ABSTRACT
The art of astronomy had its beginnings in the ages of prehistory, long before there were any written records, when men measured the lengths of the day, seasons, and the year by the movements of the Sun, Moon and stars without any knowledge of the true nature of these bodies. It mattered little to the early observers whether these various bodies revolved around a stationary Earth or whether the Earth rotated upon its axis, although the latter idea would have appeared almost incomprehensible to the early astronomers. It is perhaps inevitable that myth and superstition should have entered into astronomy and lingered for countless centuries; and it was not until the invention of the telescope that astronomy relinquished the title of an art and became a true science, subject to physical laws. Once this stage was reached and the stifling shackles of superstition were thrown off, progress was rapid, culminating in Man leaving his own planet and venturing forth to the Moon.
