (02:33):
Like a giant celestial snow globe. I can see why
they'd think that, especially without understanding that the Earth rotates
on its.
Speaker 2 (02:40):
Axis precisely, and without knowing the vast distances between those stars,
the celestial sphere makes perfect sense.
Speaker 1 (02:48):
So it was a logical conclusion based on what they
could observe. But obviously we know now that it's not
entirely accurate, of.
Speaker 2 (02:53):
Course not, but it was a crucial step. The celestial
sphere model formed the basis for their astronomical calculations and
help them track things like time and seasons.
Speaker 1 (03:03):
Wow. So this seemingly simple model actually laid the groundwork
for centuries of observation and discovery.
Speaker 2 (03:09):
Exactly. It was the foundation for how they understood the universe.
Speaker 1 (03:12):
Okay, so they had this dome of stars figured out.
But did they see those stars as just random pinpricks
of light or did they find patterns and stories up there? Oh?
I bet they didn't just see random stars. I'm ready
to hear about the stories they found of there.
Speaker 2 (03:26):
Well, that's where constellations come in. Those patterns weren't just
pretty pictures to them. They were deeply connected to their myths,
their beliefs, even their daily lives.
Speaker 1 (03:34):
So we're not just talking about the Greek myths I
vaguely remember from school? Are we not?
Speaker 2 (03:38):
At all? Many familiar constellations like Orian the Hunter or
ursa Major the Great Bear, these have roots far older
than ancient Greece.
Speaker 1 (03:47):
Wow.
Speaker 2 (03:48):
Really, these stories were passed down through generations, you know,
connecting people to the cosmos and their ancestors. It's amazing
how these tales traveled across time and continence.
Speaker 1 (03:58):
It's like a giant celestial game of telephone. Did different
cultures have their own unique constellations or were there some
common themes.
Speaker 2 (04:06):
There's evidence of both. Actually, the book mentions this really
interesting detail. Some Greek and Indian constellation names are surprisingly similar.
Speaker 1 (04:15):
You're kidding which ones we're.
Speaker 2 (04:17):
Talking Andromeda, Cephius, Cassiopeia, Perseus, they're all clustered together in
the sky, no way. It really makes you wonder if
there was some shared, even more ancient source for these stories,
like a common thread stretching back through human history.
Speaker 1 (04:32):
That's incredible. We're not just talking about astronomy anymore. It's archaeology, mythology.
It all comes together exactly.
Speaker 2 (04:38):
But constellations weren't just for storytelling. They served a very
practical purpose too.
Speaker 1 (04:42):
Oh how so.
Speaker 2 (04:44):
Well, think of them like giant celestial mnemonic devices thermonic devices.
You mean they help people remember the positions of the stars.
Speaker 1 (04:52):
Okay, I see it.
Speaker 2 (04:53):
And that was crucial for navigation obviously, and timekeeping, especially
in a world without all our modern technology.
Speaker 1 (05:02):
So ancient civilizations used the stars as a giant map
and clock. That's amazing, But how did that actually work.
Speaker 2 (05:08):
Imagine you're a farmer in ancient times. You need to
know when to plant your crops right.
Speaker 1 (05:13):
Right, it's their livelihood.
Speaker 2 (05:14):
Exactly, so the appearance of certain constellations at specific times
of the year signaled those crucial changing seasons.
Speaker 1 (05:21):
It's like a giant cosmic calendar in.
Speaker 2 (05:23):
The sky precisely. Can I give you an example please? Okay,
So let's take towards the bowl. Way back in ancient times.
We're talking four hundred and forty fifty six to twenty
four hundred BC. The position of Taurus marked the spring equinox.
Speaker 1 (05:36):
The spring equinots, so when day and night are roughly.
Speaker 2 (05:38):
Equal exactly, that was a critical moment for agriculture.
Speaker 1 (05:41):
Wow. They weren't just stargazing for fun then, not at all.
Speaker 2 (05:45):
Their lives depended on it.
Speaker 1 (05:47):
It makes our modern obsession with horoscopes seem a bit trivial,
doesn't it. Okay, So we've talked about how these ancient
cultures viewed the stars, the patterns they saw, But what
about their understanding of the earth itself. Did they always
picture it as a sphere or were there some more
creative interpretations along the way.
Speaker 2 (06:06):
Oh, I have a feeling creative as an understatement, I'm
ready to have my mind blown by these ancient theories
about the Earth.
Speaker 1 (06:12):
Okay, we'll get ready for this. Some early cultures actually
believe the Earth was flat.
Speaker 2 (06:16):
Okay, so far, so good.
Speaker 1 (06:17):
And get this. They thought it was held up by pillars.
Speaker 2 (06:21):
Pillars like holding the earth up from underneath. What were
they made of? Giant elephants standing on a turtle's back,
you laugh, But some cultures did envision something like that,
though the exact nature of those pillars it kind of varied.
But what's fascinating is just how wide spread this belief was.
The book mentioned similar ideas popping up in cultures that
were geographically super far apart, like we're talking Greeks and Greenlanders.
Speaker 1 (06:45):
So even without any contact, they came to similar conclusions
about the Earth's shape. I guess when you look at
the horizon it does kind of seem flat, right.
Speaker 2 (06:53):
It makes a certain amount of sense. But not everyone
was on board with the whole flat earth idea.
Speaker 1 (06:57):
Of course, Oh good, tell me someone came up with
a better theory.
Speaker 2 (07:00):
There were a few other interesting theories out there. For example,
an Aximander, a Greek philosopher, he imagined the earth as
a cylinder.
Speaker 1 (07:10):
Instead of flat. It's upright, like a giant owling.
Speaker 2 (07:12):
Pin exactly, although not just any cylinder. He envisioned one
that was only one third.
Speaker 1 (07:17):
As high as it was wide, so like a squat
little cylinder Earth. I can't even picture it. What could
have led him to that conclusion.
Speaker 2 (07:25):
It just goes to show you they were really trying
to make sense of their observations with a pretty limited
understanding of the world around them.
Speaker 1 (07:32):
I guess. So it's all about trying.
Speaker 2 (07:33):
Right and it gets even wilder believe it or not. Plato,
another Greek philosopher, he believed the Earth was shaped like
a cube.
Speaker 1 (07:41):
A cube. Now that one really throws me for a loop.
How did they explain things like, you know, day and
night or the movement of the sun and stars with
a cube Earth.
Speaker 2 (07:51):
Well, it's important to remember that these early models were
often philosophical just as much as they were scientific. They
tried to blend observation with mythology to create worldview that
made sense to them.
Speaker 1 (08:01):
So it wasn't just about being right or wrong at
that point. It was about trying to make sense of
this giant, mysterious universe around them exactly.
Speaker 2 (08:09):
But eventually, thankfully, people started to figure out the whole
Earth is a sphere thing.
Speaker 1 (08:14):
Okay, good, tell me they got there eventually.
Speaker 2 (08:17):
The book mentions that even while these other more imaginative
ideas were still floating around, some Greek thinkers, like Strabo,
for example, they were already arguing for a spherical.
Speaker 1 (08:29):
Earth based on what evidence how they figure that out?
Speaker 2 (08:32):
Well, they'd observed things like ships disappearing hull first over
the horizon, which suggested a curvature to the Earth's surface.
And they'd also taken note of the circular shadow that
the Earth casts during a lunar eclipse.
Speaker 1 (08:44):
Ah okay, so they started putting those pieces together. So
even while some people were still clinging to the flat
or cube shaped earth theories, others were like, hold on,
I think we're onto something here.
Speaker 2 (08:54):
Precisely. It just goes to show you scientific progress. It's
not always a straight line. It's more of a winding
path with lots of detours, wrong turns, and even dead
ends along.
Speaker 1 (09:04):
The way, and somehow we managed to find our way.
It's amazing when you think about it. But as they
were grappling with the shape of the world, they also
started trying to represent it, which I imagine led to
some very interesting maps.
Speaker 2 (09:17):
Oh, you have no idea. These weren't the maps we're
used to seeing today. These medieval maps were this incredible
blend of what they knew about geography mixed with mythology
and their religious beliefs. They weren't just tools for navigation.
These maps were a reflection of how people saw the
world and their place in it.
Speaker 1 (09:35):
Okay, I need to hear about some specific examples. What
kind of fantastical details did they include?
Speaker 2 (09:40):
Well, take the Hereford Map of Mundy, for example, which
was created around thirteen hundred a d. This massive map,
it not only showed the land masses in the seas,
but it also depicted things like monstrous races, biblical events
like the Tower of Babel, and even the Garden of Eden,
all illustrated in vivid details.
Speaker 1 (09:58):
So they were trying to capture like the entire Uniti Verse,
both real and imagined, all on one map exactly.
Speaker 2 (10:03):
They weren't just mapping the physical world. They were mapping
their understanding of history, religion, mythology, all of it. And
of course these maps also highlighted the limits of their
geographical knowledge at the time.
Speaker 1 (10:13):
It's like a snapshot of what they knew and what
they imagined filled the gaps. It's fascinating, But how did
they go from those early imaginative maps and those, let's
be honest, sometimes wacky models to a more accurate understanding
of the Earth in its place in the universe.
Speaker 2 (10:28):
Well, the book dives into a really pivotal moment, the
shift from an Earth center to a Sun centered model
of the cosmos. We often call this the Copernican Revolution.
Speaker 1 (10:38):
Copernicus right with a heliocentric model exactly.
Speaker 2 (10:41):
But what a lot of people don't realize is that
Copernicus wasn't actually the first one to propose this idea.
Speaker 1 (10:47):
Wait, are you telling me the idea of a sun
centered universe predates Copernicus. Who else was brave enough to
challenge the status quo back then?
Speaker 2 (10:54):
Well, the book mentions a Greek astronomer named Aristarchus of
Samos who lived way back in the third Center. He
proposed a heliocentric model with the Sun at the center,
centuries before Copernicus.
Speaker 1 (11:05):
Wow, so the seeds of this revolutionary idea were actually
planted over eighteen hundred years before it really took hold.
Why didn't Aristarkus's ideas catch on back then?
Speaker 2 (11:14):
You know, It's probably because they were simply too radical
for their time. This idea challenged deeply held beliefs about
the Earth's centrality and humanity's place in the cosmos, and
those beliefs were hard to shake.
Speaker 1 (11:27):
I can imagine. So it took until Copernicus and later
Galileo for the heliocentric model to gain wider acceptance. And
even then, I bet it wasn't easy, not at all.
Speaker 2 (11:37):
They faced significant resistance, especially from certain religious authorities who
were reluctant to let go of the idea of an
earth's centered universe.
Speaker 1 (11:45):
It really puts into perspective just how groundbreaking and maybe
even a little bit dangerous it was to challenge the
accepted view of the universe back then. It's pretty remarkable
when you think about these individuals who dared to see
things differently.
Speaker 2 (11:58):
Absolutely, it took real courage to go against the grain
like that.
Speaker 1 (12:01):
It really makes you appreciate how far we've come in
our understanding of the universe, from those early attempts to
make sense of the cosmos with flat earths and celestial
spheres to our current understanding of the vastness of space.
It's been an incredible journey of discovery, it really has.
Speaker 2 (12:19):
And the most exciting part is we're still making new
discoveries all the time. Who knows what incredible wonders await
future generations. What will they uncover that might make our
current understanding seem as well as quaint as the idea
of a flatter.
Speaker 1 (12:34):
That's a great question and a great place to leave
our listeners with something to ponder. So to everyone listening,
keep looking up at those stars and never stop asking questions,
because who knows what you might discover. Until next time,
happy stargazing.
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