Celestial Sleuthing

Many mysteries in art, history, and literature can be solved using “celestial sleuthing,” including calculating phases of the Moon, determining the positions of the planets and stars, and identifying celestial objects in paintings. In addition to helping to crack difficult cases, such studies spark our imagination and provide a better understanding of the skies. This book shows how weather archives, vintage maps, historical letters and diaries, military records, and site visits aid the work.

For each artwork, historical event, or literary passage influenced by astronomy, there is a different kind of mystery to be solved. For example, how can the position of the Sun and Moon determine the date and time of famous paintings by Vincent van Gogh and Caspar David Friedrich? How can astronomy determine a precise date for a work by Wassily Kandinsky, a painter best-known for abstract works with geometrical shapes and dramatic colors? What important battle of ancient history caused a design change with a crescent Moon added to the silver tetradrachms of Athens? In what season did Sappho write her iconic work, "The Midnight Poem"? Did observers actually report five Moons simultaneously in the sky during the time of King John, as recorded in lines from Shakespeare's play?

Follow these exciting investigations with Donald Olson, a master “Celestial Sleuth,” as he tracks down the truth and helps unravel mysteries as far back as ancient history and as recent as World War II.

Donald W. Olson is a Regents' Professor and Distinguished Professor Emeritus of Physics at Texas State University. He received his B.S. (Physics) from Michigan State University and a Ph.D. (Physics) from the University of California at Berkeley, then went on to conduct post-doctoral research at Cornell University and the University of Texas at Austin.

At Texas State University, Olson taught an Honors College course linking science and the humanities, and the Texas State group has published more than 60 articles using astronomy to solve mysteries in art, history, and literature. In 2014 the American Association of Physics Teachers honored Olson with the Paul Klopsteg Award, which recognizes outstanding communication of the excitement of contemporary physics and astronomy to the general public. In 2015 Olson was named a Regents' Professor, the highest honor of the Texas State University system. His three previous Springer/Praxis books are Celestial Sleuth (2014), Further Adventures of the Celestial Sleuth (2018), and Investigating Art, History, and Literature with Astronomy (2022).