The Mayan And Other Ancient Calendars (Wooden Books) Download Free (EPUB, PDF)

                
              
The Mayan And Other Ancient Calendars (Wooden Books) Download Free (EPUB, PDF)
The only small, popular book on the important subject of ancient calendars.The study of heavenly cycles is common to most ancient cultures. The ancient Egyptians, Chinese, and Babylonians all tried to make sense of the year. But it fell to the later Mesoamerican Maya to create a series of calendars that could be cross referenced. In doing so, the Maya discovered many strange numerical harmonics. Their lunar calendar was extremely accurate-far more so than the Greek Metonic cycle; they tracked Venus to an accuracy of less than a day in five hundred years and their tables could have been used to predict eclipses seven hundred years in the future. This book will provide a much needed compact guide to the Mayan calendar systems as well as covering the essentials of calendar development throughout the world.
Series: Wooden Books
Hardcover: 64 pages
Publisher: Walker Books; 1st edition (November 6, 2007)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0802716342
ISBN-13: 978-0802716347
Product Dimensions:  6.2 x 0.4 x 6.4 inches
Shipping Weight: 5.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
Average Customer Review:  4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
Best Sellers Rank: #624,391 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)   #105 in Books > History > Ancient Civilizations > Mayan   #127 in Books > Science & Math > Experiments, Instruments & Measurement > Time   #394 in Books > History > Americas > Central America
I was looking for a concise history of the Mayans and calendars and found it and more within the pages of this book. Finding a section in the back of the book that allows the reader to find the Mayan astrological birth signs was a nice surprise.This is a good source for students seeking research materials and anyone who finds the Mayans and calendars interesting.
Like many of the books in this series, this book packs a lot of info in a little format. Well illustrated and a good reference or intro to ancient calendars.
This small but wonder filled book will delight any enthusiast of Mayan studies, as well as those interested in ancient calendars far and wide.The cover is exquisite. It is beautifully rendered and will grace any book shelf. This is a book to keep handy for friends and guests will enjoy this truly charming addition to the library.
This is an excellent handbook on ancient calendars, in fact when I recently moved to Ecuador it was one of the only ten books I brought from my library of 400 study books. Though it has special focus on the Maya it is also interesting in regards to the other systems examined.
As with all the other titles in the Wooden Books series this diminutive tome is well put-together and delightfully illustrated. A great little reference book for anyone with an interest in the Maya or ancient calendrical systems in general. Geoff Stray's slavish pursuit of impartiality and attention to detail borders on the forensic, as those who have read his major work 'Beyond 2012 - Catastrophe or Awakening?' will appreciate.One can only admire the efforts of those who are prepared to dedicate themselves so entirely to a complex subject such as this, and for that reason I have to take issue with the review posted here by James Kowalick.Mr Kowalick is obviously a fervent supporter of the Mayanist scholar David Stuart, and appears to have an axe to grind on his hero's behalf. As a result his comments can hardly constitute a review of the book, especially since his entire diatribe is focused on one quotation on one page.There have been many other translations of Monument 6 since the first of Stuart's translations. Stuart is not the only epigrapher out there, and not infallible. No translation can ever be truly final, and subsequent versions by Gronemeyer and Macleod actually have more authority than Stuart's efforts, since they are based on an in-depth study of the entire text and other texts from Tortuguero.In fact, Gronemeyer and Macleod responded to Stuart's blog post in October 2011, in which Stuart announced that 2012 was just a meaningless by-product of calendar mathematics with no 'future' implication of 'prophecy'. Gronemeyer and Macleod challenged Stuart to acknowledge that he neglected to incorporate in his analysis and line drawing, a certain glyph component. Stuart avoided responding to this directly and in November 2011 said he would respond when time permitted. However, a year later, there has been no response.Is it possible that the reason for Stuart's silence is that the glyphic component concerned does indicate that the Maya considered the December 2012 date meaningful as a 'future event'. Like James Kowalick, (who posted on this particular thread on Stuart's blog, so is quite aware of this), National Geographic and the Explorer's Journal drew on Stuart's comments on the blog, but ignored the fact that Stuart had himself ignored a glyph component that contradicted his own conclusions.In light of these facts, Mr Kowalick's closing quote from the Ramayana espousing the virtue of truthfulness (while getting the book title wrong and calling it 'The  Calendar'!) is at best, laughable.
I love all wooden books.
I love all of the Little wooden books. Very nice illustrations and concise information.
Dear Readers,Geoff Stray (and his publisher's) book are packed full of useful calendric tables, charts and images - albeit only in black and white. This was certainly one of the reasons I purchased the book in the first place.Another reason for my purchase is because of my interest in Maya cycles.Alas, I was disappointed. When any reader of this book arrives at its last 'chapter' entitled "2012 - the End of Time" he or she is confronted with a major inaccuracy (one even wonders if the author and/or publisher are quite aware of this, but simply don't want to announce the fact that they have a gleaming error on pages 48 and 49?).Readers interested in 'what if anything is going to happen at the end-point of the 13-baktun Maya cycle, year 2012?' - this very year! - puchase books such as this one to see if the the authors have anything definite, or even exciting, to offer. In the case of "The Mayan Calendar" by Geoff Stray, the aforementioned chapter offers a major untruth.On page 48, author Stray correctly indicates that Dr. David Stuart of the University of Texas offered a 'tantalizing fresh translation' which Stray then addresses in greater detail on the following page (page 49), along with the well known 'Monument 6' from Tortuguero, Mexico, which contains the so-called 'prophecy'. It is certainly to author Stray's credit that he became aware of Dr. Stuart's initial translation.However, it shall forever be to author Stray's (and his publisher's) discredit, that he failed to follow up on the 'progress' of Dr. Stuart's initial translation. Dr. Stuart is first and foremost an excellent scientist and probably the foremost authority on Maya culture. As a young boy he was already translating Maya glyphs. The story of his early life is nothing short of incredible!So, after Dr. David Stuart first published his translation from the Tortuguero monument, one of Dr. Stuart's colleagues noted that the translation was not quite correct - and that, in its then-present form, it gave the impression that some significant event might occur at the end of the 13-baktun cycle. Upon further reflection, Dr. Stuart realized his initial mistake in translation, and in the spirit of excellent and true science, published the present and more-accurate version of the translation (which does not imply that some significant event will occur!).Unfortunately for author Stray and for many other managers of 'New-Age' websites that are unsupported by good science, neither author Stray nor his publisher made any significant efforts to correct their own publications. In fact, most of the other New-Age websites, publications, books, You-Tube videos, etc., did the same (which means that they did next to nothing) - "maintain the hype connected with the end of this cycle at all costs - even at the cost that what they published is not true!"You have to realize that the very chapter of this book, now being reviewed, is entitled "2012 - End of Time"! It would therefore take some soul-searching for the author and his publisher to retract what they had previously published as being 'true'. Apparently such a retraction did not happen.For those readers who wish to read a short description of how all this occurred, please go to Dr. David Stuart's excellent weblog at [...]where you will find his sad-but-nevertheless-humorous description of the events that followed his first translation - which was later corrected.Let me offer a little quote (from the Ramayana) for readers of this review, as well as for both the author and publisher of 'The  Calendar':Ramayana: Virtue has its culmination in truthfulness. Therefore, truthfulness is the soul of a kingdom; the world itself is founded on truth.Best Wishes to Everyone for a great 2012 and for an inspirational ending to this great Maya cycle,James Kowalick
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