I want to learn more about the history of astronomy and how it helped shape and influence cultures around the world.
I'm more interested in great storytelling over hard science.
My favorite nonfiction authors are Ann Rule, Mary Roach, Jon Krakauer.
I have "Coming of Age in the Milky Way" and "Sun Moon Earth: The History of Solar Eclipses from Omens of Doom to Einstein and Exoplanets".
Any suggestions even tangential are appreciated!
by AggressiveSea7035
5 Comments
Cosmos and Pale Blue Dot by Carl Sagan, A Short History of Nearly Everything by Bill Bryson, and though it’s mostly fictional Awake and Sublunar by Harald Voetmann are good too.
Coming of Age in the Milky Way by Timothy Ferris is just what you’re looking for.
*Our Moon: A Human History* by Rebecca Boyle — a little closer to home than the examples you give, but highly enjoyable.
It’s dense and may be more than you’re looking for, but check out “What Galileo Saw: Imagining the Scientific Revolution” by Lawrence Lipking. It’s less about the hard science and more about the historical and cultural circumstances that led to the scientific revolution being possible. It’s really fascinating stuff. However, it’s a college-level text, so while the writing is engaging and really good, it might not be very accessible to a casual reader.
Anything you can find by Immanuel Velikovsky, especially Worlds In Collision, is particularly good with what you are looking for.