From the ancient origins of astronomy to the Copernican revolution, and from Galileo to Hawking's research into black holes, The Story of Astronomy charts the discoveries made by some of the greatest minds in human history, and their attempts to unveil the secrets of the stars. Written in an accessible and entertaining style, The Story of Astronomy demystifies some of the biggest breakthroughs in the history of science, as well as explaining why we have 60 minutes in an hour, how the Romans bodged the invention of the leap year and when people really discovered the Earth wasn't flat (a thousand years before Columbus. In the most straightforward and compelling of ways Peter Aughton demonstrates the beauty and wonder of what Newton, Einstein, Hubble and Hawking really achieved.