British astronomer
Gerald Stanley Hawkins
(20 April 1928– 26 May 2003) was a
British
-born American
astronomer
and author noted for his work in the field of
archaeoastronomy
. A professor and chair of the astronomy department at
Boston University
in the United States, he published in 1963 an analysis of
Stonehenge
in which he was the first to propose that it was an ancient astronomical observatory used to predict movements of the sun and moon, and that it was used as a computer. Archaeologists and other scholars have since demonstrated such sophisticated, complex planning and construction at other prehistoric
earthwork
sites, such as
Cahokia
in the United States.
Early life and education
[
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]
Gerald Hawkins was born in
Great Yarmouth
, England and studied physics and mathematics at the
University of Nottingham
. In 1952 he took a PhD in
radio astronomy
, studying under Sir
Bernard Lovell
at the
University of Manchester
.
Career
[
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]
In 1957 Hawkins became professor of astronomy and chairman of the department at
Boston University
in the
United States
. He wrote widely on numerous subjects, including
tektites
,
meteors
and the
steady-state universe
theory. Born in England, he became an American citizen in 1965.
Splendor in the Sky
(1961)
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Hawkins' first book,
Splendor in the Sky
, is a detailed overview of
astronomy
. In the introduction, Hawkins claims membership to a purported group of scientists who (in accord with the scientific community) hold that the craters on the moon were formed by
meteorites
and that
comets
are composed of ice, but that there is no
expansion of the universe
from the
Big Bang
.
He also uses the mythological
Genesis flood narrative
(saying it "
probably dates
back to 4000 B.C.") as a historical reference.
He mentions the possible astronomical nature of
Stonehenge
,
an idea he develop into a number of subsequent works.
[4]
Stonehenge Decoded
(1965)
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]
Hawkins applied the technological resources of the university to studying the astronomical alignments of ancient
megalithic
sites. He fed the positions of standing stones and other features at Stonehenge into an early
IBM 7090
computer and used the mainframe to model sun and moon movements. In his 1965 book,
Stonehenge Decoded
, Hawkins argued that the various features at the monument were arranged in such a way as to predict a variety of astronomical events.
By interpreting Stonehenge as a giant prehistoric
observatory
and computer, Hawkins' work
re-assessed
what had previously been seen as a primitive temple. The archaeological community was sceptical and his theories were criticized by such noted historians as
Richard Atkinson
, who denounced the book as being "tendentious, arrogant, slipshod, and unconvincing".
[5]
Stonehenge Decoded
sold widely. It was especially popular among the members of
1960s counterculture
, who found that it followed a similar "wisdom of the ancients" line explored by
Alexander Thom
. Hawkins' theories still inform popular opinion of Stonehenge. Although some archaeologists are cautious to accept Hawkins' theories, many
archaeoastronomers
have built upon his work. Many scholars accept that the importance of astronomical alignment and large complexes being planned and constructed to fulfil cosmology has been demonstrated at other prehistoric sites, such as the
Snake Mound
and
Cahokia
in the United States.
[6]
Hawkins later examined the
Nazca lines
in
Peru
, and concluded there was not enough evidence to support an astronomical explanation for them. He also studied the temple of
Amun
at
Karnak
. He continued to study Stonehenge up until his death.
The
American Astronomical Society
stated in its obituary for Hawkins:
Gerald Hawkins served as Dean of Dickinson College in Carlisle, Pennsylvania, from 1969 to 1971, when his career trajectory transported him to the United States Information Agency, where he was appointed Science Advisor to the Director and where he remained until his retirement in 1989.
See also
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]
References
[
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]
- ^
Krupp, E. C.
(2003).
"Obituary: Gerald S. Hawkins, 1928-2003"
.
ResearchGate
. Retrieved
10 June
2024
.
- ^
Mike Pitts (24 July 2003),
"Gerald Hawkins. Astronomer who claimed Stonehenge was a computer"
,
The Guardian
- ^
Friedlander, Michael W., "The Cahokia Sun Circles",
The Wisconsin Archeologist
, Vol. 88(1), pages 78?90, 2007.
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