AST 2002 Lecture Notes - Lecture 3: Orbital Period, Geocentric Model, Minute And Second Of Arc
Document Summary
Scientific thinking is based on everyday ideas of observation and trial and error experiments. How is modern science rooted in ancient astronomy. For practical purposes, including ag, and for religious and ceremonial purposes. Ancient people of central africa 6500 bc could predict season from the orientation of the moon. Greeks were the first people known to make models of nature. They tried to explain patterns in nature without resorting to myth or the supernatural. The most sophisticated geocentric model was that of ptolemy (ad 100-170) the ptolemaic model: Sufficiently accurate to remain in use for 1500 years. He used the model to determine the layout of the solar system (planetary distances in au) But the model was no more accurate that the ptolemaic model in predicting planetary positions, because it still used perfect circles. Arcminute) naked eye measurements ever made of planetary positions.
