History of Constellation and Star Names

The portrait above was hurriedly sketched by an American art student, Earl Sipes, in near darkness at the White Horse Pub, Oxford, England, in 1978.

I am an occupational health and safety professional, amateur historian, amateur astronomer, writer, public speaker, skeptic, atheist, book collector, and bookworm (and music and movie buff).

I was born in Geelong, Victoria on 31/10/47. My father Thomas [Tom] William Thompson was a maintenance painter/sign-writer with Elders Woolstore (Elder Smith / Elder Smith Goldsbrough Mort (Elders GM)). He was a gliding enthusiast, keen photographer, and very much interested in the early history of aviation. My mother Elsie Mavis Thompson [Ricketts] was a housewife who made (very good) wedding cakes for extra income. Historically our family originated from County Cork, Ireland.

After living in Central Geelong (next to the Police Station and opposite the Geelong Regional Library), then Western Beach (on the Beach Front 10 minutes walk from Central Geelong), we moved to Geelong West (now a much sought after residential location). I can remember sighting Sputnik 1 from the backyard in Central Geelong. The house in Central Geelong was demolished and a small arts theatre was constructed (now the Geelong Performing Arts Centre); the house at Western Beach (and the adjoining house which my father also owned) was demolished to enable the Elders Wool Store to be extended (if still existing today the combined value of both houses would be around $4,000,000). None of these house had an indoor toilet. At Geelong West I can remember wood burning stove for cooking, initially an ice box being used to keep food cool, and also use of a wood heated copper tub and wringer to wash clothes.

I attended (the still existing) Manifold Heights Primary School (when class rooms were still heated by log fireplaces) and then Geelong West Technical School (now closed, and the premises established as Western Heights College). Whilst there the astronomy display I made (including a small handwritten book) and the refractor telescope I put together won a science competition initiated by the school.

My father was a pioneer of gliding in Australia (his close friend Percy Pratt (a New Zealander was another) and an original member of the Geelong Gliding Club (Australia's first gliding club). Percy Pratt was also an aircraft designer. He designed, built (at Belmont Common in Geelong) and sold, at least 1 single-seat monoplane. (He lived for a short time at Geelong West in a house on an adjoining block owned by my father. He spent his remaining years as caretaker at the Black Stump Caravan Park.) The Geelong Gliding Club closed down in the mid 1930s.

During World War II my father was part of the Australian Army units involved in the defence of Darwin. He was part of the historic army truck convoy to Darwin.

When the Geelong Gliding Club was restarted in 1954 my father was an instructor there. He spent a lot of weekends gliding in Victoria (including Benalla), and even South Australia (which had a sophisticated gliding centre) on occasions. A lot of my early teens were spent involved with activities with the Geelong Gliding Club. Another involvement was amateur astronomy.

I became an avid reader of books when I was in my early teens and joined several libraries.

I went to Manifold Heights State School and then to Geelong West Technical School. I originally studied electrical engineering at the Gordon Institute of Technology but didn't like it that much. After a second attempt involving several years of studying lighting engineering in the late 1970s I decided to look for a more interesting career path.

One job I had was working on the Westgate Bridge project (after the collapse when the construction project was restarted). I worked there for some 3 years. One of the more intriguing social activities was known as 'cabaret.' They were held regularly, usually on a Friday.

Circa 1980 I changed careers and started working in occupational health and safety. My first job in OHS was at the Williamstown Naval Dockyard. (It was similar to the 'Wild West.') I remained there longer than any other OHS person (approximately 3.5 years). I was the OHS Coordinator at Carlton and United Brewery, and also the National OHS and Security Coordinator at Grace. During the early 1990's I lived in South Australia for several years and taught (sessional lecturer) occupational health and safety at several Technical and Further Education Colleges (including Douglas Mawson Institute of TAFE). I also worked as an OHS Consultant for the South Australian Employers' Federation, the South Australian Employers' Chamber, and the National Safety Council (South Australian Division). My senior degree (MAppSc(OHS)) obtained from University of Ballarat) is in occupational health and safety (and consisted of both course work and research) and I also have tertiary qualifications in computer technology, and workplace training. My focus is implementing simple strategies to reduce high injury rates in large organisations. The strategies I implemented at CUB resulted in an expectation of only 4-5 lost-time injuries per year (from 150 lost-time injuries per year). The strategies I later implemented at Grace resulted in similar outcomes.

After 10 long years in occupational health and safety consulting and training (Principal Consultant/Team Leader) at the Victorian Employers' Chamber of Commerce and Industry (during which I introduced numerous improvements and consolidated their reputation - during that period - for quality OHS services) I was glad to join Ergosh Safety Management Services in September 2007.

The degree to which a lack of professionalism, competence, and ethics exists within the sphere of OHS is concerning. Another concern is that OHS is becoming heavily bureaucratised and modified by non-safety systems such as quality assurance. Also, people with no 'hands on' experience in reducing workplace injuries are dominating approaches to OHS. We are seeing a return to the 1920s 'philosopher's stone' of complex safety systems and complex safety audits.

Within the sphere of OHS consulting and training, the material and approaches I have developed have been quickly adopted by other persons involved in delivering OHS consulting and training.

I disliked living in Geelong and currently live close to Melbourne. During the 1970s I lived in Queensland twice. Once for 1 year (Townsville). Later I lived in Adelaide for several years.

During the Vietnam war era I was conscripted (1969) into the Australian Military for 2 years. During 1970/71 (29/4/1970 to 1/5/1971) I served as a combat soldier in South Vietnam and also didn't like it that much. When the army first set eyes on me I was immediately sent from the back of the hair cut queue to the front.

The 12 months of training in Australian for a tour of duty in South Vietnam mismatched actual requirements. Also, equipment was not the best quality. It was not unusual for a platoon to operate at half strength. It is true that you never forget you military identification number.

During service in South Vietnam I was involved in the largest mine incident in Phuoc Tuy province during 2RARs tour of duty 1970/1971. This occurred during the course of Australian troops providing an escort for a fire mission by American M109 self-propelled 155-mm howitzer vehicles. The fire trail we moved down was mined and the mines (specifically designed and packed with quantities of explosive to destroy heavy vehicles) had pressure sensitive switches designed to be triggered by heavy vehicles. The right track of the lead APC I was on went over a mine but only the M109 vehicle immediately following in our right track had the weight to trigger the mine. It was effectively destroyed by the explosion and ensuing fire. Later that day another M109 vehicle and also an escort vehicle were destroyed in the same manner. Later during the tour I was involved in the capture (toward nightfall) and destruction (the next day) of a large D445 hospital bunker system in the swamps bordering Phuoc Tuy province. During the pursuit of one group of a small force of Viet Cong withdrawing from the bunker system I had the unpleasant experience of being drawn into a 'killing ground' designed into the bunker system. Equally concerning was the fact a large group of D445 remained close to the bunker system and our group until we were extracted by helicopters the following day. The greatest danger was 'friendly fire,' especially when operating in 'free fire zones.' I experienced several episodes of this involving helicopter gunships, artillery, and heavy calibre machine gun fire. Such episodes contribute to fine tuning one's understanding of fear.

The daily radio serial (on American Forces Radio) "Chicken Man, The Wonderful White-Winged Week-End Warrior" would be played loud over speakers at locations down to the size of Fire-Support Bases. Everything came to a halt for "Chicken Man."

During the 1970's I twice travelled around the world visiting some 70 countries in all. My first trip was westward around the world and my second trip was eastward around the world. On both trips I was a member of the Youth Hostels Association. At several Youth Hostels in Europe the staff were simply Bullies.

During each trip I visited hundreds of second-hand/antiquarian bookshops. I also made use of the British Museum Library. (Staff who assessed my request for usage right were very considerate.) My favourite was Watkins Books in London when it was still run by Geoffrey Watkins (1896-1981), the son of John Watkins. It frequently had rare freethought works. The best for identifying and holding books for me for a very protracted duration were Blackwells in London (the book was held for some 12 months whilst I travelled overland back to Australia) and Second-Story Books in Washington (the book was held for some 6 months). During my first world trip I also worked in England for several years (Brindley Fabrics, Mayfair?). I 'flatted' in Earl's Court, London. My prolonged stay in London proved invaluable for antiquarian book purchases. Whilst in England I became acquainted with Egerton Sykes (1894-1983) the eccentric British Atlantologist. I greatly admired his private library (now in the USA), built up again after he abandoned his original library in Poland at the beginning of World War II. Whilst journeying in the north of England I met a veteran of the Battle of Arnhem (a glider pilot?).

At the boat waiting station in Stranraer, Scotland, I inadvertently caused a bomb scare when I left my backpack there and walked to the nearby town of Stranraer for lunch. When I returned the building was deserted except for police waiting in concealment. In Belfast, Ireland, I also learned that photographing a fortified Police Station also drew immediate attention from the military.

During my 1st trip I visited a number of sites such as Stonehenge and Avebury. I visited the British Museum on multiple occasions. During my visit to Nepal I (when I had become rather ill) was able to sight Mount Everest.

When I returned to Australia from my 1st trip I weighed 9.5 stone (60 kilograms).

Whilst in the USA on my 2nd trip I visited the offices of The Truth Seeker in San Diego and spent several hours with James Johnson its publisher and editor from 1964 to 1988. He declined to let me view the freethought collection. An arson attack in 1981 destroyed the building and the Truth Seeker Company's immense freethought library and archives.

During my 2nd world trip I included time to visit (1) Easter Island (2 weeks), (2) Tiahuanaco in the Bolivian Andes, and (3) the Lowell Observatory in Flagstaff, Arizona. Just prior to travelling to Arizona I was in Maryland when a tropical cyclone moved through. It proved to be far more powerful than the cyclone I experienced in Brisbane (Australia) some years earlier. I also visited the San Diego Science Center and sat through a show at the IMAX Dome Theater there. It was quite impressive.

During my first trip I gained respect for the Greek tourist police. During my second trip I became acquainted with the newly formed, and very likeable, Peruvian tourist police. I believe I appeared on a poster promoting them.

Over several years - during my teens - I spent most weekends involving myself with various assistive 'go for' activities at the Geelong Gliding Club. The gliding activities would usually be held at either Geelong (Belmont Common) or near Little River. One of the highlights was an extended flight in a Tiger Moth over Geelong. My early glider flights were in machines now regarded a vintage gliders. Gliders were launched either by a winch mounted on the front of a vehicle or by a car/truck tow. The technique enabled a glider to reach around 350 metres. There was no radio communication in those days. The glider pilot would communicate launch speed issues with wing movements.

The Pratt brothers (Charles and Percy) were both involved in World War I as pilots. Both were excellent aviators. It was Charles Pratt who taught his brothers to fly. Charles (Charlie) Pratt was a pilot and instructor and served overseas (in Egypt?).At the end of the war he purchased several new planes in Egypt to ship back to New Zealand. However, due to circumstances he did not proceed further than Melbourne, Australia.

Charles Pratt leased Belmont Common in 1919 and established an aerodrome, and built a hanger and workshop. (He had chanced across it whilst flying, and landed there.) With his brothers (Percy, and Frank (I'm unsure regarding Alf who had also moved to Australia)) he ran a successful aircraft business for many years. (Their sister remained in Ngaio, an inner suburb of Wellington, New Zealand.) They taught gliding and flying and did airplane maintenance and aerial photography. The aerodrome was closed in the early 1950s (likely following the 1952 flood). However, it appears Belmont Common was still used as an airfield on a small scale until the mid 1960s. Both Charles and Percy were involved in serious air crashes. Percy Pratt refused doctors permission to amputate his severely damaged leg and the decision almost cost him his life. For the remainder of his life his (right?) leg was rigid at the knee. On the final day of an East-West air race (Sydney to Perth) Charles Pratt's aircraft crashed (hit a tree) at Baandee. Both he and his passenger (J. R. Guthrie) were severely injured.

When the Gliding Club of South Australia was first formed they ordered their first glider from Percy Pratt. In 1929 the Gliding club of South Australia bought a primary glider from Percy Pratt for $200. The Geelong Gliding Club annually awards the Percy Pratt trophy for the most meritorious flight in a club glider.

Kingsford Smith flew a Zoegling{Zogling) glider built by Percy Pratt. In 1929 Percy Pratt started the Geelong Gliding Club (which is now located outside Bacchus Marsh), the first gliding club in Australia. He had bought a set of plans for a Zogling primary glider, and the newly formed Geelong Gliding Club completed building it in only 3 weeks. It appears Percy Pratt was inspired by a National Geographic article on gliding in Germany. In 1930 Percy Pratt set an Australian gliding record for remaining airborne for 1 hour and 35 minutes, flying a Zogling primary glider. In 1937 he made the first flight in Australia of a glider towed by an aircraft. The Sopwith Gnu aircraft towed the glider on a 244 metre (800 foot) cable from Belmont aerodrome to Melbourne. The first interstate gliding meeting was held in Geelong in 1939.

Percy Pratt was a very friendly person, a socialist, an atheist, an excellent conversationalist, and a very entertaining story teller. He was also a terrible violin player. For a number of years he was a frequent visitor at our house in Geelong West. For a number of years he lived on a very small farm at Bacchus Marsh.

There also appears to have been a Geelong Aero and Gliding Club started in 1914 on the Belmont Common (also known as the Geelong Aerodrome). After some history of folding and reopening the club reactivated in 1978 and is now located at Connewarre.

In my early teens Percy Pratt, a family friend, gave me his copy of Guide to the Moon by Patrick Moore (1952). I found it an exciting book to read and to have. I kept it for about 20 years.

In my early teens I became a member of the Geelong Astronomical Society (currently named the Astronomical Society of Geelong) and made my own 10-centimetre (6-inch) mirror which I later donated to the society. The origin of the Geelong Astronomical Society goes back at least till the very early 1960s. I was a member circa1962 at least. They had transitional headquarters until their move to Belmont Common. I think the meetings and mirror making classes may have been in a room at the Gordon Institute of Technology. The given name of the secretary may have been Coombs (an accountant). Due to the expertise of one particular member their telescope mirror making classes were very successful.

During the 1960s its sole telescope was a (27-centimetre) 10.5-inch reflector on a German equatorial mount housed in a rail-mounted run-off shed. Due to lack of premises it was located for several year in the yard at Geelong West Technical School. In 1995 the Geelong Astronomical Society lost its Belmont Common club rooms and most of its equipment in a flood. One of the astronomical highlights of the 1960s was attending a public lecture in Ballarat by the astronomer Bart Bok (1906-1983) a Director of the Mount Stromlo Observatory. He gave numerous public lectures. I gave up membership of the 1st Manifold Heights Scout Troop to have more time for amateur astronomy. (Joining a Scout Troop was simply a move up from attending the Geelong Police Boys Club. The periodic Scout camps were always fun.) Prior to one Friday night scout troop meeting I observed an erratic bright white light in the sky for several minutes which I thought may have been an instance of ball lightning (a somewhat elusive and controversial phenomenon). Before it simply vanished its descending and ascending and zigzag movements at variable speeds was fascinating. For a very short time I was also a member of the Astronomical Society of Victoria.

My astronomical interests now mostly involve lunar observation and the history of Babylonian astral sciences.

I have a Celestron 5 telescope (purchased in the early 1970s), a Bintel 25-centimetre Dobsonian (purchased 2010), and a 20-centimetre f/25 (Dall-Kirkham) Cassegrain telescope (purchased in the late 1960s, now disassembled). Rather surprisingly the motor drive of the Celestron 5 was flawed and the twin motor drives had to be replaced. I have a lot of respect for the staff at Bintel who are well informed and provide excellent customer service.

The Australian gliding pioneer Percy Pratt fostered my interest in freethought and atheism by giving me a number of books from his personal collection. At that time I was in my mid teens. One of the books was A History of the Popes by Joseph McCabe (2 Volumes, 1939). I kept that in my library until I secured a hardbound copy. Another influential person was the Latvian linguist and atheist Gregory Smelters (Sydney). We corresponded for several years but only met once. He was very combative in his writings and correspondence with people. I found him to be a very helpful, very quiet, very polite, and very friendly. One of his best published articles had the misfortune to be published with a key misprint. He guided the drafting of the early parts of my manuscript on Western atheism. Unfortunately - despite the brilliance of his approach - he is now almost forgotten.

During the 1970s I was variously involved with the Atheist Society of Australia (for which I wrote a series of articles), the Rationalist Society of Victoria (who seemed to be without direction), and the Secular Society of Victoria (organised by Nigel Sinnott in the late 1970s). It was there I first met Mark Plummer, a person I was unimpressed with then and still remain unimpressed with now. It was only years after I first met him that somebody stated he was an ex-Scientologist. He had a huge influence on the humanists and the skeptics in Victoria. I took this as evidence of their credulity. I first met Nigel Sinnott in London when he was editor of The Freethinker. He allowed me to make use of the extensive freethought library in the basement of the building; the library was slowly being ruined by storage in damp conditions. (I even used to make use of my lunch hour to go there.) There was no money to secure better storage conditions for the collection of scarce freethought material. A lot of it was ruined, including a complete run of The Freethinker journal. Nigel Sinnott later moved to Australia and started the short-lived Secular Society of Victoria. He had a modest but impressive freethought library.

In the late 1980s I briefly served on the committee of the Humanist Society of Victoria. However, attendance at a meeting that went for over 6 hours (and then I had to drive another committee member home) dampened my enthusiasm.

During the 1960s I studied Mas Oyama's Kyokushinkai style of karate. (Peter Fisher and I originally started training out of interest at Frank Everett's gym in Geelong.) In 1967/1968 I trained under Shigeru Kato who was sent to Australia by Mas Oyama to help establish Kyokushinkai karate in Sydney, Melbourne and Perth. At the time he was 5th Dan. It was remarked that up to that time he was probably the best fighter to come to Australia. He later became involved with professional Thai kick-boxing, and lost an eye during a contest. When in Australia he initially introduced the full rigors of karate training in Japan (He thought nothing of doing 100 to 200 push-ups and initially expected everybody else to keep up.) I was awarded 4th-kyu (Green Belt) by Shigeru Kato. In 1968 after Mas Oyama ineptly replied to my 'letter of concerns' it became obvious that reforms were not possible and I left the Australian Kyokushinkai movement. (I remain suspicious of it because the early days of Kyokushinkai in Australia were full of 'politics' and antics and it was also controlled by judo/jiu jitsu persons.) I then studied Goju Ryu [Gōju Kai] karate under Tino Ceberano until circa the end of 1969. For a time I was engaged as a karate instructor by William Paauw at his International School of Self Defense in Geelong. However, I decided I did not want to be associated with William Paauw in any way. I initially met William Paauw through Peter Fisher. I gave a number of breaking demonstrations (hand, foot and head) to promote interest in karate in Geelong. Frank Everett, Peter Fisher and myself regularly drove to Melbourne for karate training.

The history of William Paauw and his International School of Self Defense in Little Ryrie Street, Geelong is slowly being rewritten. Paauw may have introduced Kito Ryu Jiujitsu into Australia at the end of the 1950s but he did not introduce Kyokushinkai karate. He did not train in Melbourne where Kyokushinkai karate was introduced by Ivan Zavechanos through one of the Melbourne judo schools. At the time of establishing his International School of Self Defense in Geelong, Paauw claimed to be the 1954 European champion of some martial arts competition. It appears this was a particular competition/championship connected with the Dutch Air Force. Two of the best fighters connected with the International School of Self Defense were Mervyn Nelis and Brian Ellison. Both were good fighters before their connection with the International School of Self Defense.

Ray Stevens, a member of the Australian occupational forces in Japan studied under Minehiko Nakano and brought Jiu Jitsu to Australia (Brisbane) in the early 1950s. The first Judo school in Australia was established by Arthur Ross in 1928 (in Brisbane).

I have been concerned with pseudo-scientific beliefs for some 50 years, especially astrology. I was in regular contact with James Randi prior to his Australian visit in 1980, helping to sort out his itinerary. I was also involved with the formative days of the Australian Skeptics and remain unimpressed with the group (which still talks of its members even though they have no members). The establishment and early days of the Australian Skeptics - and questionable conduct - has now become obscured. (The threat of litigation was used to silence 1 critic (an ex-committee member).) During the 1990s I chanced across David Miller and over a number of years gave a series of talks on freethought and skepticism to the Existentialist Society, Melbourne (a name around which public talks are organised by David Miller). The indefatigable David Miller is a landmark in the promotion of quality freethought/critical talks in Melbourne (which he has kept in place for several decades). During this period I was also President of the Atheist Society, Melbourne (Secular Who's Who by Ray Dahlitz (1994)).

During the 1980s I took up bushwalking and hill climbing and usually completed walking trips rated 2-day difficult in 1-day. For a year I favoured the Warburton area. The popular Australian country singer Diana Trask (also a popular performer in the USA during the 1960s and 1970s) was born in Warburton. Due to the need to lose weight I plan to resume these activities.

I used to enjoy sky diving to relax but gave it up after colliding with a caravan during a high-wind landing. Circa the early 1980s I was a member of the Meredith [Geelong] Parachute Club for 3-4 years and completed 100 jumps. (My parachute of choice was a Piglet II; light and compact, reliable and usually fast to open, fast forward speed, but unsuitable for rapid maneuvering close to the ground as it was prone to develop a swinging motion that took time to cease.) The highest altitude I have jumped from is 4,500 metres. The lowest height my parachute opened at is 250 metres (due to problems dealing with a vicious flat spin). It's easy to determine when you are very close to the ground - it appears to move laterally away from you.

At Port Fairy, Victoria, I did one high wind jump with the Piglet II. Close to the ground I just missed hitting power lines and on landing I ended up being dragged over large stones until I could 'cut away' from the parachute. I liked to freefall through clouds but it was possible to become disoriented. I really liked 'flying/soaring' across the sky during freefall (with both arms positioned along the body). The only faster way to move was to position myself head down.

During my early training I participated in a freefall instructor buddy jump from 2500 metres. It was the first time, or very nearly the first time, this was done in Australia as a training method. It is now sanctioned as a training method and termed Accelerated Freefall. I exited the plane with 2 very experienced instructors holding onto me. At 800 metres one of the instructors pulled my ripcord and then both soared away to open their parachutes.

I am an avid book collector and have an extensive library on astronomy, history, science, mythology, freethought, and skepticism. I started my collection in the mid 1960s and frequently travelled to Melbourne by train to visit the then numerous second-hand book stores. My favourite was Kay Craddock's antiquarian bookstore. Due to lack of space for shelves the bulk of my library has been consigned to storage for several decades. Hopefully, over the next several years I will have the bulk of my library shelved. Though I have not focused on adding to my collection of freethought material for several decades it comprises a solid collection of late 19th-century and early 20th-century material. A lot of my early material was obtained from the British humanist/secularist writer, poet, and freethought bookseller Kit Mouat (Jean Mackay) during the 1970s. We became good friends and whilst living and working in England I regularly visited her in Cuckfield, Sussex. Later sources for freethought material were All Points of View in the USA, and Robert Forder in the United Kingdom. I likely have the largest private collection of occupational health and safety books/materials in Australia. The massive freethought library of the Rationalist Society of New Zealand has remained intact due to my 2 interventions in the late 1970s. During the course of interior renovations at this time at Rationalist House there were several efforts to remove the older material as redundant (and also because shelving space was an issue). I managed to prevent this from occurring during the course of 2 visits over 6 months. These types of episodes are now lost to historians of the Rationalist Society of New Zealand. Between 1975 and 1990 I completed a manuscript of some 500,000 words on the history of Western atheism. Its publication by Prometheus Books was discussed with Gordon Stein (1941-1996) several years before his death.

My enormous collection of photocopied journal articles on OHS and astronomy (constellation related topics) was essentially put together between 1975 and 2005. For the astronomy material I mostly used University of Melbourne and travelled regularly to Canberra to the Australian National University (including the library at Mount Stromlo Observatory), and to Sydney to the University of Sydney. This was largely done between 1985 and 2005. The loss of the library resources at Mount Stromlo, due to a fire storm, are keenly felt. (I first travelled to Mount Stromlo in the early 1960s.) It was an excellent and readily accessible library managed by friendly people. They gently suspected me of using more photocopying paper than I was paying for.

Since circa 1990 I have especially focused on obtaining German-language books/pamphlets on the early history of astronomy and by pioneers of the rediscovery of Babylonian astronomy. Part of this focus has also been on obtaining early German-language material on Panbabylonism - a most interesting fiction - and the preceding Star Myth school.

I am (slowly) putting together reasonably detailed biographies of the early pioneers of Babylonian mathematical astronomy, Joseph Epping, Johann Strassmaier, Franz Kugler, and Johann Schaumberger (and reconstructing their relevant relationships). Whilst there is a lack of archival resources such as letters/correspondence and diaries/journals for gleaning detailed biographical information, and other written estate to build on (especially for Joseph Epping), considerable information can be obtained from obituaries, book reviews, and journal articles that discuss their work. There is still a degree of confusion/misunderstanding regarding their relevant relationships/cooperation with each other.

I first accessed Franz Kugler's monumental study Sternkunde und Sterndienst in Babel in the British Museum Library, in 1971. I am now fortunate enough to possess my own complete copy (and everything else he wrote on Babylonian astronomy). In the 1960s and 1970s Kugler, etc., were almost forgotten and unknown.

Studies of Occidental Constellations and Star Names to the Classical Period: An Annotated Bibliography

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