"According to the Histories, the Chinese have already used the calendar for 3970 years, {since 2358 BC} which means that they have calculated eclipses, have known the movements of the celestial bodies, and have made other observations, of which I shall say more later. This goes back to the time of a king named Yao. In those days in the kingdom there were two brothers who understood astronomy: Hsi and Ho. Yao commanded them to draw up the rules of the movements of the celestial bodies."
The moon, also, when it is horned or half full, appears amazingly broken up and rough, so that I was spellbound at the many inequalities in the lunar body. Concerning this matter, consult Galileo Galilei's little book, The Sideral Messenger, printed at Venice in 1610, in which he describes various observations of stars made by him for the first time. Among other things disclosed by this insturment, not the least important is the evidence that Venus, like the moon, receives its light from the sun, so that it is horned, now more, now less, in accordance with its distance from the sun. (Clavis, 1611)