ASTRONOMY

According to the Book of Mormon, the ancient Americans were well advanced in their knowledge of the movements of the stars and planets: “all the planets which move in their regular form doth witness that there is a Supreme Creator” (Alma 16:55).

“And behold there shall be a new star arise, such as one ye never have beheld.”—Helaman 5:59.

Before the great mounds of the prehistoric cities of Central America were opened up, earned men thought that the pre-historic Americans were unlearned barbarians. They have now revised their concepts. No revisions are necessary for the Book of Mormon.

Herbert Spinden, PhD., says:

When the most of our ancestors were untutored barbarians, the Mayan-Priest astronomers had developed their science to a mathematical precision. . . . They could tell the exact number of days between the recurrence of any phenomena.

The Mayas in their knowledge of the movements of the heavenly bodies—the sun, moon, Venus, and probably other planets as well, far excelled both the ancient Egyptians and Babylonians. Their mathematical system included the use of the abstract mathematical quantity of zero which is recognized as one of the outstanding achievements in the history of the world.