Astronomy: Did you mean...?

Isaac Newton (1642-1727) was an English mathematician and physicist widely regarded as the single most important figure in the Scientific Revolution for his three laws of motion and universal law of gravity. Newton's laws became a fundamental...

Christiaan Huygens (1629-1695) was a Dutch mathematician, physicist, and astronomer. A leading figure of the Scientific Revolution, Huygens combined research into mathematical-based theories, such as the movement of light waves, with practical...

Fatima Al-Fihri (c. 800-880) was a Muslim woman, scholar and philanthropist who is credited with founding the world’s oldest, continuously running university during the 9th century: the University of Al-Qarawiyyin, located in Fez in Morocco...

The great temples and monuments of ancient Egypt continue to fascinate and amaze people in the modern day. The sheer size and scope of structures like the Great Pyramid at Giza or the Temple of Amun at Karnak or the Colossi of Memnon are...

The World Heritage-listed Nazca lines are a well-known part of the ancient heritage of Peru. One woman spent over 50 years studying and protecting them. Ana Maria Cogorno Mendoza shares the story of Dr Maria Reiche. The lines and geoglyphs...

The invention of the telescope in 1608 is usually credited to the Dutchman Hans Lippershey. The astronomical telescope became one of the most important of all instruments during the Scientific Revolution when figures like Galileo (1564-1642...

A sculpture of Urania, the Muse of Astronomy. Originally the statue was of Persephone but recarved and with a head addded taken from a 2nd century CE statue of another Muse. (Vatican Museums, Rome).

Archimedes (l. 287-212 BCE) was a Greek engineer and inventor who is regarded as the greatest mathematician of antiquity and one the greatest of all time. He is credited with a number of inventions still in use today (such as the Archimedes...

Hypatia of Alexandria (c. 370 - March 415) was a female philosopher and mathematician, born in Alexandria, Egypt possibly in 370 (although some scholars cite her birth as c. 350). Little is known of her life but her dramatic death at the...

In Greek mythology, the Titan Atlas was responsible for bearing the weight of the heavens on his shoulders, a burden given to him as punishment by Zeus. Father of many stars and a protagonist in one of Hercules' famous labours, Atlas was...