Aincient Observatory

Day #86: Pre-telescopic astronomy

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June 30th 2013
In the early 1600s Jesuit missionaries arrived in China from mainland Europe, bringing with them Enlightenment-era knowledge of astronomy. The Qing rulers put them in charge of the Emperor's Observatory and commissioned Ferdinand Verbiest, a missionary and particularly brilliant astronomer from Flanders, to design a number of instruments (though only after Verbiest had survived not only the da ... read more

Asia » China » Beijing

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For centuries China stood as a leading civilization, outpacing the rest of the world in the arts and sciences, but in the 19th and early 20th centuries, the country was beset by civil unrest, major famines, military defeats, and foreign occupation. A... ... read more