The Night Sky: The Science and Anthropology of the Stars and Planets

by Richard Grossinger

A comprehensive discussion of the search for meaning among the stars explores Western astronomical thought, cultural diversity, and such diverse realms as mythology, astrology, physics, philosophy, linguistics, astronomy, and the human imagination

Genres: Science, Nonfiction, Astrology

481 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1981

Reviews

[P.K. Butler · Rating 5 out of 5]

I cannot do justice to the ranging themes in this book and so must necessarily simplify all that Grossinger expresses so adeptly, profoundly, and poetically into a single thematic idea: Man has lost his spiritual connection to the cosmos, one that in prehistory he forged through nature. Now humanity, ever distancing itself from nature, seeks its spirituality in all the wrong places--in technology and an urgent quest to find a future somewhere out it space. Of course, the answer lies within, and the author demonstrates that the cosmos is an external expression of our own biological and spiritual inner realities. I'm including a brief excerpt (page 224) to provide one example of his approach to this subject matter:

"We have come to see (like Sir James Jeans) that the universe looks more like a great idea than a great machine, that our description of it resembles thoughts more than unintelligent matter. We no longer mean the thought of a specific deity or an angelic energy within creation, as Kepler and Newton did; we mean that something like intelligence is present in the universe as a whole, or perhaps that we sense the progenitor of our own intelligence in space and matter at large--that thoughts, like the ones we have, shaped the universe."

But before you leave this "review" imagining The Night Sky as a philosophical treatise, I will conclude with its significant value as a history of our experience of the night sky from biblical and mythological understanding to philosophical, occult, and "scientific" understanding, including a generous history of the major Western figures who shaped modern thought, from Copernicus to the then-current cosmology (book was published in 1981).

A must read.

[Maria Jimena · Rating 4 out of 5]

Me emocioné mucho con los primeros capítulos del libro. Me conmovieron las imágenes de la creación del universo y entenderme como parte material del cosmos.
Me gustó su capítulo sobre astrología, es equilibrado y hace preguntas importantes para la astrología contemporánea.
Los capítulos de ciencia ficción son sobre todo recuento de novelas…

[Keith Price · Rating 5 out of 5]

Amazing book - well exceeded my expectations. Grossinger is a true polymath and covers all the relevant scientific disciplines, history and philosophy as well as all the esoteric traditions and topics. And he does it in an engrossing as well as amusing way for all 800+ pages! Absolutely loved it.