The Linden Observatory Complex is a heritage-listed former observatory and manufacture of optical precision implements and now residence, museum, observatory, education facility and meeting venue located at 91 – 111 Glossop Road, Linden, City of Blue Mountains, New South Wales, Australia. It was designed and built by Ken Beames from 1938 to 1948. It is also known as K Beames Engineering Co. The property is owned by the Linden Observatory Trust. It was added to the New South Wales State Heritage Register on 5 March 2010. History Foundations of modern astronomy Astronomy, it can be argued, is the oldest science in the world and practised by many of the ancient cultures. In ancient times astronomical practise involved the observation of the skies with the naked eye, noting the changes in and movement of the sun, stars and planets using this information to plot ritual or agricultural calendars. Some of the earliest recorded astronomical observations were made by the Chinese which date from the 6th century BC. One of these observations note the regular eclipses of the moon which were explained as the moon being attacked by a hungry dragon. People diligently made as much noise as possible so the dragon would flee. Western astronomy has its genesis in the kingdoms of Sumer and Assyria where priests used observation of the heavens for purposes of divination. Based in these practises Babylonia is credited with the development of a more sophisticated observation of the skies and detecting the periodic nature of astronomical activity that is able to be predicted through mathematics. The work of the Babylonian astronomers was the basis for Greek, Indian, Sassanian, Byzantine, Islamic, Central Asian and western European astrology. In the 4th century BC Greek astronomers were the first to develop a three dimensional model to describe the motion of the planets around the earth. Later, a slowly developing debate regarding the earth versus the sun as the centre of this movement grew, culminating in the work of Copernicus who posited a mathematically supported system where the planets revolved around the sun. His work was later expanded by Galileo and Kepler. Up until the 17th century, astronomy was positional and depended on observations of the naked eye. In the early 17th century a new instrument, the telescope was invented by Hans Lipperhey and quickly taken up and improved upon by Galileo Galilei. In 1610, armed with his 20 XX