Hamlet's Mill cover art

Hamlet's Mill

An Essay Investigating the Origins of Human Knowledge and Its Transmission Through Myth

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Hamlet's Mill

By: Giorgio de Santillana, Hertha von Dechen
Narrated by: Madison Niederhauser
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About this listen

“A book wonderful to read and startling to contemplate....both the history of science and the reinterpretation of myths have been enriched immensely.”―Washington Post

A seminal work of scientific and philosophical exploration. Ever since the Greeks coined the language we commonly use for scientific description, mythology and science have developed separately. But what if we could prove that all myths have one common origin in a celestial cosmology? What if the gods, the places they lived, and what they did are but ciphers for celestial activity, a language for the perpetuation of complex astronomical data?

Drawing on scientific data, historical and literary sources, the authors argue that our myths are the remains of a preliterate astronomy, an exacting science whose power and accuracy were suppressed and then forgotten by an emergent Greco-Roman world view. This fascinating book throws into doubt assumptions of Western science about the unfolding development and transmission of knowledge. This is a truly seminal and original thesis, a book that should be read by anyone interested in science, myth, and the interactions between the two.

This audiobook is expertly read by Madison Niederhauser, with audio engineering by Blake Rook. It was produced and published by Echo Point Books & Media, an independent bookseller in Brattleboro, Vermont.

©1969 Giorgio de Santillana and H. von Dechen (P)2024 Echo Point Books & Media, LLC
Astronomy Astronomy & Space Science Customs & Traditions Epistemology Philosophy Science Social Sciences Spirituality
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Facinating insights into multiple geographic cultures palaeography and written oral "mythologies", though somewhat fragmented and somehow incomplete. This may have been due to the failing health of one of the authors at the time (1968) and their likely desire to just get it done. It would be ideal if a person such a Graham Hancock et al, could pick up the fragments of this mantle and complete the work started here, to crack, if there is one, the code many ancients have tried to leave for future generations.
The narrator was good and correctly orated "quote" and "unquote" when other texts were directly cited, however, at times this became very distracting as so many texts are cited. Indeed pronunciations by the American dialect made some words, names and geographic locations unrecognisable - sw-ord, Maori,etc. This massively detracted from the text as one was left pondering...what the?
Overall, it is an outstandingly researched text, for 1968, as previously noted, it would be great if a person of research note and interest could pick up this patchwork frame and build upon the shoulders of these giants.

Complex palaeography, cosmology and mythology

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