Short Wave

The Ancient Night Sky And The Earliest Astronomers

Feb 1, 2023

Moiya McTier, an astrophysicist and folklorist, explores the fascinating links between ancient astronomy and folklore, showing how our ancestors navigated the cosmos through storytelling. She reveals how celestial observations fueled myths and provided early humans with vital knowledge, like predicting eclipses. The conversation shifts to the enchanting lore of the Milky Way across cultures and prophecies of its future collision with Andromeda, inviting us to reframe our understanding of time and our place in the universe.

14:37

Creator website

Episode guests

Moiya McTier

Highlights

AI Chapters

Episode notes

The Dance of the Galaxies

02:18

The History of the Night Sky

02:21

Intro

2min

Exploring Ancient Astronomy and Its Cultural Significance

3min

Cultural Myths of the Milky Way

6min

The Cosmic Romance of Milky Way and Andromeda

2min

Gazing into the Cosmic Dance: A Perspective on Time and Connection

3min

Moiya McTier says the night sky has been fueling humans' stories about the universe for a very long time, and informing how they explain the natural world. In fact, Moiya sees astronomy and folklore as two sides of the same coin.

"To me, science is any rigorous attempt at understanding and explaining the world around you," she explained to Short Wave's Aaron Scott. "You can see that they knew enough about the world around them to predict eclipses, to predict annual floods in Egypt, for example. I think that you can use folklore and mythology to understand the early scientific attempts of humanity."

Moiya McTier is the author of The Milky Way: An Autobiography of our Galaxy. She joins us to draw out the connections between astronomy and folklore, why the night sky is more dynamic than it might look, and what it feels like to live on an astronomical timescale.

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