Celestial Treasury
Celestial Treasury
Jean-Pierre Luminet, Observatoire de Paris, Meudon
Joe Laredo
Out of Print
Throughout history, the mysterious dark skies above us have inspired our imaginations in countless ways, influencing our endeavours in science and philosophy, religion, literature and art. Celestial Treasury is a truly beautiful book showing the richness of astronomical theories and illustrations in Western civilization through the ages, exploring their evolution, and comparing ancient and modern throughout. From Greek verse, mediaeval manuscripts and Victorian poetry to spacecraft photographs and computer-generated star charts, the unprecedented wealth of these portrayals is quite breathtaking. How did philosophers and scientists try to explain the order which seems to govern celestial motion? How did geometers and artists measure and map the skies? How many different answers have been proposed for the most fundamental of all questions: When and how did our world come about? Who inhabits the Heavens - gods, angels or extraterrestrials? The answers to these questions can be found among these stunning pages.
- Full colour throughout, it contains nearly 400 truly stunning illustrations from throughout history, many never published before
- The carefully researched and accessible text weaves together ancient and modern theories, telling the story of our fascination with the heavens
- The unusual layout, including fold-outs and asymmetrical pages, allows juxtaposition, comparisons, overviews and simultaneous reading to get the most out of the content
Awards
French edition was awarded Le Prix du Livre Scientifique de Sciences et Vie 1999
also Le prix special du jury du livre d'Astronomie 1999
Reviews & endorsements
'Impressive in size and sumptuous in production … a stunning array of historical and modern imagery … A book that anybody with the slightest interest in the subject would be delighted to find waiting after the annual visit of the red-coated gentleman with the suborbital reindeer!' P. D. Highley, Astronomy & Geophysics
'… a fascinating combination of ancient star maps and illustrations, mixed with modern photographs and computer-generated images of the cosmos.' Astronomy Now
'The artwork for this book is truly beautiful and the accompanying text is literature and thought provoking … an outstanding record of what was probably a remarkable exhibition.' Martin Barstow, The Observatory
Product details
July 2001Hardback
9780521800402
217 pages
373 × 273 × 23 mm
1.829kg
380 colour illus.
Unavailable - out of print December 2010
Table of Contents
- Part I. Celestial Harmony:
- 1. Geometry and the cosmos
- 2. The celestial hierarchy
- 3. The grandeur of space
- 4. Finite or infinite?
- 5. The structure of the world
- 6. Celestial music
- 7. World systems
- Part II. Uranometry:
- 8. Mapping the sky
- 9. Naming the stars
- 10. The development of celestial atlases
- 11. The depths of space
- Part III. The Creation:
- 12. From myth to myth
- 13. The metamorphosis of chaos
- 14. Time and creation
- 15. The Creator
- 16. The order of creation
- 17. The date of creation
- 18. The theory of evolution
- 19. The Big Bang
- 20. A modern creation
- Part IV. Creatures of the Sky:
- 21. Humanity beneath the sky
- 22. The sky in humanity
- 23. Humanity in the sky
- 24. The worlds in the sky.
