Abstract
Material objects are of two kinds, atoms and compounds of atoms. The atoms themselves cannot be swamped by any force, for they are preserved indefinitely by their absolute solidity…
Excerpt from the Lucretius, “The Nature of the Universe,” relating theories of the earlier pre-Socratic thinker Democritus (ca 50 BC)
Eyes and ears are bad witnesses for men if they have souls that cannot understand their language.
Heraclitus, commenting on the “language of the cosmos,” 500 BC
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
References
Aristotle, and W.K.C. Guthrie. 1960. On the heavens. With an English translation by W. K. C. Guthrie. Cambridge: Harvard University Press.
Aristotle, and H. Lawson-Tancred. 1986. De anima = On the soul. Harmondsworth, Middlesex, England. New York, NY: Penguin Books.
Aveni, A.F. 1989. Empires of time: Calendars, clocks, and cultures. New York: Basic Books.
Blackburn, T.C. 1975. December’s child: A book of Chumash oral narratives. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press.
Blacker, C., et al. 1975. Ancient cosmologies. London: Allen and Unwin.
Coe, M.D. 1999. The Maya. New York: Thames and Hudson.
Cullen, C. 1980. Joseph Needham on Chinese astronomy. Past Present 87: 39.
——. 2007. Astronomy and mathematics in ancient China: the Zhou Bi Suan Jing (Needham Research Institute Studies). London: Cambridge University Press.
Dallapiccola, A.L. 2003. Hindu Myths. Austin, TX: University of Texas Press.
Evans, J. 1998. The history and practice of ancient astronomy. New York: Oxford University Press.
Ford, C.W. 1999. The hero with an African face: Mythic wisdom of traditional Africa. New York: Bantam Books.
Griaule, M. 1975. Conversations with Ogotemmêli: An introduction to Dogon religious ideas. New York: Published for the International African Institute by the Oxford University Press.
Griffin-Pierce, T. 1992. Earth is my mother, sky is my father: Space, time, and astronomy in Navajo sandpainting. Albuquerque, NM: University of New Mexico Press.
Gummere, F.B. 1909. The oldest English epic, Beowulf, Finnsburg, Waldere, Deor, Widsith, and the German Hildebrand. New York: Macmillan.
Hudson, T., and E. Underhay. 1978. Crystals in the sky: An intellectual odyssey involving Chumash astronomy, cosmology, and rock art. Socorro, NM: Ballena Press.
Littleton, C.S. 2002. Mythology: The illustrated anthology of world myth & storytelling. San Diego, CA: Thunder Bay Press.
Lloyd, G.E.R. 1971. Early Greek science: Thales to Aristotle. New York: Norton.
MacDonald, J., et al. 1998. The Arctic sky: Inuit astronomy, star lore, and legend. Toronto, ON: Royal Ontario Museum/Nunavut Research Institute.
Matchett, F. 2003. In “The Puranas” in the blackwell companion to Hinduism, ed. Gavin Flood. Oxford: Blackwell Publishing.
Needham, J., and C.A. Ronan. 1980. The shorter science and civilization in China: An Abridgement of Joseph Needham’s original text. New York: Cambridge University Press.
North, J.D. 2008. Cosmos: An illustrated history of astronomy and cosmology. Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press.
SAAO (1998). African Starlore. From http://www.saao.ac.za/public-info/sun-moon-stars/african-starlore
Sambursky, S. 1963. The physical world of the Greeks. London: Routledge and Paul.
Sharer, R.J., and L.P. Traxler. 2006. The ancient Maya. Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press.
Toulmin, S.E., and J. Goodfield. 1965. The fabric of the heavens: The development of astronomy and dynamics. New York: Harper.
Urton, G. 1981. At the crossroads of the earth and the sky: An Andean cosmology. Austin: University of Texas Press.
Waters, F., and O.W.B. Fredericks. 1969. Book of the Hopi. New York: Ballantine Books.
Wheelwright, P. 1966. The presocratics. New York: Odyssey Press.
Wilson, A.M. 1995. The infinite in the finite. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2017 Springer International Publishing AG
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Penprase, B.E. (2017). World Systems: Models of the Universe Throughout Time. In: The Power of Stars. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-52597-6_4
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-52597-6_4
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-319-52595-2
Online ISBN: 978-3-319-52597-6
eBook Packages: Physics and AstronomyPhysics and Astronomy (R0)