Ancient AstronomyMany ancient societies studied the stars. Now, many scientists study the stargazing practices of those societies. They also look at the tools these early societies made to look at stars. This form of archaeology and astronomy is currently studied as a serious branch of science. But in the beginning, it was very controversial. Many people were not willing to believe that primitive humans could understand the science of astronomy.At the end of the 19th century, the astronomer Norman Lockyer was active in this field. His studies covered Stonehenge and the pyramids of Egypt. He tried to bring this field into wide acceptance as a serious branch of science. But on the British Isles, interest in this field waned. Then in the 1960s, there was new interest. It was revived by astronomer Gerald Hawkins. He proposed that Stonehenge was a Stone Age computer. This interesting concept made people interested again.Around the same time, an engineer named Alexander Thom published the results of a study. His article stated that there was a widespread practice of accurate astronomy in ancient cultures. He said Stonehenge was used on the British Isles during ancient times. Hawkins's claims were widely dismissed. But Thom's analysis posed a problem. This challenged the historical academic beliefs at that time. A re-evaluation of Thom's fieldwork by Clive Ruggles tried to show that his claims were not supportable. But there was evidence of widespread interest in astronomy at these Stone Age sites.Only one scientist, Euan Mackie, agreed that Thom's theories needed to be tested. This man went to the Kintraw standing stone site in Argyllshire in 1970 and 1971. Here he checked whether Thom's prediction about the accuracy of the observation platform above the stone was correct. He checked the alignment of the platform with the stone. He found that it was correct. Thom's conclusions were accepted. These were published in new prehistoric accounts of Britain. These persistent scientists proved that people from long ago did study the stars with accurate results. History was changed forever.What is the main idea of the passage?