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Representation of the midnight sun in Greek and Indian astronomical texts
Abstract
The midnight sun is a fascinating phenomenon observed near the Earth’s poles. Whether it is known through observation or through theory, it is bound to provoke one’s curiosity, since it involves the most familiar object in the sky, viz. the sun. This paper seeks to investigate the various ways in which this phenomenon was understood or considered in ancient literature, focusing on Indian astronomical literature. It is found that some texts primarily describe the phenomena at the poles themselves, while the remaining additionally describe the latitudes at which one would see days that are a few months long. A comparison is made across texts in order to facilitate an understanding of the methods and the accuracy of the texts discussed.
... However, the idea possibly emerged even earlier; it is suggested for example that veiled references to a spherical earth can be found in the Vedas (Iyer & Ramakrishna, 2022), the Sanskrit scriptural texts of Northwest India composed roughly between 1500 and 1200 BCE. ...
Although psychology has tended to focus on the individual, paradigms have emerged looking at people in context, such as social psychology. More recently, these have included fields attending to humans’ ecological context, such as ecopsychology. However, little has been conducted on spatial orientation, on how humankind has understood itself in relation to the Earth (“psychogeography”) or the universe (“psychocosmology”). To address this lacuna, this paper presents a historical narrative of psychogeography and psychocosmology, identifying four main perspectives that emerged over time. First, stretching into pre-history, belief in a flat Earth and a layered cosmos. Second, beginning around the 6th Century BCE, a spherical Earth and a geocentric cosmos. Third, from the 15th Century onwards, an expanded Earth and a heliocentric cosmos. Finally, in the 20th Century, an unstable Earth and an acentric cosmos. The paper illuminates the evolving way humans have understood their world and place in the wider universe, and highlights the psychological impact of these developments.
This paper analyses two issues regarding Pytheas of Massalia's voyage to the Arctic. A new approach, using information found in the fragments of Eratosthenes' Geography, supports assertions that Pytheas exited the Mediterranean sailing via the Strait of Gibraltar, and that Thule, the most distant locale reached, should be identified with Norway.
In this attempt to outline the main phases .in the -unveiling of the north in terms of present-day research, we define "North" as all the regions bordering the Atlantic Ocean which Strabo contains in his expression ""Paroceanitide"; i.e., northwest Gaul (including the province of Beigium), the Britannic Isles, Lower Germany, and the Scandinavian peninsula. Between the time of Herodotus, who.wrote about 500 B.C. that he had met no-one who .had seen the sea which was re- puted to be at the,extremity of Europe and no-one who .knew the Cassiterides islands,' andthe time of Tacitus, who wrote in .the Life of Agricolu,2 published in A.D. 98: "We have COR- quered the whole of Britain", there occurred a major event of historical and scientific importance - the voyage of Pytheas - .which was an exploit never surpassed by any achievement ofthe Romans. THE SO.URCES AVAILABLE
Electronic text on GRETIL
- Mahabharata Bhismaparvan
Literally translated with explanatory notes by
- Homer Odyssey Of
Perseus Digital Library
- Plato Phaedo Of
Ératosthène de Cyrène
- González Fuentes
- PP González Fuentes
Mānava-dharma Śāstra, with the commentaries of Medhātithi, Sarvajñanārāyaṇa, Kūllūka, Rāghavānanda, Nandana and Rāmacandra
- Manusmṛti
Edited by Murali Dhara Chaturvedi, with Vāsanābhāṣya and Vārttika of Nṛsimha Daivajña
- Bhāskarācārya Siddhāntaśiromaṇi Of
Critically edited by Bina Chatterjee with Introduction, English Translation, Mathematical Notes and Indices
- Lalla Śiṣyadhīvṛddhidatantra Of