Astronomy 2021A/B Lecture 2: astronomy 2021 chapter 2
6 Dec 2015
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Chapter 2 the science of life in the universe. 2. 1 the ancient debate about life beyond earth. Some ancient greek scholar argued that there must be life elsewhere, while others, especially aristotle, argued just the opposite. Our ancestors looked at the sky and attributed what they saw to the arbitrary actions of mythological beings, an idea still reflected in the fact that the planets carry the names of mythological gods. Ancient greeks sought rational explanations for what they could observe in the universe around them similar to modern day. It would be natural to assume that earth is a flat, motionless disk surmounted by a domelike sky across which the heavenly bodies move. Story of switch of ideology is parallel to the story of the development of science. Sun connection to day and night and seasons, moon to tides, religious implications. The ancient chinese kept detailed records of astronomical observations beginning some 5000 years ago.
