George Basalla
- Published in print:
- 2006
- Published Online:
- September 2007
- ISBN:
- 9780195171815
- eISBN:
- 9780199786862
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195171815.001.0001
- Subject:
- Physics, History of Physics
This book records the long scientific search for extraterrestrial intelligence (SETI). Although philosophical speculation about alien civilizations dates to antiquity, the invention of the telescope ...
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This book records the long scientific search for extraterrestrial intelligence (SETI). Although philosophical speculation about alien civilizations dates to antiquity, the invention of the telescope in the 17th century inspired scientists like Johannes Kepler, Galileo Galilei, René Descartes, and Christiaan Huygens to consider the possibility of intelligent creatures living on the Moon or on the planets of our solar system. By the late 19th century, Mars became the focus of attention for astronomers searching for civilized life near the earth. The belief that Mars contained a superior civilization capable of building a global system of irrigation canals on the planet was supported by the Italian astronomer Giovanni Schiaparelli and the American Percival Lowell. In the 1960s and 1970s, data gathered by Soviet and American spacecraft challenged the assumption that Mars was the habitat for life of any sort. As the hunt for alien civilizations in the solar system waned, a new search began for signs of intelligent life in remote parts of the universe. This search used radio telescopes to scan the skies for any messages transmitted to earth by advanced extraterrestrial civilizations. Distinguished modern astronomers and physicists — Frank Drake, Philip Morrison, Carl Sagan — were convinced that electronic technology would allow contact with civilizations located many light years from earth. Unfortunately, the search for extraterrestrial intelligence was compromised by anthropomorphism (attributing human qualities to alien life and culture) and by an unconscious religious outlook that the superior beings living in outer space would help solve pressing social, economic, and technological problems.Less
This book records the long scientific search for extraterrestrial intelligence (SETI). Although philosophical speculation about alien civilizations dates to antiquity, the invention of the telescope in the 17th century inspired scientists like Johannes Kepler, Galileo Galilei, René Descartes, and Christiaan Huygens to consider the possibility of intelligent creatures living on the Moon or on the planets of our solar system. By the late 19th century, Mars became the focus of attention for astronomers searching for civilized life near the earth. The belief that Mars contained a superior civilization capable of building a global system of irrigation canals on the planet was supported by the Italian astronomer Giovanni Schiaparelli and the American Percival Lowell. In the 1960s and 1970s, data gathered by Soviet and American spacecraft challenged the assumption that Mars was the habitat for life of any sort. As the hunt for alien civilizations in the solar system waned, a new search began for signs of intelligent life in remote parts of the universe. This search used radio telescopes to scan the skies for any messages transmitted to earth by advanced extraterrestrial civilizations. Distinguished modern astronomers and physicists — Frank Drake, Philip Morrison, Carl Sagan — were convinced that electronic technology would allow contact with civilizations located many light years from earth. Unfortunately, the search for extraterrestrial intelligence was compromised by anthropomorphism (attributing human qualities to alien life and culture) and by an unconscious religious outlook that the superior beings living in outer space would help solve pressing social, economic, and technological problems.
Stephen Gaukroger
- Published in print:
- 2006
- Published Online:
- January 2007
- ISBN:
- 9780199296446
- eISBN:
- 9780191711985
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199296446.003.0006
- Subject:
- Philosophy, History of Philosophy
Many of the perceived failures of Aristotelian natural philosophy in the late 16th and early 17th centuries were put down to his conception of method. In fact, both defenders of Aristotle and his ...
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Many of the perceived failures of Aristotelian natural philosophy in the late 16th and early 17th centuries were put down to his conception of method. In fact, both defenders of Aristotle and his critics took his method of presentation for a method of discovery, the former trying to establish how it could act as a method of discovery, and the latter replacing it with something new. Bacon attempted to provide a radical alternative to Aristotelianism, though in some respects, it was locked into the same programme as Aristotle. Of more immediate significance were disputes over the hypothetical standing of Copernicanism, disputes in which Kepler and Galileo were major players.Less
Many of the perceived failures of Aristotelian natural philosophy in the late 16th and early 17th centuries were put down to his conception of method. In fact, both defenders of Aristotle and his critics took his method of presentation for a method of discovery, the former trying to establish how it could act as a method of discovery, and the latter replacing it with something new. Bacon attempted to provide a radical alternative to Aristotelianism, though in some respects, it was locked into the same programme as Aristotle. Of more immediate significance were disputes over the hypothetical standing of Copernicanism, disputes in which Kepler and Galileo were major players.
William L. Harper
- Published in print:
- 2011
- Published Online:
- May 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780199570409
- eISBN:
- 9780191728679
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199570409.003.0002
- Subject:
- Philosophy, History of Philosophy, Philosophy of Science
This chapter reviews the phenomena Newton cites. It introduces Römer’s measurement of a finite speed of light obtained from eclipses of one of Jupiter’s moons. It reviews Newton’s Phenomenon 1 and ...
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This chapter reviews the phenomena Newton cites. It introduces Römer’s measurement of a finite speed of light obtained from eclipses of one of Jupiter’s moons. It reviews Newton’s Phenomenon 1 and the data he cites in support of the area rule and harmonic rule for Jupiter’s moons. It introduces Newton’s phenomenon 2 and the data he cites in support of the area and harmonic rules for satellites of Saturn. It reviews Newton’s phenomenon 3, that the orbits of the planets encompass the sun, his phenomenon 4, Kepler’s harmonic rule for the planets, and his phenomenon 5, Kepler’s area rule for the planets. Appendix 1 gives details of Römer’s calculation. Appendix 2 gives a more detailed assessment of the satellite data cited by Newton. Appendix 3 gives details of Kepler’s determinations of periods and mean distances, as well as Kepler’s equation for area rule motion in his elliptical orbits.Less
This chapter reviews the phenomena Newton cites. It introduces Römer’s measurement of a finite speed of light obtained from eclipses of one of Jupiter’s moons. It reviews Newton’s Phenomenon 1 and the data he cites in support of the area rule and harmonic rule for Jupiter’s moons. It introduces Newton’s phenomenon 2 and the data he cites in support of the area and harmonic rules for satellites of Saturn. It reviews Newton’s phenomenon 3, that the orbits of the planets encompass the sun, his phenomenon 4, Kepler’s harmonic rule for the planets, and his phenomenon 5, Kepler’s area rule for the planets. Appendix 1 gives details of Römer’s calculation. Appendix 2 gives a more detailed assessment of the satellite data cited by Newton. Appendix 3 gives details of Kepler’s determinations of periods and mean distances, as well as Kepler’s equation for area rule motion in his elliptical orbits.
Louis A. Girifalco
- Published in print:
- 2007
- Published Online:
- January 2008
- ISBN:
- 9780199228966
- eISBN:
- 9780191711183
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199228966.003.0002
- Subject:
- Physics, History of Physics
Newton truly did stand on the shoulders of giants whose work prepared the way for modern science. For astronomy and gravity, these were Ptolemy, Copernicus, Tycho Brahe, and Kepler. Their individual ...
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Newton truly did stand on the shoulders of giants whose work prepared the way for modern science. For astronomy and gravity, these were Ptolemy, Copernicus, Tycho Brahe, and Kepler. Their individual characters and idiosyncrasies were essential forces that drove their studies. Their work progressed from a geocentric system in which all heavenly bodies circled the Earth to a heliocentric system in which the planets went around the Sun. The consequences for science, religion, politics, and philosophy were cataclysmic.Less
Newton truly did stand on the shoulders of giants whose work prepared the way for modern science. For astronomy and gravity, these were Ptolemy, Copernicus, Tycho Brahe, and Kepler. Their individual characters and idiosyncrasies were essential forces that drove their studies. Their work progressed from a geocentric system in which all heavenly bodies circled the Earth to a heliocentric system in which the planets went around the Sun. The consequences for science, religion, politics, and philosophy were cataclysmic.
Louis A. Girifalco
- Published in print:
- 2007
- Published Online:
- January 2008
- ISBN:
- 9780199228966
- eISBN:
- 9780191711183
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199228966.003.0005
- Subject:
- Physics, History of Physics
In the last half of the 18th century, the validity of the inverse square law was an urgent question. Kepler's laws of motion showed how the planets revolve around the Sun, but the form of the law ...
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In the last half of the 18th century, the validity of the inverse square law was an urgent question. Kepler's laws of motion showed how the planets revolve around the Sun, but the form of the law holding the planets in place was controversial. It was suspected that gravitational force was inversely proportional to the square of the distance, but no one could prove it. After a fruitless discussion among Wren, Halley, and Hooke, it was decided to take the problem to the only man they felt could handle it. Halley went to see Newton who informed him he had already proved it. He could not find the proof immediately and promised to send it. The document that Newton sent became the monumental Mathematica Principia, of which the correct theory of gravity was only one part. Newton showed that gravity was truly universal by applying it equally well to bodies falling on Earth and to the motion of the moon. All bodies — whatever their size or constitution — attract each other with the gravitational force.Less
In the last half of the 18th century, the validity of the inverse square law was an urgent question. Kepler's laws of motion showed how the planets revolve around the Sun, but the form of the law holding the planets in place was controversial. It was suspected that gravitational force was inversely proportional to the square of the distance, but no one could prove it. After a fruitless discussion among Wren, Halley, and Hooke, it was decided to take the problem to the only man they felt could handle it. Halley went to see Newton who informed him he had already proved it. He could not find the proof immediately and promised to send it. The document that Newton sent became the monumental Mathematica Principia, of which the correct theory of gravity was only one part. Newton showed that gravity was truly universal by applying it equally well to bodies falling on Earth and to the motion of the moon. All bodies — whatever their size or constitution — attract each other with the gravitational force.
Louis A. Girifalco
- Published in print:
- 2007
- Published Online:
- January 2008
- ISBN:
- 9780199228966
- eISBN:
- 9780191711183
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199228966.003.0007
- Subject:
- Physics, History of Physics
From the Sun to beyond Pluto, giant worlds, mini-planets, moons, and comets move in thrall to the law of gravitation. This has been called the System of the World for millennia. It is so large that ...
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From the Sun to beyond Pluto, giant worlds, mini-planets, moons, and comets move in thrall to the law of gravitation. This has been called the System of the World for millennia. It is so large that it takes six light hours to reach Pluto, and yet its motions are amazingly regular and precise. Its secrets were first exposed by Kepler, who found three astonishing regularities in planetary motions. Two of these applied to individual planets while the third directly linked all the planets. The study of the planets has been a key to the deepest truths of science.Less
From the Sun to beyond Pluto, giant worlds, mini-planets, moons, and comets move in thrall to the law of gravitation. This has been called the System of the World for millennia. It is so large that it takes six light hours to reach Pluto, and yet its motions are amazingly regular and precise. Its secrets were first exposed by Kepler, who found three astonishing regularities in planetary motions. Two of these applied to individual planets while the third directly linked all the planets. The study of the planets has been a key to the deepest truths of science.
George Basalla
- Published in print:
- 2006
- Published Online:
- September 2007
- ISBN:
- 9780195171815
- eISBN:
- 9780199786862
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195171815.003.0002
- Subject:
- Physics, History of Physics
Life on the Moon — an old notion — was revived by the astronomical work of Nicolaus Copernicus in the 16th century and the invention of the optical telescope in the early 17th century. Galileo ...
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Life on the Moon — an old notion — was revived by the astronomical work of Nicolaus Copernicus in the 16th century and the invention of the optical telescope in the early 17th century. Galileo Galilei reluctantly, and Johannes Kepler enthusiastically and in great detail, described lunar life and society using data collected by telescopic observation. Renewed interest in the Moon led to the making of the first detailed lunar maps.Less
Life on the Moon — an old notion — was revived by the astronomical work of Nicolaus Copernicus in the 16th century and the invention of the optical telescope in the early 17th century. Galileo Galilei reluctantly, and Johannes Kepler enthusiastically and in great detail, described lunar life and society using data collected by telescopic observation. Renewed interest in the Moon led to the making of the first detailed lunar maps.
Sarbani Basu and William J. Chaplin
- Published in print:
- 2017
- Published Online:
- May 2018
- ISBN:
- 9780691162928
- eISBN:
- 9781400888207
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Princeton University Press
- DOI:
- 10.23943/princeton/9780691162928.001.0001
- Subject:
- Physics, Particle Physics / Astrophysics / Cosmology
Studies of stars and stellar populations, and the discovery and characterization of exoplanets, are being revolutionized by new satellite and telescope observations of unprecedented quality and ...
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Studies of stars and stellar populations, and the discovery and characterization of exoplanets, are being revolutionized by new satellite and telescope observations of unprecedented quality and scope. Some of the most significant advances have been in the field of asteroseismology, the study of stars by observation of their oscillations. This book gives a comprehensive technical introduction to this discipline. It not only helps students and researchers learn about asteroseismology; it also serves as an essential instruction manual for those entering the field. The book presents readers with the foundational techniques used in the analysis and interpretation of asteroseismic data on cool stars that show solar-like oscillations. The techniques have been refined, and in some cases developed, to analyze asteroseismic data collected by the NASA Kepler mission. Topics range from the analysis of time-series observations to extract seismic data for stars to the use of those data to determine global and internal properties of the stars. Reading lists and problem sets are provided, and data necessary for the problem sets are available online.Less
Studies of stars and stellar populations, and the discovery and characterization of exoplanets, are being revolutionized by new satellite and telescope observations of unprecedented quality and scope. Some of the most significant advances have been in the field of asteroseismology, the study of stars by observation of their oscillations. This book gives a comprehensive technical introduction to this discipline. It not only helps students and researchers learn about asteroseismology; it also serves as an essential instruction manual for those entering the field. The book presents readers with the foundational techniques used in the analysis and interpretation of asteroseismic data on cool stars that show solar-like oscillations. The techniques have been refined, and in some cases developed, to analyze asteroseismic data collected by the NASA Kepler mission. Topics range from the analysis of time-series observations to extract seismic data for stars to the use of those data to determine global and internal properties of the stars. Reading lists and problem sets are provided, and data necessary for the problem sets are available online.
Alastair Fowler
- Published in print:
- 1996
- Published Online:
- October 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780198183402
- eISBN:
- 9780191674037
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198183402.003.0002
- Subject:
- Literature, 16th-century and Renaissance Literature
Renaissance science and theology interacted rather than diverged, in a period of fruitful dialogue. Renaissance astronomy, with its combination of ...
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Renaissance science and theology interacted rather than diverged, in a period of fruitful dialogue. Renaissance astronomy, with its combination of observational discoveries and extraordinarily wide-ranging, speculative hypotheses, was an important area of intellectual renewal. After Tycho Brahe's discovery of the 1572 nova, stellar imagery appeared throughout Europe in every context, from heraldry to architecture, painting to poetry. A special literary astronomy, a simplified system positing an ideal, changeless, primordial state of the heavens, untroubled by librations, precession, or stellar drift, emerged. None of the astronomical literature of the Renaissance suggests that the scientific revolution occasioned overwhelming doubt or loss of faith. On the contrary, it suggests rather enthusiasm and excitement. Of course there was uncertainty about the many astronomical hypotheses of the day. Yet the discoveries of Nicolaus Copernicus, Galileo, Brahe, and Johannes Kepler, seem to have had a surprisingly positive impact. This chapter deals with histories of heaven and the use of stellar imagery in Renaissance English literature.Less
Renaissance science and theology interacted rather than diverged, in a period of fruitful dialogue. Renaissance astronomy, with its combination of observational discoveries and extraordinarily wide-ranging, speculative hypotheses, was an important area of intellectual renewal. After Tycho Brahe's discovery of the 1572 nova, stellar imagery appeared throughout Europe in every context, from heraldry to architecture, painting to poetry. A special literary astronomy, a simplified system positing an ideal, changeless, primordial state of the heavens, untroubled by librations, precession, or stellar drift, emerged. None of the astronomical literature of the Renaissance suggests that the scientific revolution occasioned overwhelming doubt or loss of faith. On the contrary, it suggests rather enthusiasm and excitement. Of course there was uncertainty about the many astronomical hypotheses of the day. Yet the discoveries of Nicolaus Copernicus, Galileo, Brahe, and Johannes Kepler, seem to have had a surprisingly positive impact. This chapter deals with histories of heaven and the use of stellar imagery in Renaissance English literature.
Judith H. Anderson
- Published in print:
- 2017
- Published Online:
- September 2017
- ISBN:
- 9780823272778
- eISBN:
- 9780823272822
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Fordham University Press
- DOI:
- 10.5422/fordham/9780823272778.001.0001
- Subject:
- Literature, 16th-century and Renaissance Literature
Death, light, figuration, and, especially, analogical expressions of figuration are the primary subjects of this book. They generate associated interests: the relation of literature and science, the ...
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Death, light, figuration, and, especially, analogical expressions of figuration are the primary subjects of this book. They generate associated interests: the relation of literature and science, the methodology of thought and argument, and the processes of narrative, discovery, and interpretation. Creativity, optics, and rhetoric come into focus as well. Anderson’s book begins as an intellectual process that employs mathematical science, semantics, rhetoric, grammar, and major poems inclusively as a single culture, not as C. P. Snow’s cultural opposites. It explores the figuration of Sin and Death in Spenser, Donne, and Milton, then turns to light because of its inseparability from the figuration of life, death’s other. Accordingly, Anderson examines the history and structure of analogical figuration and the bearing of analogy on light in physics and metaphysics. Analogy, a type of metaphor also called proportion, has always been the connector of the known to the unknown, the sensible to the subsensible and infinite. The perceptual opposites of light and its intermediating forms are likewise focal: blackness, darkness, shade, twilight, and night. Traditionally, light also implies vision and imagination, light being essential to optics, creation, and the figuration of Being. Chapters on Kepler’s studies of light and optics, on Donne’s epic Anniversaries of personal death and cultural loss, and on analogy, night, and light in Paradise Lost conclude the book.Less
Death, light, figuration, and, especially, analogical expressions of figuration are the primary subjects of this book. They generate associated interests: the relation of literature and science, the methodology of thought and argument, and the processes of narrative, discovery, and interpretation. Creativity, optics, and rhetoric come into focus as well. Anderson’s book begins as an intellectual process that employs mathematical science, semantics, rhetoric, grammar, and major poems inclusively as a single culture, not as C. P. Snow’s cultural opposites. It explores the figuration of Sin and Death in Spenser, Donne, and Milton, then turns to light because of its inseparability from the figuration of life, death’s other. Accordingly, Anderson examines the history and structure of analogical figuration and the bearing of analogy on light in physics and metaphysics. Analogy, a type of metaphor also called proportion, has always been the connector of the known to the unknown, the sensible to the subsensible and infinite. The perceptual opposites of light and its intermediating forms are likewise focal: blackness, darkness, shade, twilight, and night. Traditionally, light also implies vision and imagination, light being essential to optics, creation, and the figuration of Being. Chapters on Kepler’s studies of light and optics, on Donne’s epic Anniversaries of personal death and cultural loss, and on analogy, night, and light in Paradise Lost conclude the book.
Frederique Ait-Touati
- Published in print:
- 2011
- Published Online:
- March 2013
- ISBN:
- 9780226011226
- eISBN:
- 9780226011240
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- University of Chicago Press
- DOI:
- 10.7208/chicago/9780226011240.001.0001
- Subject:
- History, History of Science, Technology, and Medicine
In today's academe, the fields of science and literature are considered unconnected, one relying on raw data and fact, the other focusing on fiction. During the period between the Renaissance and the ...
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In today's academe, the fields of science and literature are considered unconnected, one relying on raw data and fact, the other focusing on fiction. During the period between the Renaissance and the Enlightenment, however, the two fields were not so distinct. Just as the natural philosophers of the era were discovering in and adopting from literature new strategies and techniques for their discourse, so too were poets and storytellers finding inspiration in natural philosophy, particularly in astronomy. This book explores the evolving relationship that ensued between fiction and astronomical authority. By examining the writings of Kepler, Godwin, Hooke, Cyrano, Cavendish, Fontenelle, and others, the book shows that it was through the telling of stories—such as through accounts of celestial journeys—that the Copernican hypothesis, for example, found an ontological weight that its geometric models did not provide. The book draws from both cosmological treatises and fictions of travel and knowledge, as well as personal correspondences, drawings, and instruments, to emphasize the multiple borrowings between scientific and literary discourses. This volume looks at the practices of scientific invention, experimentation, and hypothesis formation by situating them according to their fictional or factual tendencies.Less
In today's academe, the fields of science and literature are considered unconnected, one relying on raw data and fact, the other focusing on fiction. During the period between the Renaissance and the Enlightenment, however, the two fields were not so distinct. Just as the natural philosophers of the era were discovering in and adopting from literature new strategies and techniques for their discourse, so too were poets and storytellers finding inspiration in natural philosophy, particularly in astronomy. This book explores the evolving relationship that ensued between fiction and astronomical authority. By examining the writings of Kepler, Godwin, Hooke, Cyrano, Cavendish, Fontenelle, and others, the book shows that it was through the telling of stories—such as through accounts of celestial journeys—that the Copernican hypothesis, for example, found an ontological weight that its geometric models did not provide. The book draws from both cosmological treatises and fictions of travel and knowledge, as well as personal correspondences, drawings, and instruments, to emphasize the multiple borrowings between scientific and literary discourses. This volume looks at the practices of scientific invention, experimentation, and hypothesis formation by situating them according to their fictional or factual tendencies.
Barry M. McCoy
- Published in print:
- 2009
- Published Online:
- February 2010
- ISBN:
- 9780199556632
- eISBN:
- 9780191723278
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199556632.003.0004
- Subject:
- Physics, Theoretical, Computational, and Statistical Physics
This chapter discusses Hales proof of Kepler's conjecture for densest packing of hard spheres and recent extensions to hard ellipsoids. It gives the proofs of lack of certain types of order in one ...
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This chapter discusses Hales proof of Kepler's conjecture for densest packing of hard spheres and recent extensions to hard ellipsoids. It gives the proofs of lack of certain types of order in one and two dimensions. It discusses the proofs of existence of ferromagnetic and antiferromagnetic order in classical and quantum Heisenberg magnets in three dimensions. Open questions and ‘missing theorems’ are presented.Less
This chapter discusses Hales proof of Kepler's conjecture for densest packing of hard spheres and recent extensions to hard ellipsoids. It gives the proofs of lack of certain types of order in one and two dimensions. It discusses the proofs of existence of ferromagnetic and antiferromagnetic order in classical and quantum Heisenberg magnets in three dimensions. Open questions and ‘missing theorems’ are presented.
Howard Marchitello
- Published in print:
- 2011
- Published Online:
- September 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780199608058
- eISBN:
- 9780191729492
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199608058.003.0004
- Subject:
- Literature, 16th-century and Renaissance Literature, Shakespeare Studies
This chapter discusses one of the great revolutions in early modern cosmology: the discovery of blemishes on the sun. In his Letters on Sunspots, Galileo understood these spots to constitute ...
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This chapter discusses one of the great revolutions in early modern cosmology: the discovery of blemishes on the sun. In his Letters on Sunspots, Galileo understood these spots to constitute definitive proof against the Aristotelian belief in a perfect universe. The detection of sunspots was enabled by Galileo's adaptation of the terrestrial telescope to celestial observation. But within this set of technical practices, sunspots are made “real” only by the very technology that enabled observation in the first place. Sunspots were “invented” by the telescope and the technologies of representation deployed in order to make them manifest both to the observer and—through print—to his readers. Galileo's sunspots trouble the conventional understanding of the relation between vision and belief. Rather than serving as an instance of sight conferring belief, these sunspots demonstrate the ways in which belief is first required in order that there can be a confirming vision.Less
This chapter discusses one of the great revolutions in early modern cosmology: the discovery of blemishes on the sun. In his Letters on Sunspots, Galileo understood these spots to constitute definitive proof against the Aristotelian belief in a perfect universe. The detection of sunspots was enabled by Galileo's adaptation of the terrestrial telescope to celestial observation. But within this set of technical practices, sunspots are made “real” only by the very technology that enabled observation in the first place. Sunspots were “invented” by the telescope and the technologies of representation deployed in order to make them manifest both to the observer and—through print—to his readers. Galileo's sunspots trouble the conventional understanding of the relation between vision and belief. Rather than serving as an instance of sight conferring belief, these sunspots demonstrate the ways in which belief is first required in order that there can be a confirming vision.
Karl Ameriks
- Published in print:
- 2012
- Published Online:
- January 2013
- ISBN:
- 9780199693689
- eISBN:
- 9780191745584
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199693689.003.0010
- Subject:
- Philosophy, History of Philosophy, Metaphysics/Epistemology
This chapter begins the section of the book focusing on Kant's discussions of a final purpose for existence. Kant compares the main hypothesis of his essay on the Idea of history with Kepler's ...
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This chapter begins the section of the book focusing on Kant's discussions of a final purpose for existence. Kant compares the main hypothesis of his essay on the Idea of history with Kepler's plotting of the elliptical pattern of planets. He argues that the cosmopolitan political aim of a world of just institutions can be brought about according to a pattern of eccentric historical developments, whereby the expansion of the antagonistic aspects of human nature lead to a need for just institutions. His deeper belief, however, is that our complete development has to involve satisfaction of the ‘self-esteem’ of our pure moral vocation. Ultimately, Kant holds that this vocation implies the need for powers that go beyond nature, and hence an affirmation of religion.Less
This chapter begins the section of the book focusing on Kant's discussions of a final purpose for existence. Kant compares the main hypothesis of his essay on the Idea of history with Kepler's plotting of the elliptical pattern of planets. He argues that the cosmopolitan political aim of a world of just institutions can be brought about according to a pattern of eccentric historical developments, whereby the expansion of the antagonistic aspects of human nature lead to a need for just institutions. His deeper belief, however, is that our complete development has to involve satisfaction of the ‘self-esteem’ of our pure moral vocation. Ultimately, Kant holds that this vocation implies the need for powers that go beyond nature, and hence an affirmation of religion.
Aviva Rothman
- Published in print:
- 2017
- Published Online:
- May 2018
- ISBN:
- 9780226496979
- eISBN:
- 9780226497020
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- University of Chicago Press
- DOI:
- 10.7208/chicago/9780226497020.001.0001
- Subject:
- History, History of Science, Technology, and Medicine
The Pursuit of Harmony follows astronomer Johannes Kepler and his efforts to establish harmony across the religious, scientific, and political boundaries of seventeenth-century Europe. Kepler, it ...
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The Pursuit of Harmony follows astronomer Johannes Kepler and his efforts to establish harmony across the religious, scientific, and political boundaries of seventeenth-century Europe. Kepler, it argues, hoped to harness his vision of cosmic harmony to a new vision of political and religious harmony, in which diverse perspectives could coexist in one peaceful community. The book situates Kepler at the heart of confessional struggles about the future of Lutheranism and its relationship to other Christian confessions, at the center of debates within the Republic of Letters about the new science, and in the midst of the heated court politics of the Holy Roman Empire. Harmony, in all cases, guided Kepler's efforts, and The Pursuit of Harmony charts the metaphysics that underpinned those efforts and the various theological, rhetorical, and mathematical strategies that Kepler employed in order to further them. In so doing, it offers not merely a new approach to Kepler himself, but also to European intellectual life in the post-Reformation era.Less
The Pursuit of Harmony follows astronomer Johannes Kepler and his efforts to establish harmony across the religious, scientific, and political boundaries of seventeenth-century Europe. Kepler, it argues, hoped to harness his vision of cosmic harmony to a new vision of political and religious harmony, in which diverse perspectives could coexist in one peaceful community. The book situates Kepler at the heart of confessional struggles about the future of Lutheranism and its relationship to other Christian confessions, at the center of debates within the Republic of Letters about the new science, and in the midst of the heated court politics of the Holy Roman Empire. Harmony, in all cases, guided Kepler's efforts, and The Pursuit of Harmony charts the metaphysics that underpinned those efforts and the various theological, rhetorical, and mathematical strategies that Kepler employed in order to further them. In so doing, it offers not merely a new approach to Kepler himself, but also to European intellectual life in the post-Reformation era.
F. Richard Stephenson and David A. Green
- Published in print:
- 2002
- Published Online:
- January 2010
- ISBN:
- 9780198507666
- eISBN:
- 9780191709876
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198507666.003.0005
- Subject:
- Physics, Particle Physics / Astrophysics / Cosmology
The most recent Galactic SN that can be confidently identified was seen in AD 1604, some five years before the advent of telescopic astronomy. This star, which appeared in Ophiuchus, reached a peak ...
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The most recent Galactic SN that can be confidently identified was seen in AD 1604, some five years before the advent of telescopic astronomy. This star, which appeared in Ophiuchus, reached a peak apparent magnitude close to -3 and remained visible for about twelve months. It was extensively observed in both Europe and East Asia. Combining European estimates of the changing brightness of the star with those made by the astronomers of Korea leads to a well-defined light curve, especially for the days close to maximum. By far the most precise positional observations were made in Europe — notably by Johannes Kepler and David Fabricius. Allowing for precession, the location of the star lies less than 1 arcmin from the centroid of a young shell-type remnant: G4.5+6.8.Less
The most recent Galactic SN that can be confidently identified was seen in AD 1604, some five years before the advent of telescopic astronomy. This star, which appeared in Ophiuchus, reached a peak apparent magnitude close to -3 and remained visible for about twelve months. It was extensively observed in both Europe and East Asia. Combining European estimates of the changing brightness of the star with those made by the astronomers of Korea leads to a well-defined light curve, especially for the days close to maximum. By far the most precise positional observations were made in Europe — notably by Johannes Kepler and David Fabricius. Allowing for precession, the location of the star lies less than 1 arcmin from the centroid of a young shell-type remnant: G4.5+6.8.
Nicholas Mee
- Published in print:
- 2020
- Published Online:
- September 2020
- ISBN:
- 9780198851950
- eISBN:
- 9780191886690
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/oso/9780198851950.003.0007
- Subject:
- Physics, History of Physics
Kepler sought patterns and symmetry in the laws of nature. In 1611 he wrote a booklet, De Niva Sexangular (The Six-Cornered Snowflake), in which he attempted to explain the structure of familiar ...
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Kepler sought patterns and symmetry in the laws of nature. In 1611 he wrote a booklet, De Niva Sexangular (The Six-Cornered Snowflake), in which he attempted to explain the structure of familiar symmetrical objects. Almost 300 years before the existence of atoms was definitively established, he concluded that the symmetrical shape of crystals is due to the regular arrangement of the atoms of which they are formed. He also investigated the structure of geometrical objects such as the Platonic solids and the regular stellated polyhedra, known today as the Kepler–Poinsot polyhedra. Like Kepler, today’s theoretical physicists are seeking patterns and symmetries that explain the universe. According to string theorists, the universe includes six extra hidden spatial dimensions, forming a shape known as a Calabi–Yau manifold. No-one knows whether string theory will revolutionize physics like Kepler’s brilliant insights, or whether it will turn out to be a red herring.Less
Kepler sought patterns and symmetry in the laws of nature. In 1611 he wrote a booklet, De Niva Sexangular (The Six-Cornered Snowflake), in which he attempted to explain the structure of familiar symmetrical objects. Almost 300 years before the existence of atoms was definitively established, he concluded that the symmetrical shape of crystals is due to the regular arrangement of the atoms of which they are formed. He also investigated the structure of geometrical objects such as the Platonic solids and the regular stellated polyhedra, known today as the Kepler–Poinsot polyhedra. Like Kepler, today’s theoretical physicists are seeking patterns and symmetries that explain the universe. According to string theorists, the universe includes six extra hidden spatial dimensions, forming a shape known as a Calabi–Yau manifold. No-one knows whether string theory will revolutionize physics like Kepler’s brilliant insights, or whether it will turn out to be a red herring.
John A. Adam
- Published in print:
- 2017
- Published Online:
- May 2018
- ISBN:
- 9780691148373
- eISBN:
- 9781400885404
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Princeton University Press
- DOI:
- 10.23943/princeton/9780691148373.003.0016
- Subject:
- Mathematics, Applied Mathematics
This chapter discusses Kepler's laws of planetary motion in relation to gravitational scattering. Gravitational scattering occurs when the paths of particles passing near a massive body are ...
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This chapter discusses Kepler's laws of planetary motion in relation to gravitational scattering. Gravitational scattering occurs when the paths of particles passing near a massive body are deflected. For small angle scattering, the change in velocity is a function of the gravitational force and the mass of the scattering particle. The perpendicular component of the speed change is influenced by the angle with respect to the initial unperturbed trajectory. The chapter first describes the polar equations of planetary orbits in which the central field is a gravitational one, focusing on two cases: a repulsive “gravitational” force with k > 0 and an attractive “gravitational” force with k < 0. It then considers the Hamilton-Jacobi equation for a central potential and revisits the Kepler problem before concluding with an analysis of hard sphere scattering and Rutherford scattering.Less
This chapter discusses Kepler's laws of planetary motion in relation to gravitational scattering. Gravitational scattering occurs when the paths of particles passing near a massive body are deflected. For small angle scattering, the change in velocity is a function of the gravitational force and the mass of the scattering particle. The perpendicular component of the speed change is influenced by the angle with respect to the initial unperturbed trajectory. The chapter first describes the polar equations of planetary orbits in which the central field is a gravitational one, focusing on two cases: a repulsive “gravitational” force with k > 0 and an attractive “gravitational” force with k < 0. It then considers the Hamilton-Jacobi equation for a central potential and revisits the Kepler problem before concluding with an analysis of hard sphere scattering and Rutherford scattering.
Robert S. Westman
- Published in print:
- 2011
- Published Online:
- March 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780520254817
- eISBN:
- 9780520948167
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University of California Press
- DOI:
- 10.1525/california/9780520254817.003.0012
- Subject:
- History, History of Science, Technology, and Medicine
At the end of the 1580s, Nicolaus Copernicus's theory was one alternative amid a proliferating field of representations of celestial order. Copernicus's proponents were distributed among different ...
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At the end of the 1580s, Nicolaus Copernicus's theory was one alternative amid a proliferating field of representations of celestial order. Copernicus's proponents were distributed among different networks—and also largely separated by them. Yet the Wittenberg interpretation had made certain parts of Copernicus's work both familiar and credible. References to Copernican parameters in academic textbooks were common from the 1550s onward. Heavenly practitioners of all stripes were using Erasmus Reinhold's Copernican planetary tables. Copernican planetary modeling practices had made serious inroads among a small group of unusually capable students of De Revolutionibus. This chapter examines Johannes Kepler's formation as an active adherent of Copernicus's central theory. First, it describes the Copernican situation at the end of the 1580s, and then looks at Kepler's Copernican formation at Tübingen between 1590 and 1594. It also discusses Kepler's shift in the astronomer's role, his physical-astrological problematic and encounter with Giovanni Pico della Mirandola, prognosticating (and theorizing) in Graz, Copernican cosmography and prognostication, Kepler's polyhedral hypothesis, and his logical and astronomical defense of Copernicus.Less
At the end of the 1580s, Nicolaus Copernicus's theory was one alternative amid a proliferating field of representations of celestial order. Copernicus's proponents were distributed among different networks—and also largely separated by them. Yet the Wittenberg interpretation had made certain parts of Copernicus's work both familiar and credible. References to Copernican parameters in academic textbooks were common from the 1550s onward. Heavenly practitioners of all stripes were using Erasmus Reinhold's Copernican planetary tables. Copernican planetary modeling practices had made serious inroads among a small group of unusually capable students of De Revolutionibus. This chapter examines Johannes Kepler's formation as an active adherent of Copernicus's central theory. First, it describes the Copernican situation at the end of the 1580s, and then looks at Kepler's Copernican formation at Tübingen between 1590 and 1594. It also discusses Kepler's shift in the astronomer's role, his physical-astrological problematic and encounter with Giovanni Pico della Mirandola, prognosticating (and theorizing) in Graz, Copernican cosmography and prognostication, Kepler's polyhedral hypothesis, and his logical and astronomical defense of Copernicus.
Robert S. Westman
- Published in print:
- 2011
- Published Online:
- March 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780520254817
- eISBN:
- 9780520948167
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University of California Press
- DOI:
- 10.1525/california/9780520254817.003.0013
- Subject:
- History, History of Science, Technology, and Medicine
Johannes Kepler's early representation of the heavens embodied an unprecedented convergence of elements in the political space of the Tübingen theological orthodoxy. The Mysterium Cosmographicum ...
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Johannes Kepler's early representation of the heavens embodied an unprecedented convergence of elements in the political space of the Tübingen theological orthodoxy. The Mysterium Cosmographicum aimed for a rigorous justification of the loose aesthetic standard that Nicolaus Copernicus had used to warrant a strong sense of world system, one that involved an interdependency of elements. Kepler was as yet uncertain how to construct the physics (or metaphysics) of a Copernican astrology. But he had managed to join a somewhat robust, even if idiosyncratic, physics to the Copernican astronomical premises that pushed not only the planets but also the limits of what Michael Maestlin, Kepler's strongest advocate, regarded as the domain of the thinkable. Three central participants from the world systems controversy of the 1580s were immediately attracted to the Mysterium Cosmographicum: Helisaeus Roeslin, Tycho Brahe, and Nicolaus Raimarus Ursus. All had a publicly vested interest in their own representations of celestial order. Three others were established professors of mathematics whose convictions were held privately and without any effort at public advocacy: Georg Limnaeus, Johannes Praetorius, and Galileo Galilei.Less
Johannes Kepler's early representation of the heavens embodied an unprecedented convergence of elements in the political space of the Tübingen theological orthodoxy. The Mysterium Cosmographicum aimed for a rigorous justification of the loose aesthetic standard that Nicolaus Copernicus had used to warrant a strong sense of world system, one that involved an interdependency of elements. Kepler was as yet uncertain how to construct the physics (or metaphysics) of a Copernican astrology. But he had managed to join a somewhat robust, even if idiosyncratic, physics to the Copernican astronomical premises that pushed not only the planets but also the limits of what Michael Maestlin, Kepler's strongest advocate, regarded as the domain of the thinkable. Three central participants from the world systems controversy of the 1580s were immediately attracted to the Mysterium Cosmographicum: Helisaeus Roeslin, Tycho Brahe, and Nicolaus Raimarus Ursus. All had a publicly vested interest in their own representations of celestial order. Three others were established professors of mathematics whose convictions were held privately and without any effort at public advocacy: Georg Limnaeus, Johannes Praetorius, and Galileo Galilei.
