However deficient by modern standards was the astronomical knowledge of most early astronomers, one never ceases to wonder at the completeness and precision of some of their results, derived as they were from inaccurate observations made with the naked eye or with crude instruments. The main results of astronomy that could be discovered by the naked eye actually were discovered by the best ancient observers. Planetary Systems from the Ancient Greeks to Kepler describes the detailed technical models whereby astronomers prior to Newton accounted for their observations.

Unlike histories of...