Five Centuries of Astronomical Textbooks and their Role in Teaching

Abstract

At the turn of the century, astronomy was required of every senior in what is now the American University of Beirut, for the reason that “the heavens declare the glory of God”; this was especially appropriate for what was then the Syrian Protestant College. And in the late Middle Ages, astronomy was one of the seven liberal arts, a required part of every basic university education — for much the same reason. Thus, for many centuries, astronomy was considered essential for what every educated person should know. The organizers of this colloquium thought it would be informative to learn more about the historical background to our colloquium and asked if I would speak on the history of astronomy teaching over the ages. I demurred at such an overwhelming topic, which would require a major research program, and have offered instead something about the history of astronomy textbooks, because this subset provides answers to at least some of the broader questions of how astronomy has been taught.