ASTR-1010 Lecture Notes - Lecture 3: Chichen Itza, Star Catalogue, Copernican Revolution
19 Feb 2017
School
Department
Course
Professor
Document Summary
Theme: how over the centuries, science has gone disrepute to being held in high regard. Many cultures throughout the world practiced astronomy. Over a period of time, they would notice the cyclic motions of: sun, moon, planets, stars. Famous structure in england was used as an observatory. Li(cid:448)ed i(cid:374) (cid:862)fou(cid:396) (cid:272)o(cid:396)(cid:374)e(cid:396)s(cid:863) a(cid:396)ea of w u a. Build structures to mark solstices and equinoxes. Noon of the summer solistice: sun dagger at fajada. Archaeologists and anthropologists surmise: to keep time, for agricultural purposes, for religious purposes. As far as we can tell, none of these ancient cultures tried to build a physical model based on their observations. Instead, they created myths to explain the motions of the objects in the sky. **hallmark of real science involves hypotheses and theories to be tested. Lots of the names of the seven days of the week are astronomical in origin. Instruments: motion & model of planets, sun, moon.
