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Oh, my stars! Follow our connections with the cosmos and see how the stars have helped to shape who we are and how we live.
Overview
Jo Marchant is an award-winning journalist and speaker as well as the author of several popular books, including the New York Times bestseller Cure: A Journey into the Science of Mind over Body. She earned a PhD in Genetics and Medical Microbiology from the Medical College of Saint Bartholomew’s Hospital. She has worked as a senior editor at New Scientist and Nature, and her articles have appeared in The New York Times, The Guardian, and Smithsonian magazine. Her speaking engagements have included appearances at the Royal Institution in London and the Edinburgh Science Festival.
Ancient civilizations used the cosmos to track time, determine locations, define seasons, and possibly predict the future. They created art, monuments, stories, religions, and celebrations around the planets and stars. See how these practices and beliefs started the vital transformation of ancient peoples toward making better sense of the world around them, which eventually led the world toward the developments that are seen in the Modern Age.
Even after 20,000 years of interacting with the cosmos, the stars still play an essential part in advancing our understanding of the modern world and propel us into the future. From Captain James Cook to clocks, to churches, get to know some of the first innovators, inventions, and scientific developments that were inspired by the stars and planets and see how they directly affected our modern world.
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