A (brief) History of Astronomy

The Supermassive Podcast

Izzie Clarke

Astronomy, History, Science, Physics

4.6 • 556 Ratings

🗓️ 22 June 2023

⏱️ 49 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Dr Becky and Izzie dust-down the Supermassive Tardis to explore the history of astronomy. From fossilised baboon bones and baby lamas to Einstein and black holes, the Supermassive team discovers how we came to understand the Universe the way we do today. Editor Richard talks to astronomer and science writer, Dr Stuart Clark, who reveals where the phrase ‘the dog days of summer’ comes from. And Izzie chats to President of the Royal Astronomical Society, Professor Mike Edmunds, about the amazing Antikythera astronomical calculator. As usual, Dr Robert Massey is on hand to take on your questions.

Stuart’s latest book is Beneath the Night:
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Beneath-Night-Stuart-Clark/dp/1783351535

Send your questions or astrophotography to podcast@ras.ac.uk, tweet @RoyalAstroSoc, or find us on Instagram @SupermassivePod.

The Supermassive Podcast is a Boffin Media production for The Royal Astronomical Society. The producers are Izzie Clarke and Richard Hollingham.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Transcript

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0:00.0	Just how long have people tried to study the night sky and work out what it all means?
0:07.0	Kepa that really took those laws and then was like, okay, so how does that apply to planets and their orbits?
0:12.3	It's a geared astronomical calculator from the first century BC.
0:18.9	Hello and welcome to the supermassive podcast from the Royal Astronomical Society with me, science
0:24.7	journalist, Izzy Clark and astrophysicist Dr Becky Smithurst.
0:28.6	Last month was all about the future of astronomy, so this month we're going back in time.
0:33.8	I know, the Royal Astronomical Society does not have a TARDIS. And to my knowledge, Becky,
0:39.7	hasn't discovered a time-bending wormhole, yes? Not yet, at least. To my disappointment,
0:46.5	because Chris Hemsworth hasn't popped out of one either, like, Vanatley Portman in Thor. Keep working on that. Keep
0:52.2	working on that, please. I will. I will.
0:54.3	You know, this was what was sold to me as the life of an astrophysicist and I'm still waiting for it.
0:58.6	We're actually looking at the history of astronomy today. So how historically we've studied
1:04.2	the universe and our place in it. Here with us, as always, is Dr. Robert Massey, the deputy
1:09.5	director of the Royal Astronomical Society.
1:12.2	So, Robert, what is the oldest piece in the Royal Astronomical Society's archive?
1:18.3	Because you have loads of stuff.
1:19.8	We do have loads of stuff.
1:21.0	And, of course, the obvious thing to do, which I did was check with our librarian, Dr. Chan Proser.
1:25.6	And she referred me to a book dating from 1472 called di Natura
1:31.0	Rirum on the Nature of Things written by Isadora of Seville. And it's a reprint because Isadora
1:37.3	of Seville died in 636. So only by the time this was published, it was more than 800 years old,
1:44.1	despite being 550, like getting like getting that right, years old now.
	...

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