New Books in Science, Technology, and Society

Pierre Sokolsky, "The Clock in the Sun: How We Came to Understand Our Nearest Star" (Columbia UP, 2024)

Jan 21, 2025

Pierre Sokolsky, an experimental particle astrophysicist and professor emeritus at the University of Utah, delves into the captivating history of sunspots in this engaging discussion. He reveals how ancient astronomers interpreted sunspots as omens and contrasts this with the modern understanding of solar cycles, linking them to weather patterns and even economic trends. Sokolsky also tackles the risks of solar storms to technology and human health, while shedding light on nuclear fusion as the sun's energy source. His insights bridge historical knowledge with contemporary scientific challenges.

54:01

Episode guests

Pierre Sokolsky

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Episode notes

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Quick takeaways

The historical interpretations of sunspots reveal how different cultures perceived astronomical phenomena, with ancient Chinese linking them to political omens, while medieval Europe initially dismissed them under Aristotle's celestial perfection.

Current scientific exploration of solar activity highlights its impact on Earth's climate, emphasizing the need for deeper understanding of solar cycles and their correlation with global temperature variations.

Deep dives

The Historical Significance of Sunspots

Sunspots have played a crucial role in historical astronomy and understanding the sun's behavior. In ancient China, astronomers linked the appearance of sunspots to political changes and omens, suggesting that their observations could directly influence power dynamics. This stands in contrast to medieval Europe, where Aristotle's notion of celestial perfection led to a lack of recorded sunspot phenomena for centuries. The eventual recognition of sunspots by figures like Galileo signified a paradigm shift that challenged entrenched beliefs about the universe and its unchanging nature.

Intro

4min

From Cosmic Rays to The Clock in the Sun

20min

The Sun's Impact: Energy, Radiation, and Earth's Mysteries

6min

The Perils of Solar Storms: Understanding Risks to Technology and Human Health

4min

Unraveling the Mysteries of the Sun

9min

The Sun and Shifts in Belief

7min

On the surface of the Sun, spots appear and fade in a predictable cycle, like a great clock in the sky. In medieval Russia, China, and Korea, monks and court astronomers recorded the appearance of these dark shapes, interpreting them as omens of things to come. In Western Europe, by contrast, where a cosmology originating with Aristotle prevailed, the Sun was regarded as part of the unchanging celestial realm, and it took observations through telescopes by Galileo and others to establish the reality of solar imperfections. In the nineteenth century, amateur astronomers discovered that sunspots ebb and flow about every eleven years--spurring speculation about their influence on the weather and even the stock market.

Exploring these and many other crucial developments, Pierre Sokolsky provides a history of knowledge of the Sun through the lens of sunspots and the solar cycle. He ranges widely across cultures and throughout history, from the earliest recorded observations of sunspots in Chinese annals to satellites orbiting the Sun today, and from worship of the Sun as a deity in ancient times to present-day scientific understandings of stars and their magnetic fields. Considering how various thinkers sought to solve the puzzle of sunspots, Sokolsky sheds new light on key discoveries and the people who made them, as well as their historical and cultural contexts. Fast-paced, comprehensive, and learned, The Clock in the Sun: How We Came to Understand Our Nearest Star (Columbia UP, 2024) shows readers our closest star from many new angles.

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