Some Related Science Links

If you think about it, what we know in astronomy mostly comes from second-hand information. In most sciences we can study our subjects directly, we can manipulate them, do controled experiments, vary the conditions in which we study them. With a few exceptions, such as meteorites, astronomers can't do the same thing with astronomical objects. Just about all we get is the light (and other electromagnetic radiation) coming from them.

Astromomers are therefore particularly dependent on our ground-based sciences for a test-in-reality, in which questions can be tested out much more directly. In fact, astronomy and the ground-based sciences have had an interdependent relationship throughout history, in which each has stimulated the other. To really understand astronomy, you therefore need to develop some understanding of the sciences that have helped it.

These pages are here to help you explore better these other sciences. I'd like to suggest that, in particular, you pay attention to how we know what we know, e.g.:
- what are the patterns of experience that were noticed?
- what questions did these experiences lead to?
- how well have these questions been answered?
If you explore the history, you may notice that a science, such as astronomy, is only as good as the experiences and assumptions upon which it is made. You may also notice that once you start exploring one subject, you actually start to explore many.