Eugene F. Milone, "Our Ancient Heritage: A Very Brief (!) History Of Astronomy", Main Tent, Saturday 11:00 a.m.; "From Ancient Brains To Modern Branes: Ancient To Modern Cosmology", Main Tent, Saturday 2:30 p.m., Professor, Dept. of Physics & Astronomy, University of Calgary, and Director Emeritus of the Rothney Astrophysical Observatory, has developed and taught the Archaeoastronomy course. This includes the development of the study and use of astronomy from prehistoric times to the pre-telescopic era of Tycho Brahe. It includes discussions of the influences of astronomy on the development of human thought, culture, and religion. Dr. Milone is co-author of "Exploring Ancient Skies."

The history of astronomy is a topic nearly as ancient as mankind itself, arguably stretching from the Palaeolithic, some 20,000 years or more before the present. As scholarship progresses, our knowledge of this field burgeons. In this presentation, on Friday, Gene will briefly visit a few of the ancient sites and claims for practices carried out by the "ancients," that could qualify as "astronomy."

The places visited will include Megalithic sites from around the world, particularly those in the British Isles, European continent, near East, and in the new world (i.e. the "medicine wheels," that abound in the Canadian prairies). The special evidence of written material and monuments found in the Mediterranean and in Mesoamerica, make these regions especially rich sources of knowledge of ancient astronomical ideas and practices. After reprieving the astronomical discoveries of Mediterranean, Asian, and New World cultures, we can witness the "descent of the gods," on the monuments of Nemrud Dagh, in the ancient kingdom of Commagene.

This presentation sets the stage for Eugene's second presentation on Saturday at 2:30 p.m. "From Ancient Brains To Modern Branes: Ancient To Modern Cosmology."

In most cultures around the world, for much of the history of humanity, life has been viewed and lived according to the rhythms of the Sun, Moon, planets, and sky. The ways in which these rhythms were incorporated into cultures differed from place to place. In China, the recognition of natural cycles and the search for appropriate correspondences between celestial and dynastic occurrences were likely drivers for cosmic frameworks.

In the early Christian era, the passage of the soul at both birth and death had a cosmic dimension; in this context, Origen considered the multiplicity of worlds and the need for Creation, Fall, and Redemption on all of them. In the 18th Century, rationalism and its manifestation in the universe dominated western thought, culminating in Newton's clockwork universe. Empirical approaches to cosmological questions, well illustrated by Olber's paradox, were adopted in subsequent centuries, but by the 20th century it was clear that empirical laws are incomplete manifestations. In the present, a unified cosmology, this time incorporating insights of particle physics and astronomical observations, again appears to be imminent.