Celestial Events and the Early Acquisition of Knowledge

Abstract

The science of astonomy is commonly regarded as a difficult subject to study and to pursue, requiring extensive knowledge of mathematics and physics. This probably stems from people's immense admiration for the astronomers' skill in calculating to the nearest second the progress of an eclipse of the sun or the moon, and for their ability to probe into the physical conditions prevailing during the birth of the universe and its subsequent evolution into galaxies, stars and planets, including the earth. The purpose ofthe present paper is to call attention to the fact that there are simple astronomical phenomena, that are no longer readily observable in the highly artificial world we live in, but that once could have easily evoked early man's curiosity and speculations. This would have provided an intellectual milieu necessary to set the mental process in motion in the direction of creative imagining and abstract thinking, which we regard as hallmarks of the human mind.