Humans have been observing the Moon since ancient times in hopes of explaining the mysteries of its movements, topography, origin, and composition. Early records of lunar study date back to 2200 b.c., when the Mesopotamians observed lunar eclipses. By 500 b.c. the Chaldeans had developed a system of predicting eclipses, and Aristotle, the Greek philosopher, concluded that the Earth was ball-shaped based on his study of lunar eclipses circa 335 b.c. Other ancient discoveries include the observation by Anaxagoras, a Greek philosopher, that the Moon does not produce its own light but reflects sunlight, and Posidonius's explanation of the Moon's effect on the Earth's ocean tides.

The first attempt at figuring the distance between the Earth and the Moon was carried out by Aristarchus, a Greek astronomer, around 280 b.c., but the mathematical and technological advances of the Renaissance allowed for a more accurate and detailed study of...