Celestial atlas : a journey in the sky through maps

Author / Creator

Percivaldi, E. (Elena), author

Available as

Physical

Summary

"Since the remote past, man has aspired to understand and represent the secrets of the cosmos. Yet illustrating the sky was no simple matter. The first attempt to do so was made by the ancient Gree...

"Since the remote past, man has aspired to understand and represent the secrets of the cosmos. Yet illustrating the sky was no simple matter. The first attempt to do so was made by the ancient Greeks, followed by the Arabs in the 9th century. But it was the 16th century that marked the beginning of the 'golden age' of celestial cartography, a period that saw the production of matchless masterpieces and that ended in the 19th century, when the development of modern telescopes brought to an end the bond between mythology and the heavens, and inaugurated the age of modern cartography."--Back cover.

"Travel across the celestial skies courtesy of the most stunning star atlases ever created during three centuries of mapmaking. Featuring splendid illustrations of the most famous, rare, and impressive star atlases ever realized from the sixteenth to the nineteenth centuries, this gorgeous book leads you on a journey through the constellations. Find out about the work of history's great astronomers, their sometimes fantastic interpretations of extraterrestrial phenomena, and how our knowledge of the universe evolved. Merging art and scientific knowledge, Celestial Atlas gives us a fascinating glimpse into the past."--Publisher's description.

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