Description
Book SynopsisHow can shadows determine the date and time of a painting by Johannes Vermeer? How did the Moon and tides cause the loss of King John’s crown jewels?
In his newest book, Professor Olson, author of Celestial Sleuth and Further Adventures of the Celestial Sleuth, explores how astronomical clues can uncover fascinating new details about art, history, and literature. He begins with an accessible introduction to amateur “celestial sleuthing,” showing how to use your astronomical knowledge, software, archives, vintage maps, historical letters and diaries, military records, and other resources to investigate the past.
Follow along as Professor Olson then explores twenty real-world cases where astronomy has helped answer unresolved questions or correct longstanding interpretations about an event. Examples involve artists such as Vermeer, Monet, and O’Keeffe; the historical exploits of Alexander the Great, the desert travels of the Death Valley ’49ers, and a meeting between Franklin D. Roosevelt and Winston Churchill in Marrakech; and literary works by Chaucer, Shakespeare, and Longfellow.
Packed with dozens of full-color illustrations, this book will enrich your knowledge of the past and equip you with all the tools you’ll need to become a celestial sleuth yourself.
“Many people have a passion for art, or world history, or great literature, or even astronomy — but seldom in all these things at once. This remarkable book by Donald Olson of Texas State University will put you in touch with such seemingly unrelated endeavors. It will open your eyes and broaden your mind as little else could.”
Roger W. Sinnott, Sky & Telescope
Trade Review“I found myself marvelling at just how much Olson and his team were able to add to the information about the work of art or the historical event, and I read every word of this book. … All I can say is that I’m glad to have read it and will be happy to have it on my bookshelves.” (Robert Connon Smith, The Observatory, Vol. 143 (1292), February, 2023)
Table of ContentsPrefaceForewordAcknowledgmentsPart I Methods of Celestial Sleuthing1 Astronomy Software, Learning About Locations, Sunlight and Shadows, and Weather Archives2 Letters, Almanacs, Timetables, and Foreign Languages3 Research Trips, Method of Corresponding Days, and TimekeepingPart II Examples of Astronomy in Art4 Vermeer and Monet: Masters of Sunlight and Shadows, and the Moon in J. M. W. Turner’s First Oil Paintings5 Georgia O’Keeffe’s Night Skies, and Kawase Hasui’s Nocturnal Scenes in JapanPart III Examples of Astronomy in History6 The Campaigns of Alexander the Great, and King John and the Loss of the Crown Jewels7 Mont Saint-Michel in the Hundred Years War, and the Discovery of the Gegenschein8 The Moon and the Death Valley '49ers, Roosevelt and Churchill at Marrakech, and World War II and the Moon Part IV Examples of Astronomy in Literature9 Chaucer, Shakespeare, and LongfellowPart V Example of Terrestrial Sleuthing10 Death Valley, Dante’s View, and Mount Whitney
