Why read Saints and Sinners in the Sky?

Book cover of Saints and Sinners in the Sky: Astronomy, Religion and Art in Western Culture

Book description

In this book, Boston University Professor of Astronomy Michael Mendillo takes readers deep into the annals of history, showing how visual depictions of the heavens evolved in tandem with science and religion throughout much of Western culture.

With unprecedented scope and scale, Professor Mendillo explores how cave art, illuminated manuscripts,…

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Why read it?

1 author picked Saints and Sinners in the Sky as one of their favorite books. Why do they recommend it?

Chary Rangacharyulu

Author

Science meets Religion and Art is an apt summary of this delightful work of Mendillo, an astronomy professor. In a couple of hundred pages, the author shares his knowledge accumulated over a few decades of his studies by analyzing the centuries of work by astronomers, artists, and theologians. This book would be of interest to practicing astronomers as well as casual stargazers.

Having lived on three continents, I am always fascinated by the way religion and the art that goes with it have influenced societies’ thinking and narratives of stellar objects and cosmology. This influence is reflected in the art…

From Chary's list on stargazers' strife and joy since antiquity.