Korea Day 1 and 2

The photo of the old stone astral observatory in Korea that we we’re shown by Professor Jung-Kim reminds me of other purpose built star gazing platforms I’ve seen. I’m going to guess that many more such platforms have existed in the past, with others certainly made of wood and other local building materials. You had to have good eyes too, the earliest references to and paintings of people wearing glasses only goes back to the early part of the 14th century C.E., but then I’ve also read that quartz lenses or polished gems may have been used for magnification in ancient China.
Imagine if you had been living in Ancient Rome and were of the lesser classes that had to sit in the top tier of the arena, and your eyes were bad? “The crowd roars with delight...what happened, what happened?...a Giraffe is going around the arena pulling a chariot driven by two beautiful women from Gaul (your buddy knows all the latest Gaulic hair styles) and they’re wearing Silk tunics imported from far way Seres (China).”
When my students are learning about the physical earth, the solar system and the greater cosmos, one of the things I like to ask my students is if they have ever looked at the Milky Way. A few will raise there hands. Then when I explain that you can clearly see our spiral galaxy, edge-on as a broad wash of soft creamy light against the night sky, a few more hands will go up. I also add that our home-galaxy is best viewed on the night of a new moon or close to it and away from city lights.
Prior to the advent of electric lighting, tv, and model railroading, people had the night sky for viewing, and when the clouds moved away, a tapestry of jewel-tone points of light that drifted slowly across each night Some people took a special interest. looked for explanations, created calendars, saw God’s pallette and were in awe.

Kelly[Edit by="khoover on Aug 11, 3:15:39 PM"][/Edit]
[Edit by="khoover on Aug 11, 3:18:50 PM"][/Edit]

On Korea,

After reviewing my AP World textbook last night, I'd like to add some info on Korea for those who didn't know.

During the Mongol Yuan Dynasty, Korea was opened up to the knowledge of the Chinese and Islamic scholars. The observatory we saw on the slide was a great example of this. It was small, like their knowledge then, but the science was presented to them as a unified astronomy/mathematics science based on calendar making, eclipse prediction and vector calculation. Well, what did they do with it? In typical Korean fashion - they improved it! They built celestial clocks, engineered the iron clad turtle boats and created gunpowder-driven flaming arrow launchers that protected the small but powerful Yi fleet. It is like comparing your high school days to students today. When Korea was introduced to the accumulated knowledge of the outside world - they got version 2.0 and ran with it!

If you consider they were using a fixed type printing press that produced good quality reproductions 100 years before the Gutenburg Bible, you can understand how quickly this new information and knowledge spread and an appreciation for learning became such a deep stream in their culture! Many people assume that because Confucianism and Buddhism were practiced, Korea developed like all the other Asian nations. It was the glue that held society together at a deep level, but at others, Korea was definitely distinct!

The powerpoint on Korea wowed us with their "forward thinking" in design and application of technology. Is this not something we should be surprised at?

Jon