UGS 303 Lecture Notes - Lecture 2: Earth'S Rotation, Net Force, Naked Eye
1 Sep 2015
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Document Summary
Naked eye objects; seen as long as beings looked up. Thought the earth was at the center; planet (planatae) means wanderer Based on idea of circular orbits (simplicity in nature) Ptolemy made first important model of universe (based on aristotle"s ideas) Earth at center gave us a special place in the universe. Idea held up until nearly 1600 ce; became part of society. Sun at center (1507) and earth rotated on its axis. Wrote in scholarly language (latin, mathematics, philosophy) so it was not very well read. However, not very accurate since it still relied on circular orbits. Used observational data to establish three laws (sun-centered) Predicted accurate positions (100x more accurate) with sun at center. Church blacklisted his books, but he was never punished. Milky way made up of faint, distant stars. Wrote in italian, so the works were widely read. Published in 1632, placed under house arrest in 1633, died in 1642.
