This unit examines the explosion of scientific knowledge and reasoning in the 15th and 16th centuries that laid the foundation for the development of the modern world. After the return of Columbus in 1493 with reports of a “New World” unknown to the ancients, and the shattering of the Catholic consensus by Martin Luther in 1517, the announcement by Copernicus on his deathbed in 1543 that the universe was not centered around the earth was the third and most unsettling blow to more than a thousand years of traditional wisdom. These new developments nourished an air of skeptical inquiry spread far and wide by the printing press. The primary method for understanding the world slowly shifted from simply accepting ancient authority and traditional teachings, to observation, measurement and analysis. Both Chapter 15 and the readings from “The Science of Liberty” demonstrate the profound social and political impacts of this new way of thinking.
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1. Unit 4They Moved the Earth!
2. Our closest neighbors within 6,000 light
yearshttp://tzontonel.files.wordpress.com/2008/12/national-geographic-milky-way-reference-map1.jpg
3.
http://fc08.deviantart.net/fs45/f/2009/086/a/3/you_are_here_by_deeminllama.jpg
4. 15th Century Beliefs about the Universe 1. The earth was young
and the universe was small.a. 6,000 years oldb. Stars within
walkingdistance (25 miles a day for713 years. 2. Perfect order and
symmetry of spheres. 3. Earth the center of creation humans the
center of the center of creation. 5. The Figure of the Heavenly
BodiesPtolemaic geocentric conception of the universe Bartolomeu
Velho
(1568)http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Bartolomeu_Velho_1568.jpg
6. Ptolemaic GeocentricConception of the Universe 7. Ptolemaic
GeocentricConception of the Universe 8. Earth3D Space
Simulationshttp://www.mogi-vice.com/Pagine/Downloads.htmlhas many
beautiful 3D simulations including an excellentportrait of the
Ptolemaic System. Look particularly at thefollowing:Models for
planetary motion: a geocentric viewwith epicycles, and how
phenomena of internalplanets can suggest a different setting.
(avi-Divx, 20 Some other simpler animations of solarMb). system:
http://astro.unl.edu/naap/ssm/animations/ptolemaic.swfModels for
planetary motion: the retrograde
phasehttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VyQ8Tb85HrUof external planets
and the two main historicFor another offbeat look at the way
realityexplanations. (avi-Divx, 3,9 Mb).can be shoe-horned into a
scientific modelPanoramic view of the Milky Way, and solar look at
this view of Ptolmey and Homer!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QVuU2YCwHjwposition within.
(avi-Divx, 13,7 Mb).From Earth to the fixed stars: the planetary
orderaccording to Aristotle (avi-Divx, 7 Mb). 9. Copernicus and
GalileoNikolaus Copernicus Galileo
Galilei(1473-1543)(1564-1642)http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/f2/Nikolaus_Kopernikus.jpg
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/94/Galileo_Galilei_2.jpg
10. Astronomer Copernicus,or Conversations with God (1873)
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/88/Jan_Matejko-
Astronomer_Copernicus-Conversation_with_God.jpgCopernicus -
1473-1543The world was not at the center of the solar system as
theChurch and European traditions had taught for more than
athousand years 11. The Copernican Universe 12. The Copernican
UniverseThe Copernican Universe Thisseventeenth-century Dutch
engravingillustrates Copernicuss revolutionaryheliocentric
theories, which placed thesunrather than the Earthat thecenter of
the universe. 13.
Galileohttp://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/93/Galileo_Donato.jpg
14. Galileo Galileo before the 2009 Re-Trial.Holy Office 1633
(Click on the link to view the transcript) by
Joseph-Nicolashttp://www.abc.net.au/compass/s2867077.htmRobert-Fleury
(1847)In spring 2012 the Portland Opera staged a new opera by
composer Philip
Glass.http://www.portlandopera.org/operas/2011-2012/galileo-galilei#overview
15. 3 Keys on Road to the Scientific Skepticism Decline of faith in
tradition and authority as the explanation of the way the world
works!1493 - Columbuss return changed earth 1517 - Martin Luthers
protest changed faith 1543 - Copernicuss system changed universe
What else was different between tradition andreality? 16.
Mathematics: The Language of the Universe by Galileo Galilei
(1623)Our universe cannot be understoodunless one learns to
comprehend thelanguage and read the letters in which itis composed.
It is written in the languageof mathematicswithout which it
ishumanly impossible to understand asingle word of it; without
these, onewanders about in a dark labyrinth. (The Assayer, 1623)
17. Learning How to CountWhile addition of Roman numerals is
notcomplicated, multiplication of large numbers is.Click the link
below to view a video that describes thebasics of using Roman
numbers.http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q5_2o8MITH4 18. The Church
Was Right 19. ?cience Comes from latin word scire to knowor scienta
knowledge In 1600s scientific knowledge lessfallible than common
knowledge Science as belief system embraces as agoal: questions,
not answers doubt, not faith ignorance, not knowledge 20. Science
is always wrong(and thats why it works)Religion is always right.
Religion protects usagainst that great problem which we allmust
face.Science is always wrong; it is the very artificeof men.
Science can never solve oneproblem without raising 10 more
problems. George Bernard Shaw honoringAlbert Einstein, October 28,
1930(New York Times, March 14, 1991)
