In an age of x-ray telescopes and interplanetary probes it is easy to dismiss pre-scientific cosmologies as naive expressions of fear, hope, and superstition. But, if science teaches us anything, it' s that the pursuit of truth begins and ends with humility. What are the stars? How big is the universe? As readers of this fascinating exploration of humankind' s efforts to map the universe will discover, after 50 centuries the questions remain the same. Only the tools we use to try to answer them have changed. Co-published with the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum to be the official book of their new permanent exhibit, " Explore the Universe, " "Beyond Earth is a celebration, in brilliant pictures and words, of cosmologies including ancient China, pre-Columbian America, classical Europe, and 20th-century astronomy. In it many of today' s leading lights in the sciences, arts, and humanities share their personal insights and professional observations on the art and the science of cosmological thinking, from the Aztec calendars to the Hubble Space Telescope images of the Horsehead nebula. How did they envision the mysteries of the cosmos and creation? How did they map the night sky? How do we perceive the universe today? Luminaries such as Nobel laureate in physics Robert Wilson, astrophysicists Vera Rubin and Margaret Geller, and Harvard historian Owen Gingerich attempt to answer these and other fascinating questions by exploring an array of cosmological visions as expressed in the art, architecture, and writings of cultures East and West.
