3,257
edits
Changes
→Major Societal Influence of Astronomy and Summary
==Major Societal Influence of Astronomy and Summary==
In the early developments of astronomy, observation of stars and planets led to the understanding of the change in seasons had clear patterns that could be predicted. This not only helped develop agriculture, but other impacts include integrating astronomical observations with religious calendars. Astronomical knowledge had major influence on sea navigation, which led to increased long-distance sea trade routes and colonies.
In the Medieval and Renaissance period, the major achievements in astronomy assisted in fundamentally changing attitudes of seeing the Earth as the center of the solar system to being another planet. This helped pave the idea that scientific laws were governing the planets and Earth, increasing research and attempts to understand scientific law. One of the most significant achievements was the development of physics and utilizing physical theory such as gravity to explain orbits and rotation of the planets and other celestial bodies. These theories were extensible to the phenomenon on earth, leading to many new understandings that explained commonly observed phenomena on earth.
More recently, modern astronomy has led to understanding of fundamental qualities in not only physics but chemistry, where the understanding of basic component of the universe have helped to shape the Earth. Modern theories such as the big bang have now helped explain how old and expansive the universe is. Technologies for modern astronomy include satellites and computing systems that have to be developed for ever deeper understanding and observation, leading to technical developments in robotics, computing, and artificial systems as more recent developments that have derived from astronomy.
==References==