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VISIT THE DISH
Emu Dreaming by Ray Norris
$19.95
This book gives you an easy-to-read introduction to what we know about Aboriginal Astronomy, and the current state of research into this area.
Each of the 400 different Aboriginal cultures in Australia has a distinct mythology, ceremonies, and art forms, some of which have a strong astronomical component. Many share common traditions such as the “emu in the sky” constellation of dark clouds, and stories about the Sun, Moon, Orion, and the Pleiades. Several use the rising and setting of particular stars to indicate the time to harvest a food source, and some link the Sun and Moon to tides, and even explain eclipses as a conjunction of the Sun and Moon.
Thse traditions reveal a depth and complexity of Aboriginal cultures which are not widely appreciated by outsiders. This book explores the wonderful mystical Aboriginal astronomical stories and traditions, and the way in which these are used for practical applications such as navigation and harvesting. It also describes the journey of exploration which is opening Western eyes to this treasury of ancient Aboriginal knowledge.
It's written by Prof. Ray Norris (an astrophysicist with CSIRO, and an Adjunct Professor at the Dept. of Indigenous Studies, Macquarie University), and his wife Cilla. They have spent the last five years studying Aboriginal Astronomy.
Their research has included:
- uncovering little-known academic manuscripts,
- visiting Aboriginal sites throughout Australia, including the Sydney rock-art,
- spending time with the Yolngu communities in Arnhem Land.
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100 Paper Spaceships to fold and fly
$19.95
Children can put their flying skills to the test with this chunky pad of brightly patterned spaceships. Each tear-out, patterned paper sheet can be folded, origami-style, into a flying spacecraft by following the step-by-step instructions included.
Astronomy: Sky Country
$34.95
What do you need to know to prosper for 65,000 years or more? The First knowledges series provides a deeper understanding of the expertise and ingenuity of Indigenous Australians.
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders people are the oldest scientists in human history.
Many Indigenous people regard the land as a reflection of the sky and the sky a reflection of the land. Sophisticated astronomical expertise embedded within the Dreaming and Songlines are interwoven into deep understanding of changes on the land, such as weather patterns and seasonal shifts, that are integral in knowledges of time, food availability and ceremony.
In Astronomy: Sky Country, Karlie noon and Krystal De Napoli explore the connections between Aboriginal environmental and cultural practices and the behaviour of the stars and consider what must be done to sustain our dark skies, and the information they hold, into the future.
Biology Ponderables
$39.95
Here is the essential guide to biology, an authoritative reference book and fold out timeline that examines how we have uncovered the secrets of lifethe most complex process in the Universe.
From the workings of molecules to the way entire oceans or continents of lifeforms interact, biology seeks to understand how it is that something can be alive, how it fends off death and how it leaves more life in its wake.
We follow the journey through the history of life science to find out why the dolphin got its name (it is the womb fish), how a seven-foot strand of DNA is able to build your body, and what gives a lobster its blue blood. The great names, such as Darwin and Linnaeus, are joined by lesser known discoverers, such as Karl von Frisch who discovered that bees dance and Jan Baptist van Helmont who found a plant uses air and water to grow. Biology today is still very much a live science, finding a purpose in robot design and helping us to understand non-living complex systems like the Internet. Biology has changed the way we understand ourselves. What will it tell us next?
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