Finding our place in the solar system : the scientific story of the Copernican revolution /
| Main Authors: | , |
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| Corporate Author: | |
| Format: | eBook |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Cambridge :
Cambridge University Press,
2019.
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| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | Connect to the full text of this electronic book |
Table of Contents:
- Cover; Half-title; Title page; Copyright information; Dedication; Contents; Preface; 1 Introduction: mysterious skies; 1.1 Three mysteries; 1.2 Why should you read this book?; 1.3 The nature of science; 1.4 Changing knowledge; 2 Two spheres: modeling the heavens and the Earth; 2.1 Watching the stars; 2.1.1 The circling skies; 2.1.2 Numbers on the sky; 2.2 Tracking the Sun; 2.2.1 Changing seasons; 2.2.2 Sticks and shadows; 2.2.3 The ecliptic circle; 2.2.4 Constellations of the zodiac; 2.3 Around the Earth; 2.3.1 North and south; 2.3.2 The Earth's curve; 2.3.3 A matter of time
- 2.4 Precession: a third sphere2.5 Reflections on science; 3 Wanderers: the Moon and the planets; 3.1 The ever-changing Moon; 3.1.1 The Moon's motion against the stars; 3.1.2 Lunar phases; 3.1.3 Lunar calendars; 3.2 Eclipses: hiding the Sun and Moon; 3.3 Solar and lunar distances; 3.3.1 Aristarchus on the distances and sizes; 3.3.2 Parallax: watching from two places at once; 3.4 The wandering stars; 3.4.1 Strange motions; 3.4.2 Inferior planets; 3.4.3 Superior planets; 3.5 Reflections on science; 3.5.1 Categories and classification; 3.5.2 Correlation and causation
- 3.5.3 The power of mathematics3.5.4 Astronomical vocabulary; 4 An Earth-centered cosmos: astronomy and cosmology from Eudoxus to Regiomontanus; 4.1 Spheres within spheres; 4.1.1 The homocentric spheres of Eudoxus; 4.1.2 The Eudoxan planets; 4.1.3 Refinements and flaws; 4.2 Ancient Greek cosmology: Plato and Aristotle; 4.2.1 Plato's cosmology; 4.2.2 The Aristotelian cosmos; 4.2.3 Aristotle's physics; 4.3 Heavenly circles and predictive astronomy; 4.3.1 Epicycles and eccentrics; 4.3.2 The greatest: Ptolemy's Almagest; 4.3.3 The Planetary Hypotheses; 4.4 Astronomy and cosmology after Ptolemy
- 4.4.1 Criticisms of Ptolemy4.4.2 Criticism of Aristotle; 4.4.3 New additions; 4.5 Reflections on science (and history of science); 5 Moving the Earth: the revolutions of Copernicus; 5.1 On the Revolutions of the Heavenly Spheres; 5.2 Copernican planetary theory; 5.3 The order of the heavens; 5.4 Problems and purpose; 5.5 Reflections on science; 6 Instruments of reform: Tycho's restoration of observational astronomy; 6.1 The reception of De revolutionibus; 6.2 The noble astronomer; 6.3 Breaking the spheres; 6.4 Stars against Copernicus; 6.5 The Tychonic system; 6.6 Reflections on science
- 7 Physical causes: Kepler's new astronomy7.1 The secret of the universe; 7.2 A new astronomy from physical causes; 7.3 The war on Mars; 7.4 The harmony of the world; 7.5 Reflections on science; 8 Seeing beyond Aristotle: Galileo's controversies; 8.1 Message from the stars; 8.2 Many controversies; 8.3 Moving beyond Aristotle; 8.4 Astronomy after Galileo; 8.5 Reflections on science; 9 The system of the world: Newton's universal physics; 9.1 Curious characters: Newton and Hooke; 9.1.1 Isaac Newton; 9.1.2 Robert Hooke; 9.2 Letters between rivals; 9.3 The Principia: Books I and II