How the Shaman Stole the Moon: In Search of Ancient Prophet-Scientists from Stonehenge to the Grand Canyon

by William H. Calvin

Book Overview

"Combines the wonder of magic and ancient lore with the skill and intellectual honesty of modern science. William Calvin guides us on just such a marvel-packed quest, in search of techniques used by... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0553077406
• ISBN13: 9780553077407
• Release Date: November 1991
• Publisher: Bantam Books
• Length: 223 Pages
• Weight: 1.20 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.1" x 6.5" x 9.3"

Customer Reviews

Very enjoyable!

The author is warm and engaging. The drawings helpfully illustrate the concepts. This is a great read and very enjoyable. A very interesting development of ideas to track the sun and moon.

Sorry to see it out of print.

As a trained astronomer and someone who has both taught the subject at the college level and been published in the sub-field of native american astronomy, I was amazed that someone from outside the field could make such a valuable contribution as this book is. It's both technically sound and entertaining to read. The explanations and arguments should be easily graspable by the educated layperson or novice at astronomy. They're plausible without being outlandish.The book is especially good at giving an appreciation for how difficult it was for early scientists to acquire the basic understandings we now take for granted. Highly recommended to those interested in either prehistoric southwest peoples or the arcane area of the development of non-western timekeeping, calendars, and observational astronomy.