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The Sun & the Moon in Norse Myth
In Norse mythology, the Sun and the Moon appear as personified siblings pulling the heavenly bodies and chased by wolves, or as plain objects. Written sources, such as the Poetic Edda and the Prose Edda, have surprisingly little to say about...
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Popess Tarot Card
A c. 1450 tarot card showing a female pope, perhaps inspired by the story of Pope Joan who was a legendary female pope of the Middle Ages said to have reigned from 855 to 858. Her existence is disputed. From the Visconti-Sforza tarot deck...
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The Egyptian Book of the Dead: A Guidebook for the Underworld - Tejal Gala
View full lesson: http://ed.ted.com/lessons/the-egyptian-book-of-the-dead-tejal-gala Ancient Egyptians believed that in order to become immortal after death, a spirit must first pass through the underworld — a realm of vast caverns, lakes...
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Aristarchus of Samos
Aristarchus of Samos (l. c. 310 - c. 230 BCE) was a Greek astronomer who first proposed a heliocentric model of the universe in which the sun, not the earth, was at the center. Although his theory was noted by other thinkers of his time...
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Selene
Selene (also known as Mene) is the personification and goddess of the moon in Greek mythology. Every night, she travels across the sky in her chariot, pulling the moon behind her. Selene is the daughter of the Titans Hyperion and Theia. She...
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Greek Astronomy
Ancient Greek astronomy was the study of the universe to understand how it functioned and why apart from the established theistic model that claimed all things were ordered and maintained by the gods. Ancient Greek astronomers relied on observation...
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Galileo's Map of the Moon
A map of the Moon's surface by Galileo (1564-1642), drawn using a telescope the astronomer had built himself. The uneven line of shadow aided Galileo in identifying the nature of the Moon's surface and the approximate size of its mountains...
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Aristotle's On the Heavens
One of Aristotle's more famous quotes was, "All men naturally desire knowledge" ("πάντες ἄνθρωποι τοὺ εἰδέναι ὀρὲγονται φύσει") (Aristotle, Metaphysics, 1.980a.22). As a classical Greek philosopher, an ideology like this is required for producing...
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Eratosthenes' Calculation of the Earth's Circumference
An illustration showing Greek scientist Eratosthenes' method for calculating the circumference of the Earth. By measuring the angle of a shadow in one location (Alexandria) and comparing at the same time with a second point (Syene) where...
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Sif - Norse Goddess of the Earth
An illustration portraying Sif, a goddess in the Norse pantheon. She was associated with earth but was married to Thor, the god of the sky and thunder. Sif is a relatively little known figure who appears mainly in the Poetic Edda from the...