"A History of the Starry Sky for Those Who Look Up: How Astronomy Shapes Human History" Author: (UK) Stuart Clark Publisher: CITIC Press

Introduction
【Editor's recommendation】
◆ A starry sky version of “Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind”. Every leap forward in human civilization is closely related to the starry sky.
◆ A paper exhibition of 70,000 years of starry sky exploration history, with nearly 50 pages of exquisite color illustrations, brings readers a visual feast of both scientific and artistic beauty.
◆ The author Stuart Clarke was once named Britain's "Astrophysics Popular Science Star" along with Stephen Hawking and Martin Rees, former president of the Royal Society of London.
◆ Translated by Zhu Jin, astronomer, former director of Beijing Planetarium, and editor-in-chief of "Astronomy Enthusiast" magazine, and Wang Yuling, an expert from Beijing Planetarium.
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【Content introduction】
Since the first time we looked up at the starry sky, humans have never stopped exploring the universe. Under the same starry sky, humans have gone from eating raw meat and drinking blood tens of thousands of years ago to observing the stars and exploring the moon today.
Looking up at the night sky in an attempt to find meaning is one of the indelible characteristics of human beings. Starting from the primitive instinct of looking up at the stars, Stuart Clarke, a member of the Royal Astronomical Society of the United Kingdom, consultant to the European Space Agency, and famous science writer, brilliantly sorted out the 70,000-year history of human exploration of the starry sky.
Looking up at the stars started the cognitive revolution of Homo sapiens 70,000 years ago, and promoted the transition of human society from hunting and gathering to agricultural civilization 10,000 years ago. In the agricultural era, people planned their work and rest, formulated social systems and even political systems according to the rules of the sky. The starry sky dominated people's lives on earth for thousands of years until the advent of the scientific revolution. Looking up at the starry sky laid the foundation for modern social life in the past 500 years. In the 20th century, humans finally went from looking up at the starry sky to walking into the starry sky. An unprecedented space age has arrived...
Looking up at the starry sky is a special romance of human beings, and it is also the source of power for the surging progress of human civilization. Where is the future of mankind? Perhaps "the sky" will tell us the answer.
About the Author
Stuart Clark is a famous astronomer and popular science writer, a fellow of the Royal Astronomical Society of the United Kingdom, a consultant to the European Space Agency, and former vice president of the British Association of Science Writers.
The British newspaper The Independent once named him as one of the UK's "Astrophysics Popular Science Stars" along with the famous scientist Stephen Hawking and former President of the Royal Society Martin Rees. In September 2020, the University of Hertfordshire awarded him an honorary doctorate in physics in recognition of his outstanding contributions to astronomy and improving public scientific literacy.
Table of contents · · · · · ·
Chapter 1 From the Space Age to the Stone Age: Searching for the First Humans to Look Up at the Stars
Chapter 2 The Invention of Paradise: The Dawn of Civilization
Chapter 3 Calendar and Constellations: The Agricultural Age
Chapter 4: Wizards, Sages, and Astrologers: The Birth and Development of Astrology
Chapter 5: Sounds of the Firmament: From Classical Antiquity to the Middle Ages
Chapter 6: The Watershed: The Coming of the Scientific Revolution
Chapter 7 Great Disasters and Fallen Souls: The Formation of the Classical Physics Universe
Chapter 8 Midnight of Death, Noon of Thought: The Starry Sky in the 18th and 19th Centuries
Chapter 9 Space Utopia: Humanity's Journey
Chapter 10: Touching the Stars: The Coming of the Space Age
Chapter 11: Real Magic: The Future of Humanity and the Stars
Notes