Astronomy is the first science is responsible for myriad developments in the modern world. In ancient times the shifts and changes occurring in the stars were used to explain all things. The relationships between the sun moon planets and stars led to the development of scientific systems. Astronomy revealed the operations of the seasons and facilitated weather prediction leading to many of humankind’s advances.

But astronomy had magical as well as practical applications. Ancient people believed that the winter solstice sunrise brought a spiritual awakening to the material world. Astronomy also offers explanations for mysteries surrounding holy numbers and sacred geometry formulating and answering questions about numerical references in the Bible and in ancient civilizations.

Here Thomas Karl Dietrich explores astronomy’s impact on the world today delving into the histories of many civilizations to explain the world as we know it and to raise new questions about what the future holds.

Thomas Karl Dietrich grew up in San Francisco and graduated from USF. He has devoted a lifetime to the complex study of the culture of astronomy and has refined his perceptions through examinations of astronomical sites in Ireland England Brittany Italy Corsica Sardinia Malta Greece Crete Egypt Mexico Yucatan Belize Guatemala Ecuador Peru and Bolivia. Dietrich’s earlier work Origin of Culture (2005)discovered a triangular association between Greek Irish and Moroccan traditions history myth and culture suggesting evidence for Plato’s Atlantis.