Africa : Speaking with Earth and Sky

by Foster, Craig; Foster, Damon; Mbeki, Thabo; Hutchinson, Michael

• ISBN13: 9780864866646
• ISBN10: 086486664X
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2011-09-15
• Publisher: Intl Pub Marketing

Summary

Africa, Speaking with Earth and Sky aims to acknowledge and honor the cosmic wisdom of the African people, and to reconcile contemporary science with Africa's rich and often neglected heritage. This book draws on material gathered during the making of three documentary films by the award-winning South African filmmaking duo, Craig Foster and Damon Foster, who have dedicated their life's work to the telling of Africa's untold stories. The chasing hunt of the San hunters of the Kalahari, who follow their prey for days until the antelope tires of running, is perhaps one of the oldest rituals involving humankind and animal, and had never been captured on film before. The filmmakers take us back to the oldest known observatory where humans painstakingly plotted the movement of the planets and the stars, and follows South African astrophysicist Dr. Thebe Medupe, one of only two black astrophysicists worldwide, as he journeys through Africa's relationship with the cosmos and reconciles his scientific knowledge with the traditional knowledge held by his African ancestors. This book represents the ways things were on our planet for over 100 000 years, reminding us that the indigenous knowledge of our ancestors holds vital clues to how we should face our uncertain future in an expanding cosmos. Africa, Speaking with Earth & Sky transports us to a time when all humans were Africans, honoring the African Renaissance and providing a new chapter in the ongoing evolution of African consciousness.