How ancient art influenced modern astronomy

Listen to Universe of Art Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, Stitcher, TuneIn or your favorite podcasting app.

Looking out into space can be quite daunting. How can we make sense of the vast expanse above our heads, the millions of stars we may be able to see, and the billions more we cannot?

And how about Hear into space? That is the task that Sam Harnett and Chris Hoff have set themselves for their series “Cosmic visions.” They are the team behind “The World According to Sound”, a podcast that has brought the sounds of science closer to our listeners in recent years.

This new series takes listeners through the history of astronomy and cosmic exploration, from ancient Babylon to the Hubble telescope. Harnett and Hoff join guest host John Dankosky to talk about why different ways of understanding things are helpful to scientists, why images of nebulae bear a striking resemblance to photos of the American West, and what their favorite space sounds are.

Universe of Art is hosted and produced by D. Peterschmidt, who also wrote the music and produced the original segment. Our show artwork was illustrated by Abelle Hayford. Science Friday’s science and art coverage is supported by the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation.

Do you have science-inspired art you’d like to share with us for a future episode? Send us an email or voicemail to [email protected].