NATS 1880 Chapter Notes - Chapter 2: Semi-Major And Semi-Minor Axes, Net Force, Ellipse
25 Feb 2016
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Ch2: the science of life in the universe: guessed that the universe fundamentally consisted of water, and that. Earth was a flat disk on an infinite ocean: suggested that the universe was inherently understandable, not just the result of arbitrary or incomprehensible events. You could observe activity not only in the night sky, but all across the planet, and be able to define what was going on. Anaximander (610-546 bc) thales" student: suggested the notion of the celestial sphere. The heavens must form a complete circle: realized earth"s surface must be curved, incorrectly guessed it to be a cylinder, suggested an element called apeiron (infinite, constellations: total of 88, patterns of stars. Eratosthenes accurately measured the diameter of the spherical earth: 5 known planets plus the sun and the moon became our days of the week. Horizon: all points 90 degrees away from zenith. Meridian: line passing through zenith and connecting n and s points on the horizon.
