By tracking the motions of the stars, early astronomers could identify the summer and winter solstices and the equinoxes. It gives the shortest distance between any two points on a sphere, and is the ...By tracking the motions of the stars, early astronomers could identify the summer and winter solstices and the equinoxes. It gives the shortest distance between any two points on a sphere, and is the analogue of a straight line on a plane. "You, who wish to study great and wondrous things, who wonder about the movement of the stars, must read these theorems about triangles. ... For no one can bypass the science of triangles and reach a satisfying knowledge of the stars.”
