#Book #Review: "The Great Canoes in the Sky. Starlore and Astronomy of the South Pacific"
The Great Canoes in the Sky. Starlore and Astronomy of the South Pacific
by Stephen Robert Chadwick and Martin Paviour-Smith
Springer, 2017
http://www.springer.com/in/book/9783319226224
Nowadays, the knowledge that people has of the sky usually derives from news, headlines, scientific communications, and it is therefore based on modern scientific research. In the case of amateur or professional astronomers, this is more developed with respect to that of the layman, but anyway it springs from research activities that can be dated back to a couple of centuries, when not to a few decades or years. Astronomy, in fact, is evolving at a fast pace, and the discoveries that today are at the forefront of modern research are likely to be updated, when not totally substituted, in a matter of some years. At the same time, however, the statement that despite all of this development modern humans are generally much less aware of the sky with respect to the ancient populations can hardly be dismissed.
Another characteristic of this rushing scientific and technological advancement is that it began in the western civilization, spreading pervasively all over the world in a matter of a few centuries. Modern astronomy, however, still keeps vestiges of the ancient knowledge of the population from which it originated. This is evident from the names of the planets and of the constellations, or in the name of the Milky Way, which are rooted in the Greek mythology, while many star names pay tribute to the later Islamic development. As a consequence, a few cultural remnants of an ancient local population became a global heritage, indirectly favored by the spreading of modern astronomy.
This did not happen to the astronomy of other civilizations, whose knowledge is being superseded by modern development not only in their practical aspects but also in the entire cultural spectrum leaving no trace at all.
This book is a significant step in the recovery of a very important astronomical knowledge and tradition of a past civilization, that of the variety of the populations that colonized the Pacific Ocean.
The authors cover many aspects of the traditional knowledge of the three big regions of Polynesia, Micronesia, and Melanesia, paying particular attention to the mythological side, but also describing with some detail the secret techniques that helped these people to navigate routinely across a vast ocean when other civilizations were constrained along the coastlines.
The first three chapters are dedicated to the description of the star lore, respectively, of the planets, of the Milky Way, and of three of the most important objects of the sky in these regions, namely the Magellanic Clouds and the Southern Cross. Then the authors analyze the constellations, putting to evidence that the entire culture of these populations was based on the identification of the sky as a vast ocean, in all of its aspects like the marine and birds' life.
In chapter 5 they trace in some detail the problem of navigating by the stars, while the sixth and seventh they pay attention to the importance of the birdlife in the star lore, and to the various myths associated to open and globular clusters, like the Pleiades.
Chapter 8 is devoted to Cosmological myths, and finally, the last chapter gives an interesting overview of how the sky observation evolved from the naked eye to the modern devices.
The book is packed with many beautiful illustrations, pictures, photos, and maps which help the understanding of the text and are also pleasing to the eye, and it fits the needs of the interested general readers, as well as those of the professionals in the field.
by Stephen Robert Chadwick and Martin Paviour-Smith
Springer, 2017
http://www.springer.com/in/book/9783319226224
Another characteristic of this rushing scientific and technological advancement is that it began in the western civilization, spreading pervasively all over the world in a matter of a few centuries. Modern astronomy, however, still keeps vestiges of the ancient knowledge of the population from which it originated. This is evident from the names of the planets and of the constellations, or in the name of the Milky Way, which are rooted in the Greek mythology, while many star names pay tribute to the later Islamic development. As a consequence, a few cultural remnants of an ancient local population became a global heritage, indirectly favored by the spreading of modern astronomy.
This did not happen to the astronomy of other civilizations, whose knowledge is being superseded by modern development not only in their practical aspects but also in the entire cultural spectrum leaving no trace at all.
This book is a significant step in the recovery of a very important astronomical knowledge and tradition of a past civilization, that of the variety of the populations that colonized the Pacific Ocean.
The authors cover many aspects of the traditional knowledge of the three big regions of Polynesia, Micronesia, and Melanesia, paying particular attention to the mythological side, but also describing with some detail the secret techniques that helped these people to navigate routinely across a vast ocean when other civilizations were constrained along the coastlines.
The first three chapters are dedicated to the description of the star lore, respectively, of the planets, of the Milky Way, and of three of the most important objects of the sky in these regions, namely the Magellanic Clouds and the Southern Cross. Then the authors analyze the constellations, putting to evidence that the entire culture of these populations was based on the identification of the sky as a vast ocean, in all of its aspects like the marine and birds' life.
In chapter 5 they trace in some detail the problem of navigating by the stars, while the sixth and seventh they pay attention to the importance of the birdlife in the star lore, and to the various myths associated to open and globular clusters, like the Pleiades.
Chapter 8 is devoted to Cosmological myths, and finally, the last chapter gives an interesting overview of how the sky observation evolved from the naked eye to the modern devices.
The book is packed with many beautiful illustrations, pictures, photos, and maps which help the understanding of the text and are also pleasing to the eye, and it fits the needs of the interested general readers, as well as those of the professionals in the field.
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