02900cam a2200289 i 4500 on1133278443 OCoLC ta 210503s2020 nyu e b 001 0 eng 2020004943 9780593183014 (hardcover) 0593183010 (hardcover) (OCoLC)1133278443 QB981 .M37 2020 Marchant, Jo, 1973- The human cosmos : civilization and the stars / Jo Marchant. [New York, N.Y.] : Dutton, c2020. xii, 386 p. Includes bibliographical references (p. [321]-375) and index. Prologue -- Myth -- Land -- Fate -- Faith -- Time -- Ocean -- Power -- Light -- Art -- Life -- Aliens -- Mind -- Epilogue. "An historically unprecedented disconnect between humanity and the heavens has opened. Jo Marchant's book can begin to heal it. For at least 20,000 years, we have led not just an earthly existence but a cosmic one. Celestial cycles drove every aspect of our daily lives. Our innate relationship with the stars shaped who we are--our art, religious beliefs, social status, scientific advances, and even our biology. But over the last few centuries we have separated ourselves from the universe that surrounds us. It's a disconnect with a dire cost. Our relationship to the stars and planets has moved from one of awe, wonder and superstition to one where technology is king--the cosmos is now explored through data on our screens, not by the naked eye observing the natural world. Indeed, in most countries modern light pollution obscures much of the night sky from view. Jo Marchant's spellbinding parade of the ways different cultures celebrated the majesty and mysteries of the night sky is a journey to the most awe inspiring view you can ever see--looking up on a clear dark night. That experience and the thoughts it has engendered have radically shaped human civilization across millennia. The cosmos is the source of our greatest creativity in art, in science, in life. To show us how, Jo Marchant takes us to the Hall of the Bulls in the caves at Lascaux in France, and to the summer solstice at a 5,000-year-old tomb at New Grange in England. We discover Chumash cosmology and visit medieval monks grappling with the nature of time and Tahitian sailors navigating by the stars. We discover how light reveals the chemical composition of the sun, and we are with Einstein as he works out that space and time are one and the same. A four-billion-year-old meteor inspires a search for extraterrestrial life. The cosmically liberating, summary revelation is that star-gazing made us human"-- Provided by publisher. Cosmology History. Civilization Effect of environment on. Civilization History. Human beings Effect of environment on. lcc BK 0 0 0 0 PNLIB PNLIB GEN 2021-06-17 QB981 .M37 2020 PNLIB21062519 2021-06-17 2021-06-17 BK 2706 2706