Astronomy In The Mesoamericans

The Mayan calendars and people were genius. In order to create accurate calendars, the Mayans built observatories, “... to use in studying the sun and moon, planets, and the stars” (Document D) and “... collected information over many years in order to make their predictions and develop their systems” (Document D). This shows the brilliance of the Mayan people. No other accomplishment required this much intelligence in order to be accomplished.

Astronomy was not, however, simply a divine paradise in the heavens above, but astronomical observations had also an impact on local people. Observations helped to predict the seasons and agricultural cycles, telling people when to plant their crops and when to pull the crops out. Rus ability to accurately align agricultural patterns with seasonal shifts surely helped advance the Mayan civilization. The accomplishments of these early astronomers see, incredible, but what they lacked in sophisticated technology and accurate instruments, they made up patient observing over long periods of time. Th immense amount of effort that Mayan astronomers put in order to have accurate measurements do not seem to be applied towards an effort to understand

When President Truman authorized the use of two nuclear weapons in 1945 against the Japanese in the cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki to end World War II, the nature of international security was changed irreversibly. At that time, the United States had what was said to have a monopoly of atomic bombs. Soon thereafter, the Soviet Union began working on atomic weaponry. In 1949, it had already detonated it first atomic bomb and tensions began to heat up between the two countries. With the information that the Soviets had tested their first bomb, the United States began work on more powerful weapons1, and a fight for nuclear superiority had begun.

     The Mayans created many things to affect the world. They created a 365 day calendar. They also made great strides in mathematics and astronomy. They used the number zero, which was very advanced for their time period. The astronomers were able to tell what day of the week a date would fall on in future years (Encarta). And they were able to calculate the length of years of other planets with remarkable precision given the instruments they had to work with (Mexico).

Have you heard of the “Space Race”? It all began when the Soviet Union sent the first artificial satellite “Sputnik 1” into space. After that the United States rushed to catch up with the Soviet Union’s technological advances, and the Space Race started. The Space Race finally ended in 1969, when we sent the first man to land on the moon. The Space Race had many impacts on the Cold War.

Russia launched Sputnik, a satellite to orbit the earth, into outer space on October 4th, 1957. With tensions already running high in the Cold War, Americans panicked at the thought of the Russians building space and nuclear energy, fearing it could be used on them. The conflict now called the Space Race resulted in Americans creating NASA and pushing the sciences in school.

The political aspects of the cold war were very different for both countries. America was very worried that, since the Soviet Union had the first satellite in space, they were taking a big first step is controlling the Earth. America also felt that they didn’t have any precautions if the Soviet Union decided to attack America with any space equipment so America decided they needed to advance on the political front of the space race (Doc A.) America also realized that Russia and the Soviet Union was finally ahead of us in technology. According to document B, George E. Reedy said “… It took them four years to catch up to our atomic bomb and nine months to catch up to our hydrogen bomb. Now we are trying to catch up to their satellite.” As stated in document D, John F. Kennedy said “… I believe that this nation should commit itself to achieving the goal, before this decade is out, of landing a man on the moon and returning him safely to the earth.” Kennedy wanted this so America

The Maya were known for their agriculture, trade, science and religion. They had a complex writing system and developed a calendar from observing the earths movements around the sun. One can’t say that just one

In hieroglyphic writing, astronomy, and mathematics, the Mayan Indians were far ahead of any other people in the New World.(Foley 20) The Mayan invented a solar “civil” calendar including three hundred sixty- five days.(Ivanoff 86) The accuracy of the Mayan calculations is all the more extraordinary in view of the fact that they had no

After World War II, a new enemy was in the horizon: technology. In the 1940’s, the United States was the leader of the “Free World” paving a path and setting an example for the rest of the world to follow (Maland 191). Americans believed the misconception that “American society was sound, and that communism was a clear danger to the survival of the United States and its allies” (Maland 191). The U.S. maintained a policy of containment by fighting communism wherever it may be, and in a show of might in 1952, they detonated the first hydrogen bomb (Maland 192). Only a short year later, the mighty Soviet Union announced that they too had the Atom bomb (Maland 192). And, when the Soviet Union launched Sputnik in 1957, the United States became alarmed that they were falling behind in science and technology. Because the Soviets had the same capability to annihilate the world with the bomb as the United States, tensions between the two countries increase daily. But, this new war tactic brought into question man’s ability to make decisions of nuclear proportions with

Http://www.youtube.com/channel/UC_QI88fy2Rmgg5bsVaB8Heg. "Ancient Maya - Tools of Astronomy." YouTube. YouTube, 29 June 2014. Web. 29 Mar. 2016. There are many videos on YouTube for Maya Astronomy, but this video was the most suitable for me. In this video, the narrator explains why we have such a fascination in the Astronomy subject. He has many interviewers explain how the Mayans used astronomy as their religion.

Besides the Mayans being very good urban planners they were also intellect astronomers. As mentioned in the film, Engineering an Empire: Maya, The Mayans built, El Caracol. El Caracol which was the observatory built which followed the planet Venus. Because of this they were able to create the most successful calendar of its time which also accurately measured when the next eclipses would occur. It is indeed remarkable how the Anasazi flourished with limited water sources as they harvested the natural resource and discovered ways to find water as mentioned in the film 500 Nations: Ancestors.

     They developed their writing system, mathematics, astronomy, and calendars. Their study of astronomy allowed them to predict when there would be a solar or lunar eclipse. They also developed their calendar that is called the Long Count Calendar. The Long Count Calendar was not completely a Mayan creation because they inherited the basic form from the Toltec.

Ever since the beginning of time there have been stars. Not only stars in the sky, but moons, planets, and even galaxies! Astronomy is defined as the branch of science that deals with celestial objects, space, and the physical universe as a whole. In other words it is the study of space, planets, and stars. Throughout the ages, many people have used astronomy to help them learn about the universe, our own planet, and even make predictions about life itself. Understanding astronomy means understanding where it originated, the different groups/cultures that used it, and modern purposes of the science of the stars.

Astronomy is the oldest of the natural sciences, dating back to antiquity, with its origins in the religious, mythological, and astrological practices of pre-history: vestiges of these are still found in astrology, a discipline long interwoven with public and governmental astronomy, and not completely disentangled from it until a few centuries ago in the Western World . In some cultures astronomical data was used for astrological prognostication.