The Song of Urania

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A history of astronomy, from antiquity to the present.

Joe Antognini


    • Nov 2, 2024 LATEST EPISODE
    • monthly NEW EPISODES
    • 55m AVG DURATION
    • 47 EPISODES
    • 1 SEASONS


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    Latest episodes from The Song of Urania

    Episode 47: Clock Around the Rock

    Play Episode Listen Later Nov 2, 2024 110:06


    We turn to the astronomy of Mesoamerica, with a particular focus on the Maya and Aztec. The central feature of their astronomy was a pair of interlocking calendars which regulated all aspects of life. The surviving Maya manuscripts also deal extensively with the motion of Venus, which may also have driven decisions to go to war. We also look at the famous Aztec Sun Stone, the 2012 phenomenon, and the fall of the Itzá Kingdom. NOTE: The Song of Urania will be going on hiatus and will return on the first full moon of 2026.

    Episode 46: The Stars from Starboard

    Play Episode Listen Later Sep 28, 2024 62:48


    The most important application of astronomy in Polynesian societies was oceanic navigation. Polynesian navigators regularly traversed from one small island to another across hundreds of miles of open sea. To accomplish these feats of seafaring, they relied on an intimate knowledge of the night sky.

    Episode 45: Looking Up Down Under

    Play Episode Listen Later Aug 24, 2024 64:26


    Aboriginal Australian societies are believed to be among the oldest continuous cultures on the planet. Some of their oral traditions appear to preserve a cultural memory of celestial events from multiple millennia in the past. Aboriginal Australians were also keen observers of the heavens and recognized phenomena both common and rare, from the solstices, to solar eclipses, to auroral sounds, and stellar variability.

    Episode 44: Ad Maiorem Dei Gloriam Per Astra

    Play Episode Listen Later Jul 20, 2024 61:35


    In his second attempt, Matteo Ricci was able to gain access to the Forbidden City. Over the next century, the Jesuits came to surprising influence in China through their knowledge of European astronomy, though this journey was not without its perils.

    Episode 43: When the Saint Comes Marching In

    Play Episode Listen Later Jun 26, 2024 49:24


    After the fall of the Mongol Yuan Dynasty, the Ming Dynasty drove the few small Nestorian Christian communities in China underground and largely closed China off to foreigners. Only in the 16th century with the arrival of Portuguese traders did contacts with the West begin to be revived. The newly founded Jesuit order organized a mission to China led by Matteo Ricci. After finding his efforts at establishing a presence in the country stymied by the government, Ricci discovered that the key to securing a permanent Jesuit presence in China was his knowledge of Western astronomy.

    Episode 42: A Tale of Two Reforms

    Play Episode Listen Later May 30, 2024 56:22


    After Wang Mang had usurped the Imperial throne, a disastrous series of reforms led to the collapse of his dynasty. The reestablishment of the Han Dynasty called for yet another calendar reform. About a millennium later, a group of officials, including the astronomer Shen Kuo, instigated a treacherous period in court politics by pressing for a radical set of reforms called the New Policies.

    Episode 41: Liu Xin's Theory of Everything

    Play Episode Listen Later Apr 26, 2024 47:23


    After Wang Mang deposed the Han Dynasty and instituted his new Xin Dynasty, he needed to promulgate a new calendar to mark the occasion. One of his court astronomers, Liu Xin, developed a new calendar that integrated the lunar and solar cycles with the planetary cycles and imbued it with numerological significance. We then talk about how Huan Tan, another astronomer of the era, would have gone about measuring the lunar mansions.

    Episode 40: Emperor Wu's Woo

    Play Episode Listen Later Mar 29, 2024 55:10


    We learn about the political events and omens that led to the calendar reform of 104 BC.

    Episode 39: The Guest Stars

    Play Episode Listen Later Mar 1, 2024 50:33


    We turn to the ways that the Chinese Emperor's astronomers predicted and interpreted eclipses, as well as the so-called "guest stars" that they occasionally reported observing in the skies. Then we discuss the role of the planets, particularly Jupiter. Towards the end we hear a few examples of astronomy in Chinese folklore.

    Episode 38: The Organization of Heaven & Earth

    Play Episode Listen Later Jan 29, 2024 43:46


    This month we turn to the astronomy of China in the early Imperial Era. We look at the way that the Emperor's astronomers were organized within the imperial bureaucracy and then walk through the three significant cosmological theories of the era.

    Episode 37: The Mandate of Heaven

    Play Episode Listen Later Jan 1, 2024 53:38


    We start to explore the relationship between the heavens and the Earth in Ancient China, along with the role of astronomers. One of the most important concepts in Chinese political thought to emerge from this was the Mandate of Heaven. Finally, we look at the oldest record of Chinese astronomy, the story of the astronomers Xi and Ho.

    Episode 36: Aryabhata & the Siddhantas

    Play Episode Listen Later Dec 1, 2023 48:59


    In our final episode on ancient Indian astronomy, we tour the five astronomical Siddhantas, and then meet some of the astronomers whose names and works survive to us, most importantly, the great Aryabhata.

    Episode 35: The Vedanga Jyotisha & Beyond

    Play Episode Listen Later Nov 3, 2023 31:44


    We delve into the contents of the Vedanga Jyotisha, the earliest Indian text to deal explicitly with astronomy. Then we turn to early Hindu cosmology and their explanations for various celestial phenomena, from the phases of the Moon to solar eclipses. Lastly, we briefly cover the unique cosmology of the Jains.

    Episode 34: What Happened in Harappa

    Play Episode Listen Later Sep 30, 2023 37:59


    India developed one of the most advanced astronomies of any of the ancient cultures, even rivaling European astronomy in its accuracy by the 18th century. We look at how the geography of India influenced its history and then turn briefly to the little we know about the astronomy of the Harappan Civilization. Finally we end with the astronomy of the Rigveda.

    Episode 33: How the Moon Became Blue

    Play Episode Listen Later Sep 1, 2023 34:50


    We take a break from the main narrative in honor of this month's blue moon and turn to a somewhat more frivolous topic — how the term "blue moon" came to mean the second full moon in a calendar month.

    Episode 32: All Along the Watchers of the Hour

    Play Episode Listen Later Aug 6, 2023 57:12


    This month we tour the astronomers of ancient Egypt from the Old Kingdom to the last native Pharaoh of Egypt just prior to Alexander's conquest. We look at how astronomers fulfilled their primary responsibility of keeping track of time during the night so that the priests could perform the appropriate rituals in the temple. Finally, we end our journey through Egypt with their calendar, arguably the most reasonable calendar any civilization has ever used.

    Episode 31: We Need to Talk About Khufu

    Play Episode Listen Later Jul 5, 2023 34:12


    Before getting back into Egyptian astronomy proper, we start by looking at Nabta Playa, a site of megalithic activity in the Nubian desert during the late neolithic. Then we turn to the megaliths the Egyptians are best known for — the pyramids. The pyramids have remarkably precise alignments to the cardinal directions and the techniques the Egyptians used to set these alignments remains a mystery. Finally, we look at the largest of the pyramids, Khufu's pyramid, whose so-called ventilation shafts have a possible astronomical connection.

    Episode 30: Egypt in a Nut-Shell

    Play Episode Listen Later Jun 6, 2023 48:22


    We turn to ancient Egypt, one of the oldest and most beguiling of the ancient civilizations. Egypt is particularly notable for the sheer conservatism of its civilization and changed little in more than two millennia. After a brief overview of its geography, history, and textual sources, we look at Egyptian conceptions of the creation, structure, and end of the universe.

    Episode 29: The Astronomy of Saharan and Sub-Saharan Africa

    Play Episode Listen Later May 10, 2023 51:00


    The oldest plausible astronomical artifacts known are African, as are many of the oldest megaliths, around 10,000 of which dot the Sahara and whose orientations are astronomical in character. We then briefly survey some of the creation stories and sky myths from a number of the peoples of sub-Saharan Africa. Finally, we turn to a few of the more unique calendars in the region.

    Episode 28: The Stars in Stone

    Play Episode Listen Later Apr 7, 2023 53:30


    We turn the clock back to the astronomy of the Paleolithic and Neolithic. Clues about humanity's interest in the heavens during the Paleolithic can be seen in linguistic, mythological, and archaeological evidence. In the Neolithic, groups of people constructed tens of thousands of megaliths across Europe, many of which had astronomical connections.

    Episode 27: Astronomica

    Play Episode Listen Later Mar 11, 2023 55:38


    In this episode we examine the work of two Roman astrologers to see how Roman astrology worked in practice: Marcus Manilius, who wrote Astronomica, and Firmicus Maternus, who wrote the Matheseos.

    Episode 26: Matters of Life & Death in Roman Astrology

    Play Episode Listen Later Feb 9, 2023 75:11


    As Rome expanded to the East, the cultural influence of the Greeks deepened, and this included a strong interest in astrology. Despite resistance from conservative Romans, by the Imperial Era, astrology played a critical role in Roman politics, both as a tool to support conspirators attempting to assassinate emperors, and wielded by emperors as a way to eliminate challenges to their power.

    Episode 25: The Stars of Bethlehem

    Play Episode Listen Later Jan 7, 2023 68:02


    This month the full moon falls on Three Kings' Day, traditionally a day that celebrates the adoration of the magi, so we investigate the famous Star of Bethlehem story. Through the centuries there have been dozens of astronomical and astrological theories put forward as to what the Star of Bethlehem was. We look at a few of the more prominent theories and their shortcomings, finishing with what is plausibly the leading candidate, the astrological theory of Michael Molnar, though as we'll see, this explanation, too, is not without its problems.

    Episode 24: Etruscan & Roman Astronomy

    Play Episode Listen Later Dec 8, 2022 64:16


    Rome, the great empire of the Mediterranean, is not known for its astronomy. But while it lagged behind other civilizations, it is a mistake to think that they were entirely uninterested in the subject. Astronomical references permeated the Roman calendar and one of Rome's longest lasting contributions to Western civilization, the Julian calendar, was devised by the Roman astronomer Sosigenes.

    Episode 23: The Culmination of Ancient Greek Astronomy

    Play Episode Listen Later Nov 11, 2022 71:50


    During the half millennium of the Roman Era in Ancient Greece, only two astronomers made any major advances. At the beginning of the Roman Era, Posidonius measured the size of the Earth and discovered the relationship between the Moon and the tides. But the triumph of Greek astronomy came 300 years later with the intricate planetary model of Ptolemy, which stood unchallenged for some 1400 years.

    Episode 22: The Antikythera Mechanism & Friends

    Play Episode Listen Later Oct 10, 2022 56:52


    In the year 1900 a team of sea sponge divers stumbled upon a shipwreck from the late Hellenistic Era. Among the statues, coins, and jewellery, the salvage crew pulled out a small box covered in moss. Initially ignored, the contents of this box proved to be the most sophisticated mechanical device that survives from the ancient world. The Antikythera mechanism computed all the known motions of the heavens and its complexity was described by one scholar as "like finding a jet engine in King Tut's tomb."

    Episode 21: Hipparchus the GOAT

    Play Episode Listen Later Sep 12, 2022 69:53


    After briefly examining the astronomy of Timocharis and Aristyllus, who developed the first known stellar catalog, we turn our attention to Hipparchus, who I claim was the greatest astronomer of ancient times. Hipparchus made major developments in virtually every area of astronomy known to him. His measurement of the lengths of the year and month were of unprecedented accuracy, he measured the distance to the Moon, and he developed a star catalog that was an order of magnitude larger than the earlier catalog of Timocharis and Aristyllus, which he was able to use to discover the precession of the equinoxes.

    Episode 20: The Theory of Epicycles & Deferents

    Play Episode Listen Later Aug 13, 2022 47:28


    In the Hellenistic Era the astronomer Apollonius of Perga (maybe) developed the model of epicycles and deferents that was to dominate Western astronomy for more than 1500 years. Around the same time, Eratosthenes, woh was the head librarian at the Library of Alexandria, developed a novel technique to measure the circumference of the Earth and arrived at a suspiciously accurate result.

    Episode 19: The Forerunners of Copernicus

    Play Episode Listen Later Jul 13, 2022 65:52


    At the dawn of the Hellenistic Age, two Greek astronomers developed radical new cosmologies. Heraclides of Pontica proposed that the Earth rotated on its axis and that Mercury and Venus revolved around the Sun instead of the Earth. Aristarchus of Samos went further and proposed that all the planets, including the Earth, revolved around the Sun. In addition, Aristarchus made the first quantitative measurement of the distances to the Sun and the Moon, along with their sizes.

    Episode 18: Aristotle, Plato's Other Student

    Play Episode Listen Later Jun 15, 2022 77:58


    Two of Plato's students were notable astronomers. We looked at one of them, Eudoxus, in the last two episodes. In this episode we turn to Plato's other student, Aristotle. Aristotle embellished Eudoxus's model of planetary motion, but also developed a comprehensive physics and cosmology that ultimately became the standard model of the universe during the High Middle Ages.

    Episode 17: The Attic Calendar and its Discontents

    Play Episode Listen Later May 17, 2022 59:38


    We turn back the clock and see how a variety of Greek astronomers over the centuries contributed to the Greek calendar, and how Greek politicians ignored their developments. Then we see how the discovery that the seasons are not of equal lengths posed a problem for Eudoxus's theory of planetary motion.

    Episode 16: The Homocentric Spheres of Eudoxus

    Play Episode Listen Later Apr 18, 2022 60:43


    In working on the problem of doubling the cube, Plato's friend Archytas devised an ingenious solution that involved a three dimensional curve determined by the intersection of a torus with a cylinder. Archytas's student Eudoxus then seems to have been inspired by this solution to develop the first serious model of planetary motions in ancient Greece, his theory of homocentric spheres.

    Episode 15: On Plato's Broad Shoulders

    Play Episode Listen Later Mar 22, 2022 69:05


    Before leaving the world of the Pre-Socratics, we look briefly at the astronomy of Oenopides, which had a more observational character than many of his contemporaries. Then we turn to Plato, the first of the great astronomers in the Socratic tradition, whose astronomy synthesized the best ideas of his predecessors.

    Episode 14: The Atomic Philosophers

    Play Episode Listen Later Feb 17, 2022 52:52


    Two philosophers, Leucippus and Democritus, attempted to synthesize the monist theories of the earlier natural philosophers with the pluralist theories of Empedocles and Anaxagoras. To do this, they proposed a revolutionary idea — that all matter is made of atoms.

    Episode 13: Ex Uno, Plura

    Play Episode Listen Later Jan 20, 2022 52:05


    As we transition from the Archaic Period of Greece to the Classical Period, two philosophers, Empedocles and Anaxagoras, rebel against the prevailing dogma of monism and present a new idea — that matter consists of mixtures of multiple fundamental elements.Thanks to William Little of Ohio State for help with the Latin to get the opposite of "E pluribus unum" for the title.If you would like to register for the Stellar Spectacles symposium that I mentioned at the beginning of the episode, go to www.asxsociety.com.

    Episode 12: The Eleatic School & the Way of Truthiness

    Play Episode Listen Later Dec 21, 2021 63:42


    After the Median invasion, the Ionian philosopher Xenophanes, a student of the Anaximander, was forced to flee to Elea in Magna Graecia and brought the philosophy of the Ionians to the Eleans. His student, Parmenides, then founded the Eleatic School, which was skeptical of the senses, and argued that despite its appearance to the contrary, the Earth was round. Parmenides's student, Zeno, in turn developed his famous paradoxes to prove his teacher's assertion that motion was an illusion.

    Episode 11: The So-Called Pythagoreans

    Play Episode Listen Later Nov 24, 2021 79:43


    We turn to the enigmatic, charismatic philosopher Pythagoras and the following that he inspired. Though Pythagoras is today associated with the Pythagorean theorem, he developed a school whose secrets were jealously guarded. The Pythagoreans studied astronomy, mathematics, and music, but also developed a unique philosophy centering around numbers that heavily influenced Plato.

    Episode 10: The Ionian School

    Play Episode Listen Later Oct 20, 2021 52:49


    Miletus became a wealthy Greek city during the Archaic Period and developed a thriving intellectual culture which included many of the most important pre-Socratic astronomers. We looked at Thales in the last episode and now we try to understand the astronomy of other members of the Ionian School --- Anaximander, Anaximenes, and Heraclitus. What did their astronomy have in common with each other and what are the connections between their ideas and the ideas of modern physics?

    Episode 9: Thales, through a Glass Darkly

    Play Episode Listen Later Sep 22, 2021 61:04


    Thales was the first of the Greek astronomers and became known as one of the Seven Sages of Greece. Over the centuries many astronomical discoveries were attributed to him, but what was the reality and what was the hyperbole?

    Episode 8: The Bards Sing of the Skies

    Play Episode Listen Later Aug 23, 2021 50:31


    We outline the early development of Greek civilization after the Late Bronze Age Collapse and how the unique geography of Greece influenced its culture, and ultimately, its astronomy. Then we explore the cosmology, cosmogony, and astronomy of the earliest Greeks based on the works of Homer and Hesiod.

    Episode 7: Greek Tales of Ancient Nights & Days

    Play Episode Listen Later Jul 24, 2021 53:12


    As we start to examine the astronomy of Ancient Greece we hear of the myth cycles of Theseus and Perseus, episodes from both of which appear in the night sky. These myth cycles help us to understand the conception the ancient Greeks had to the civilizations that came before them, the Minoans and the Mycenaeans and prepare us for the early cosmology of ancient Greece.

    Episode 6: System of a B

    Play Episode Listen Later Jun 25, 2021 39:39


    We dive into the most sophisticated model of planetary and lunar motions that the Babylonians developed: System A and System B and see how the Babylonians used this method to predict eclipses, the length of months, and even measure the precession of the perihelion.

    Episode 5: A System of Weights & Measures

    Play Episode Listen Later May 27, 2021 42:45


    We look at how the Babylonians represented information in their astronomical tablets by examining their number system and the unit system. Then we dive into the Babylonian discovery of the Saros cycle, which was a deep regularity in the pattern of lunar eclipses.

    Episode 4: The Astronomical Diaries

    Play Episode Listen Later Apr 27, 2021 51:59


    We step back and look at Babylon's broader political history and see how Babylonian astronomy changes during the rise of the Neo-Babylonian Empire and the Persian Conquest. Then we look at some of the types of astronomical records the Babylonians produced, particularly the Astronomical Diaries, the longest continuous research program of any society in history.

    Episode 3: When the Moon Disappears

    Play Episode Listen Later Mar 28, 2021 42:28


    We look at how the Babylonians associated the heavens with their gods and how Mesopotamian astrology developed after the Assyrian conquest. We hear some examples of astrological omens and see how Babylonians handled the most malevolent of omens, the lunar eclipse.

    Episode 2: The Stars over Babylon

    Play Episode Listen Later Feb 28, 2021 45:34


    What are the earliest records of constellations? How did the ancient Babylonians keep track of their progress through the year? And how do we know what we know about Babylonia?

    Episode 1: The Heavens & History

    Play Episode Listen Later Jan 29, 2021 30:32


    How should we approach the history of astronomy?  How have the questions that astronomers have asked changed through the ages?  We look at some of these questions and sketch out the broad arc of this field from antiquity to the present day.

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