Looking at the incredible array of telescopes at Kitt Peak National Observatory, one can appreciate just how advanced the science of astronomy has become. Travel to Mexico's Yucatan peninsula to get a first hand look at the ancient world's most skilled astronomers: the Maya.

Host Michael Guillen studies the giant pyramid of Kukulkan and explains how, it functioned as a giant solar observatory. He examines the round structure at Tikal known as El Caracol which looks amazingly like a modern day observatory. Guillen demonstrates how the Maya might have used the sun to lay out their various temples and observatories and he examines their incredibly complex and accurate calendar. Learn how the Maya created vulcanized rubber in order to play their cosmological game of Pok-A-Pok.

(45 minutes)