Author: John M. Steele Publisher: Oxbow Books ISBN: 1782974938 Category : History Languages : en Pages : 240
Book Description
Dates form the backbone of written history. But where do these dates come from? Many different calendars were used in the ancient world. Some of these calendars were based upon observations or calculations of regular astronomical phenomena, such as the first sighting of the new moon crescent that defined the beginning of the month in many calendars, while others incorporated schematic simplifications of these phenomena, such as the 360-day year used in early Mesopotamian administrative practices in order to simplify accounting procedures. Historians frequently use handbooks and tables for converting dates in ancient calendars into the familiar BC/AD calendar that we use today. But very few historians understand how these tables have come about, or what assumptions have been made in their construction. The seven papers in this volume provide an answer to the question what do we know about the operation of calendars in the ancient world, and just as importantly how do we know it? Topics covered include the ancient and modern history of the Egyptian 365-day calendar, astronomical and administrative calendars in ancient Mesopotamia, and the development of astronomical calendars in ancient Greece. This book will be of interest to ancient historians, historians of science, astronomers who use early astronomical records, and anyone with an interest in calendars and their development.
Author: Guy Ottewell Publisher: ISBN: 9780934546812 Category : Science Languages : en Pages : 140
Book Description
The planet Venus: orbit, appearance in our skies, the famous eight-year cycle, transits of the Sun, passages of the Pleiades, visits by spacecraft, amazing physical nature. And the goddess Venus, in Sumerian, Syrian, Greek, Roman myth. Very abundant illustrations: charts and sky scenes for years ahead, diagrams, paintings, sculptures. And abundant selections from the poetry and lore of Love.
Author: Sacha Stern Publisher: BRILL ISBN: 900425966X Category : History Languages : en Pages : 387
Book Description
The study of time, astronomy, and calendars, has been closely intertwined in the history of Western culture and, more particularly, Jewish tradition. Jewish interest in astronomy was fostered by the Jewish calendar, which was based on the courses of the sun and the moon, whilst astronomy, in turn, led to a better understanding of how time should be reckoned. Time, Astronomy, and Calendars in the Jewish Tradition, edited by Sacha Stern and Charles Burnett, presents a wide selection of original research in this multi-disciplinary field, ranging from Antiquity to the later Middle Ages. Its variety of approaches and sub-themes reflects the relevance of astronomy and calendars to many aspects of Jewish, and more generally ancient and medieval, culture and social history. Contributors include: Jonathan Ben-Dov, Reimund Leicht, Marina Rustow, Francois de Blois, Raymond Mercier, Philipp Nothaft, Josefina Rodriguez Arribas, Ilana Wartenberg, Israel Sandman, Justine Isserles, Anne C. Kineret Sittig, Katharina Keim, and Sacha Stern
Author: Jonathan Ben-Dov Publisher: BRILL ISBN: 9047424190 Category : Religion Languages : en Pages : 352
Book Description
Rather than being an isolated, primitive body of knowledge the Jewish calendar tradition of 364 days constituted an integral part of the astronomical science of the ancient world. This tradition—attested in the Dead Sea Scrolls and in the Pseudepigrapha—stands out as a coherent, novel synthesis, representing the Jewish authors’ apocalyptic worldview. The calendar is studied here both “from within”—analyzing its textual manifestations —and “from without”—via a comparison with ancient Mesopotamian astronomy. This analysis reveals that the calendrical realm constituted a significant case of inter-cultural borrowing, pertinent to similar such cases in ancient literature. Special attention is given to the “Book of Astronomy” (1 Enoch 72-82) and a variety of calendrical and liturgical texts from Qumran.
Author: Elizabeth Cruce Alvarez Publisher: Texas A&M University Press ISBN: 1625110340 Category : Reference Languages : en Pages : 1893
Book Description
THE TEXAS ALMANAC 2016–2017 includes these new feature articles: • A history of Texas’ various food regions—from Tex-Mex to barbecue—written by Dotty Griffith, longtime food writer for The Dallas Morning News and author of The Texas Holiday Cookbook, Celebrating Barbecue, and Wild About Chili. • A look at the big business of Texas wine, including a history of grape growing and winemaking, written by Melinda Esco, author of Texas Wineries. • The story of Assault, the feisty chestnut colt from King Ranch who injured his right forefoot as a foal but loved to run and went on to win the 1946 Triple Crown. This article spotlights the 70th anniversary of Assault’s historic feat, which earned him the nickname “The Club-Footed Comet.” • A overview of professional and college sports in Texas written by Norm Hitzges, a popular sports-talk radio host in the DFW area for 40 years; the author of several sports books, including Greatest Team Ever: The Dallas Cowboys Dynasty of The 1990s; and the television play-by-play voice for the Dallas Sidekicks. MAJOR SECTIONS UPDATED FOR EACH EDITION An illustrated History of The Lone Star State. The Environment, including geology, plant life, wildlife, rivers, lakes. Weather highlights of the previous two years, plus a list of destructive weather dating from 1766. Agriculture, including data on production of crops, fruits, vegetables, livestock, and dairy. A Pronunciation Guide to Texas town and county names. Business and Transportation, with an expanded section on Oil and Gas. A two-year Astronomical Calendar, including moon phases, sunrise, sunset, moonrise, moonset, eclipses, and meteor showers. Recreation, with details on state and national parks, landmarks, and wildlife refuges. Sports, including lists of high school and college sports champions, the records of professional sports teams, as well as lists of Texas Olympians and Texas Sports Hall of Fame inductees. Counties, a large section featuring detailed county maps and profiles for Texas’ 254 counties. Population figures, including the latest estimates from the State Data Center. A comprehensive list of Texas cities and towns. Politics, Elections, and information on Federal, State, and Local governments. Culture and the Arts, including a list of civic and religious holidays. Health and Science, with charts of vital statistics. Education, including a complete list of colleges and universities, and University Interscholastic League results. Obituaries of notable Texans.
Author: Editors of Chase's Publisher: Bernan Press ISBN: 1598888080 Category : Reference Languages : en Pages : 753
Book Description
Chase's Calendar of Events is the most comprehensive and authoritative reference available on special events, holidays, federal and state observances, historic anniversaries, astronomical phenomena, and more. Published since 1957, Chase's is the only guide to special days, weeks, and months.
Author: David Dickinson Publisher: Page Street Publishing ISBN: 1624145450 Category : Science Languages : en Pages : 433
Book Description
The Definitive Resource for Viewing the Night Sky David Dickinson, Earth science teacher and backyard astronomer, and Fraser Cain, publisher of Universe Today, have teamed up to provide expert guidance on observing the night sky. The Universe Today Ultimate Guide to Viewing the Cosmos features the best tips and tricks for viewing our solar system and deep sky objects, as well as detailed charts, graphs and tables to find must-see events for years to come. This comprehensive guide is complete with stunning and exclusive photography from top night sky photographers, as well as advice on how to take your own incredible photos. Take your recreational viewing to the next level with activities like: Finding comets and asteroids Tracking variable stars Monitoring meteor showers Following solar activity Tracking satellites Timing lunar and asteroid occultations With star charts, practical background information, technological resources and telescope and astrophotography guides, this is the ultimate resource for any backyard space enthusiast.
Author: The Stationery Office Publisher: Government Printing Office ISBN: 9780707741581 Category : Biography & Autobiography Languages : en Pages : 628
Book Description
Prepared jointly with Her Majesty's Nautical Almanac Office, United Kingdom Hydrographic Office. Designed in consultation with other astronomers of many countries. Provides current, accurate astronomical data for use in the making and reduction of observations and for general purposes. The Astronomical Almanac Online extends the printed version by providing data best presented in machine-readable form. Online data are provided for several years. Contains data for astronomy, space sciences, geodesy, surveying, navigation, and other applications.
Author: C. Philipp E. Nothaft Publisher: Oxford University Press ISBN: 0198799551 Category : History Languages : en Pages : 378
Book Description
The Gregorian calendar reform of 1582, which provided the basis for the civil and Western ecclesiastical calendars still in use today, has often been seen as a triumph of early modern scientific culture or an expression of papal ambition in the wake of the Counter-Reformation. Much less attention has been paid to reform's intellectual roots in the European Middle Ages, when the reckoning of time by means of calendrical cycles was a topic of central importance to learned culture, as impressively documented by the survival of relevant texts and tables in thousands of manuscripts copied before 1500. For centuries prior to the Gregorian reform, astronomers, mathematicians, theologians, and even Church councils had been debating the necessity of improving or emending the existing ecclesiastical calendar, which throughout the Middle Ages kept losing touch with the astronomical phenomena at an alarming pace. Scandalous Error is the first comprehensive study of the medieval literature devoted to the calendar problem and its cultural and scientific contexts. It examines how the importance of ordering liturgical time by means of a calendar that comprised both solar and lunar components posed a technical-astronomical problem to medieval society and details the often sophisticated ways in which computists and churchmen reacted to this challenge. By drawing attention to the numerous connecting paths that existed between calendars and mathematical astronomy between the Fall of Rome and the end of the fifteenth century, the volume offers substantial new insights on the place of exact science in medieval culture.
Author: John M. Steele
Author: Guy Ottewell
Author: Sacha Stern
Author: Jonathan Ben-Dov
Author: Elizabeth Cruce Alvarez
Author: Editors of Chase's
Author: David Dickinson
Author: The Stationery Office
Author: 
Author: C. Philipp E. Nothaft