300 likes | 315 Views
Historical Foundations of Astronomy. “If I have seen farther than others, it is because I have stood on the shoulders of giants” – Isaac Newton. Astronomy and Human Society. Measuring time Keeping track of seasons (important for agriculture) Navigation Mythology/Cosmogony Technology.
E N D
Historical Foundations of Astronomy “If I have seen farther than others, it is because I have stood on the shoulders of giants” – Isaac Newton
Astronomy and Human Society • Measuring time • Keeping track of seasons (important for agriculture) • Navigation • Mythology/Cosmogony • Technology
Mayan Observatory at Chichen Itza, Yucatan “When you notice the daughters of Atlas, the Pleiades, rising, start on your reaping, and on your sowing when they are setting.” -- Hesiod, Works and Days (800 B.C.E.)
Ptolemy’s ModelUniverse “Epicycles”
The Copernican Revolution • Born in Poland, 1473 • Developed a Sun-centered Model for the Universe • Still assumed circular orbits • Not much more accurate (or simple) than Ptolemaic Model
Galileo (1564-1642) Galileo’s Telescopes
Isaac Newton (1642-1727) Universal Law of Gravitation