Stonehenge, situated on Salisbury Plain in southern England, is one of the finest examples of a prehistoric stone circle in the world. Considering the primitive state of European technology at the time it was built (between about 2200 B.C. and 1600 B.C), this megalithic “observatory” is an impressive achievement.
About 80 large stones (some weighing more than 25 tons) were transported from Marlborough Downs, a distance of more than 19 miles (30 kilometers). Many of the smaller stones (called bluestones) were taken from southwest Wales, even farther away. Moreover, many of the stones were shaped, dressed smooth, and carefully positioned to mark important astronomical events, such as the rising and setting of the sun and moon.
From the dawn of civilization, when people first began to contemplate
the heavens, the sun, moon, stars, planets, comets, and meteors have
been objects of wonder, mystery, and awe. Later, but still early in the
development of human civilization, people began to study the heavens in a
more scientific way. This was an important step toward understanding
the natural world and using this knowledge to modify it to advantage.
Then, as astronomical knowledge increased (helped by, and also helping,
progress in other areas of study) our comprehension and mastery of
nature also increased. This knowledge eventually led to the huge body of
learning and the sophisticated technology of our modern world. Despite
these prodigious advances, however, we still have much to discover about
the heavenly bodies and the phenomena that can be observed in the
universe.
Imagine what our way of life would have been like if we had
been unable to see the sky because it was permanently overcast with
clouds. There would probably have been no way of telling the time, for
which the sun is invaluable, nor are we likely to have developed
calendars. Calendars were essential for determining the best time to
plant crops, for hunting and moving animal herds, and for organizing
community life. Similarly, the development of navigation notably the
concepts of latitude and longitude and the exploration of the earth
would, at the very least, have been greatly retarded. Moreover, these
are only the more obvious of the probable results of a world without
astronomical knowledge; the full implications are much more complex and
far-reaching. Nevertheless, it is probably a justifiable simplification
to postulate that human beings would not have developed far beyond the
stage of the Paleolithic cave dwellers, depending for food on what they
could hunt or find growing naturally, if they had not studied the
heavens and made practical use of the knowledge gained from them.
Read More The beginnings of astronomy
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