Our place in the cosmos has been a source of fascination since the first human looked up at the splendor of the night sky. Every culture has reacted to the spectacle of the heavens with various sorts of religious awe. Babylonians watched the stars for omens, as did the Chinese. Petroglyphs in North America record novas. Greek gods are bound up with the constellations. Vanished cultures erected immense monuments like Stonehenge with an eye on the movements of the heavens. Egypt was rocked by a religious reform movement led by Akhenaten, who worshiped one god: the Sun.The sense of wonder...