It might seem glaringly obvious that it is easier to find your destination if you know where you are. Equally true: crop husbandry is a whole lot more fruitful if you plant seeds in the right season. This incentive-driven approach to knowledge prompted our forebears to become acquainted with the stars. Navigational ability and rudimentary time-keeping, along with seasonal information, were fruits of studying the night sky.

The starry sky has always fascinated humans. The Greeks called it caelum meaning 'beautifully carved'. Instinctively finding patterns in the profusion of spangles, various cultures have invented zodiacs, conferring on astrologers their claimed powers of interpretation and prediction.

Perhaps it is because humans perceive themselves to be central to the cosmos that some imagine the stars and planets influence their daily lives. Perhaps it is some psychological necessity to feel part of a greater whole. Whatever the reason, observing and charting the sky has been of key importance in understanding the universe.

Astronomy could claim to be the first scientific discipline in the history of attempting to understand the universe, the matter it comprises and the motion of that matter. Thus the diligent astronomer's work was invaluable in the advance of knowledge.