Abstract
At the beginning of the 16th Century, the ideas of Aristotle and Ptolemy continued to dominate astronomy, and the predominant world view was geocentric. Ptolemy’s planetary models were reasonably accurate in predicting celestial positions. However, his use of the equant forced planetary epicycles to move with non-uniform speed around their deferent, which was a problem for many Classical Greek traditionalists.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Notes
- 1.
Heath, Greek Astronomy,pp. xlvi and 94-95. For a good discussion of this issue, see Dreyer,A History of Astronomy from Tholes to Kepler,200 edn, pp. 123-135.
- 2.
Archimedes, The Sand Reckoner,Heath, pp. 1-2.
- 3.
Dreyer, A History of Astronomy from Tholes to Kepler,200 edn, pp. 147-148.
- 4.
For a discussion of how Copemicus arrived at his heliocentric model, see CluttonBrock (2005, pp. 197-216) and Goddu (2006, pp. 37-53, but especially pp. 45-46).
- 5.
Copernicus likely knew that his system had more circular components that Ptolemy’s, but this at least allowed him to combine the circles for eacb planet that accounted for the Earth’s motion into one, which produced a more unified system. This is nicely explained in Gingerich, The Book Nobody Read,pp. 53-60. Gingerich also debunks the myth that Copernicus was primarily motivated by the observational inaccuracies of geocentrism to develop his heliocentric mode!. He later summarizes: “Copernicus’s achievement was not something forced by fresh observations, but rather was a triumph of the mind in envisioning what was essentially a more beautiful arrangement of the planets" (p. 116).
- 6.
Van Netten,Journalji>r the History of Astronomy,vol. 43, pp. 75-91.
- 7.
Moxon, A Tutor to Astronomie and Geographie(facsimile), pp. 12-13.
- 8.
Ibid.,p. 14.
- 9.
In this section, only a few of the major proponents of the geoheliocentric view will be mentioned. For more examples, the reader shonld consult Heninger (2004, pp. 53-80) and Omodeo’s article (2011, pp. 439-454) on David Origanus, whose world view was a compromise between Tycho Brahe and Riccioli.
- 10.
Martianus Capella,Martianus Capel/a and the Seven Liberal Arts,vol. 2, The Marriage of Philology and Mercury.See also Danielson (2000, p. 80) and Shanzer (1986, p. 113).
- 11.
For a thoughtful discussion of this issue, see Dreyer, A History of Astronomy from Thales toKepler, 2ndedn,pp.129-130.
- 12.
Copernicus, On the Revolutions of Heavenly Spheres,Wallis, p. 21-22.
- 13.
The chain of events that led to these ideas has been well described by Broecke (Journal for the History of Astronomy,vol. 37, pp. 1-17) and Granada (Journal for the History of Astronomy,vol. 37,pp. 126-145).
- 14.
CaroJino,Journalji>r the History of Astronomy,vol. 39, pp. 313-344.
- 15.
Jardine, Harloe, et al., Journal ji>r the History of Astronomy,vol. 36, pp. 125-165; Jardine, Launert, et al., Journal ji>r the History of Astronomy,vol. 36, pp. 82-106; Gingerich, The Book Nobody Read,pp. 113-118; Gingerich and Westman, Trans Am Phil Soc,vol. 78(7), pp.50-69.
- 16.
Riccioli presented 126 arguments in his book related to Copernicus’s heliocentrism, 49 for and 77 against (Graney, Journalfor the History of Astronomy,vol. 43, p. 214). He critically discussed them and generally came out on the “against” side. He even criticized Galileo for supporting Copernicus (see Graney, Journal for the History of Astronomy,vol. 41, pp. 453-467).
- 17.
Raphael, Journalji>r the History of Astronomy,vol. 42, pp. 73-90.
- 18.
Hood, The Use of the Celestial Globe(facsimile),pp.17v-18v.
- 19.
Grasshoff, Journalji>r the History of Astronomy,vol. 43, pp. 57-73.
- 20.
Tredwell, Joumalji>r the History of Astronomy,vol. 35, p. 312.
- 21.
Kepler, Somnium.See Rosen, pp. 27-28.
- 22.
Ibid.,p. 24 and p. 114.
- 23.
Ibid.,p. 15.
- 24.
Granada, Journaljor the History of Astronomy,vol. 39, pp. 469-495.
- 25.
For some of the Dominican arguments agamst Galileo and heliocentrism, see Guetrini, Journaljor the History of Astronomy,vol. 43, pp. 377-389.
- 26.
Drake, Galileo Galilei: Dialogue Concerning the Two Chief World Systems, pp. 373- 374.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2014 Springer Science+Business Media New York
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Kanas, N. (2014). Sun-Centered and Hybrid World Views. In: Solar System Maps. Springer Praxis Books. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-0896-3_5
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-0896-3_5
Publisher Name: Springer, New York, NY
Print ISBN: 978-1-4614-0895-6
Online ISBN: 978-1-4614-0896-3
eBook Packages: Physics and AstronomyPhysics and Astronomy (R0)