Abstract
The constellations appear to tell the story of a great flood. How is this possible? The human mind is designed to see patterns, like figures in the clouds. Since early times, the human imagination has connected stars into familiar patterns, which we call constellations. Most sound like a complete stretch. Yet a surprising number of basic images appear across cultures-a fish, a snake, a ship, a sacrifice. Is it possible that some constellations commemorate an earth-changing event seared into humanity's memory? That's what the famous 19th-century popularizer of astronomy, Richard A. Proctor, proposed in his book Myths and Marvels of Astronomy.