How medieval people described solar eclipses
Solar eclipses are one of our most remarkable episodes of natural phenomena. This was true as well in the Middle Ages, which are told in ten accounts from around the medieval world.
Medieval astrolabe reveals cross-cultural scientific exchange
Medieval astrolabes are seen as one of the great examples of medieval science. A new article reveals how one of these artifacts from the 11th century bears both Arabic and Hebrew inscriptions making it one of the oldest examples ever discovered and one of only a handful known in the world.
Searching for comets in Late Medieval manuscripts
The observation and representation of comets has intertwined the history of art and science since ancient times.
New Medieval Books: Wonders and Rarities
This book introduces us to the life and works of Zakariyyāʾ Qazwīnī, a 13th-century scholar from Iran. He wrote about the cosmos and the geography of the world, producing an influential book known as Wonders and Rarities.
Lost ancient astronomical text discovered hidden in medieval manuscript
The Greek astronomer Hipparchus wrote a star catalogue between the years 170 and 120 BC – however, the astronomical text has been lost for centuries. This has now changed, as a team of researchers has uncovered the partially-erased text in a medieval manuscript.
Researcher discovers another astronomy book written by Galileo Galilei
An Italian historian has discovered that an early 17th-century treatise on astronomy was actually written by Galileo Galilei under a pseudonym. He hid his name to avoid being caught up in a public dispute between the Papacy and Venice.
Astronomers use Byzantine chronicles to learn about the Earth’s rotation
Japanese researchers investigated Byzantine texts from the 4th to 7th centuries to identify five total solar eclipses near the Eastern Mediterranean and improve the model of the Earth’s rotation over time.
Medieval astronomers saw a supernova in 1181, researchers find
A 900-year-old cosmic mystery surrounding the origins of a famous supernova first spotted over China in the year 1181 has finally been solved, according to an international team of astronomers.
Noel Swerdlow, one of the ‘greatest scholars’ of the history of science, passes away
Noel M. Swerdlow, a distinguished historian of science and the world’s foremost expert on Ptolemy and Copernicus, died July 24. He was 79.
New light on the supernova from the year 1054
In the year 1054 people around the world spotted a strange new light that shined during the daytime. What they were observing was a supernova.
Astronomical Instruments in the Middle Ages: More than just a timepiece
While astronomical instruments could be as useful to the medieval person as Google Maps is to us today, you pretty much needed a whole degree in mathematics to figure out how to use them properly.
Medieval Science with Seb Falk
One of the most persistent myths about the Middle Ages is that this was a time when science slept, deliberately suppressed by the medieval church. The reality couldn’t be further from the truth. This week, Danièle speaks with Seb Falk about the amazing story of medieval science.
The Apex of Ptolemaic Astronomy: the Epitome Almagesti of Peurbach and Regiomontanus
This book, a reworking of Ptolemy’s astronomical masterpiece, the Almagest, was written in the early 1460s by Georg Peurbach and Johannes Regiomontanus, two of the most important figures of fifteenth-century astronomy.
What was seen in Japan’s night sky 1400 years ago?
Nearly a millennium and a half ago, red light streaked the night sky over Japan.
Astronomical and Atmospheric Observations in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle and in Bede
Chronicles and narrative histories of the Early Middle Ages contain a number of entries relating to astronomical events and atmospheric phenomena.
The Wolf’s Jaw: an Astronomical Interpretation of Ragnarök
We identified thirteen celestial phenomena (comet passages and total eclipses of the Sun) that may have been collected in the construction of the Ragnarök image among the ancient Norsemen
The Day the Sun Turned Blue: A Volcanic Eruption in the Early 1460s and Its Possible Climatic Impact—A Natural Disaster Perceived Globally in the Late Middle Ages?
Strange atmospheric phenomena visible all over Europe in September 1465 are interpreted as the result of a volcanic dust veil, possibly originating from a re-dated eruption of Kuwae in Vanuatu, in the southwestern Pacific.
Medieval astronomical manuscript acquired by the University of Pennsylvania
“Our manuscripts show practical knowledge, knowledge from antiquity carried through to the Middle Ages, and this is a great manuscript to further strengthen that aspect of our collection.”
Queen’s researchers exploring Anglo-Saxons knowledge of astronomy and the undiscovered ‘Planet Nine’
“The idea for this study came about from the strong desire to challenge the common assumption and perceived lack of scientific enquiry in the early Middle Ages, or commonly referred to as ‘Dark Ages’. This was the spark that ignited the intellectual collaboration between a medievalist and an astronomer.”
Cosmos and Community in Early Medieval Art
Using thrones, tables, mantles, frescoes, and manuscripts, Benjamin Anderson shows how cosmological motifs informed relationships between individuals, especially the ruling elite, and communities.
Medieval Eclipse Prediction: A Parallel Bias in Indian and Chinese Astronomy
Since lunar and solar parallax play a crucial role in predicting solar eclipses, the focus of this paper is on the computation of parallax.
Historical eclipses and Earth’s rotation
1330. In this same year on the Ides of July at the 8th hour of the day, the Sun was so greatly obscured that of its great body only a small extremity like a three-night-old Moon was seen.
Medieval Big Bang Theory: An Interdisciplinary Tale
In his De luce (on light) he extends it to the origin of the Universe in what has been referred to as the ‘Medieval Big Bang’.
The Copernican System: A Detailed Synopsis
Dissatisfied with the problems of the geocentric system inherited from Claudius Ptolemy, Nicholas Copernicus began the change from geocentrism to heliocentrism.