How did the ancients describe

the place of the Earth?

How did Copernicus change the
place of the Earth?
Why was Galileo condemned by
the Inquisition?
How did Copernican astronomers
solve the puzzle of planetary
motion?

Lecture 1

1.
2.
3.

Historical development of
astronomy
Prior beliefs
Ancient astronomers and
development of astronomy

Archaeoastromy
The study of the astronomical sites which have left us with
no written records or names of the people who set up the
ruins that we study today.
It is understanding how these sites were used, and the
determination of what these ancients knew by studying the
geometry and alignments of the sites.

Stonehenge, Salisbury
Plain, England

Pyramids,
Gizeh near Cairo,
Egypt

Nabta

Stonehenge

Nazca Lines in Peru

Ancient Chinese Depiction of the

Celestial Sphere
Places near the
North Pole were
assigned to
nobility, with lesser
beings relegated to
lower latitudes.
This image dates
from the T'ang
Dynasty (600-800
a.d.) (The Granger
Collection)

Ancient Building in India

This is Konarak, a temple (c. 1240 a.d.) located on the Bay

of Bengal, south of Calcutta. It is dedicated to Surya, the
Hindu sun god, and is constructed with astronomical
alignments. (J. M. Malville).

The Venus Tables in the Dresden

Codex (Maya)

These tables show

that the Mayans
attached particular
significance to the
planet Venus.
(Historical Pictures
Service)

The Caracol Tower at Chiche Itz

This is one of the most significant of the many astronomically

oriented structures in Mesoamerica. (J. A. Eddy)

Pawnee Indian Sky Map

This chart, embossed on hide, appears to depict constellations

of the Northern Hemisphere skies. (From Von Del
Chamberlain 1982, When Stars Came Down to Earth:
Cosmology of the Skidi Pawnee Indians of North America
[Ballena Press: Los Altos, Calif.] Skidi Pawnee chart of the
heavens, Field Museum of Natural History, photograph by
Von Del Chamberlain)

North American Native

Petroglyphs
This Anasazi
drawing on a
ledge in Chaco
Canyon, New
Mexico, is
thought to
depict the great
supernova of
1054 a.d. (J. A.
Eddy)

Sun Dagger
On Fajada
Butte in Chaco
Canyon is this
spiral pattern,
which is
bisected by a
sliver of light
at the time of
the summer
solstice.
(National Park
Service)

The Bighorn Medicine Wheel

This prominent and well-studied North American Indian

medicine wheel is located in the Bighorn Mountains of
Wyoming. (U.S. Forest Service, provided by J. A. Eddy)

Historical Development
Greek Philosophy - Rational Thought, Observation,
Explanation, Hypothesis testing
Thales
The Universe is knowable, understandable
Pythagoras
Nature governed by geometry or mathematical
relations
Plato
Heavens perfect, perfect form (sphere), principle
of uniform circular motion
Aristotle
Heavens perfect, Geocentric universe, earth
sphere, immobile
Aristarchus
Earth rotated on its axis and revolved around the
sun

By Ptolemys time
Earth at centre of the universe and
heavens move in uniform circular motion
Observed motion does not fit theory e.g.
retrograde motion of planets

Ptolemy followed a geocentric model

and developed the most sophisticated
model of small circles (epicycles) to
demonstrate star and planetary
motions

The Copernican Revolution

Heliocentric universe, uniform circular
motion
Explains retrograde motion of the planets
Small variation of motion of sun, earth,
moon that he could not explain

Galileo A new way of knowing

about the world
What Galileo saw
Moon not perfect
Milky way made up of lots of stars
Moons circling around Jupiter
Sunspots on the sun and it moves
Venus goes thorough phases like moon

Arguments from observation

Observation: Moon not perfect, it has mountains
and valleys.
Argument against Ptolemaic model
Heavens not perfect, it is imperfect like Earth
Observation: Sunspots on the sun and it moves
Argument against Ptolemaic model
The sun is not perfect, sun rotates on its axis

Arguments from Observation

Observation: Moons moving around Jupiter
Argument for Ptolemaic model
Earth could not move, otherwise moon left
behind.

Argument for Copernican model

Jupiter moved yet kept its moons, so Earth could
move and keep its moon.
Jupiters moon revolve around Jupiter, so there
could be other centers of motion.

Argument from observation

Observation: Venus goes
thorough phases like the moon
Argument for Copernican
model
In the Ptolemaic model, Venus
moves around an epicycle
centered on a line between
Earth and the Sun. Venus
would always be seen as a
crescent.
Since Venus goes through
phases, then it must revolve
around the sun.

Tycho Brahe
Could not measure parallax for the stars
earth had to be stationary
Geocentric universe
Lots of observational data

Kepler
Heliocentric universe
Eliptical path
Threee laws of planetary motion

Greek Cosmos
Ptolemy

Kepler

Size of Earth
Eratosthenes

Altitude of sun at noon on Jun21

At zenith in Syene
7 south in Alexandria

Distance between cities

5000 stadia

5000 stadia____ = 7
Circumference of Earth 360

Circumstance of Earth = 5000 x 360

7
= 250,000 stadia
(about 40,000 km)