Education Topics:

Programs

Activities

Resources

Contact Us

The Astronomy of Many Cultures: A Resource Guide

8. Astronomy of Islamic Cultures

Ahmad, I. & Khalid Shaukat, S. "Muslim Moon Sightings" in Mercury, May/June 1995, p. 38. The Muslim calendar and sighting the first crescent moon.

Gingerich, Owen "Islamic Astronomy" in Scientific American, April 1986, vol. 254, p74.

Arab and Islamic Astronomy (Leslie Welser): http://www.starteachastronomy.com/arab.html

The Role of Astronomy in Islam (Dr. Shirin Haque-Copilah): http://moonsighting.com/articles/roleofislam.html

Records of Eclipses in Muslim Astronomy: http://www.muslimheritage.com/topics/default.cfm?ArticleID=810

First Visibility of a Lunar Crescent Site (some easy, some technical): http://www.saao.ac.za/public-info/sun-moon-stars/moon-index/lunar-crescent-visibility/first-visibility-of-lunar-crescent/

table of contents

9. Astronomy of Hawaiian, Polynesian, and Native Australian Cultures

Bryan, E.H. & Crowe, Richard Stars Over Hawaii, 2nd ed. 2002, Petroglyph Press (available from BasicallyBooks.com). An introduction to the stars as seen from Hawaii and their use as navigation aids in traditional Hawaiian voyaging.

Finney, Ben Hokule'a: The Way to Tahiti. 1976, Dodd Mead. An anthropologist describes recreating the voyages of the ancient Polynesians using the stars to navigate. Updated in his Sailing in the Wake of the Ancestors: Reviving Polynesian Voyaging. 2004, Bishop Museum Press.

Haynes, R. "Dreaming the Sky" in Sky & Telescope, Sep. 1997, p. 72. On the astronomical ideas in Australian aborigines culture.

Makemson, Maud The Morning Star Rises: An Account of Polynesian Astronomy. 1941, Yale University Press.

Introduction to Maori Star Lore (New Zealand): http://www.astronomynz.org.nz/maori-astronomy/taatai-arorangi-maori-astronomy-2.html

Polynesian Voyaging Society: http://pvs.kcc.hawaii.edu/

table of contents

10. Astronomy of Asian Cultures

Nakayama, Shigeru A History of Japanese Astronomy. 1969, Harvard University Press. From ancient times through the 19th century, with a look at Chinese influences.

Spitz, Anna "Visiting the Moon Lady" in Mercury, Jul/Aug. 2006, p. 24. On Chinese moon legends and how they continue to be used in cultural celebrations.

Chinese Astronomy:
http://www.chinapage.com/astronomy/astronomy.html (this site is potpourri of all kinds of information)

The Mathematics of the Chinese Calendar (by Helmer Aslaksen of the National University of Singapore): http://www.math.nus.edu.sg/aslaksen/calendar/chinese.shtml

Copernicus in China (on the spread of Copernican ideas by Nathan Sivin of the University of Pennsylvania): http://ccat.sas.upenn.edu/~nsivin/cop.pdf

Japanese Star Lore:
http://www2.gol.com/users/stever/jastro.html#Astro%20Lore

The Lunar Calendar in Japan: http://www2.gol.com/users/stever/calendar.htm

Bibliography of Korean Astronomy:
http://www.hawaii.edu/korea/biblio/sci_astronomy.html (This is a nice list of articles, but mostly in scholarly journals.)

table of contents

D. Some Technical Volumes

Batten, Alan, ed. Astronomy for Developing Countries. 2001, International Astronomical Union. Published by the Astronomical Society of the Pacific (www.astrosociety.org). Describes the many challenges of starting or continuing astronomy programs in countries without an extensive science infrastructure.

Bauer, Brian & Dearborn, David Astronomy and Empire in the Ancient Andes: The Cultural Origins of Inca Sky Watching. 1995, University of Texas Press. Scholarly exposition.

Ruggles, Clive & Saunders, Nicholas, eds. Astronomies and Cultures. 1993, University Press of Colorado. Papers about Chinese, Japanese, Islamic, and Mesoamerican cultures.

Ruggles, Clive, et al, eds. Songs from the Sky: Indigenous Astronomical and Cosmological Traditions of the World. 2005, Ocarina Books. Proceedings of a 1983 international conference on ethnoastronomy (OK, so it took a while to publish). 32 papers about the sky knowledge, folklore and art of cultures around the world.

Selin, Helaine, ed. Astronomy Across Cultures: The History of Non-western Astronomy. 2000, Kluwer. A series of scholarly articles on the ancient astronomical traditions and monuments of a wide range of cultures.

Williamson, Ray & Farrer, Claire, eds. Earth and Sky: Visions of the Cosmos in Native American Folklore. 1992, University of New Mexico Press. Collection of essays.

David Dearborn's bibliography of technical and nontechnical readings in archaeoastronomy can be found at: http://archaeology.about.com/od/archaeoastronomy/a/dearborn_bib.htm

table of contents