The beauty and awe generated by the celestial void captures our imagination and delights our aesthetic sense. Antiquarian map societies are prospering, and celestial maps are now viewed as a specialty of map collecting. This book traces the history of celestial cartography and relates this history to the changing ideas of man’s place in the universe and to advances in map-making. Photographs from actual antiquarian celestial atlases and prints, many previously unpublished, enrich the text. The book describes the development and relationships between different sky maps and atlases as well as demonstrating contemporary cosmological ideas, constellation representations, and cartographic advances.
Featuring splendid illustrations of the most famous, rare, and impressive star atlases created from the sixteenth to the nineteenth centuries, this gorgeous book takes a journey through the constellations. Find out about the work of history's great astronomers, their sometimes-fantastic interpretations of extraterrestrial phenomena, and how our knowledge of the universe evolved. Merging art and scientific knowledge, Celestial Atlas offers a fascinating glimpse into the past.
