Astronomy is one of the oldest subjects ever ventured into by ancient scholars and philosophers. Astronomical study was probably first made by the Mayans and the Aztecs either as apart of astrology where the ancients strove to predict the future, or more scientifically in knowing when to sow crops, or as a navigational aid.
Although it is often claimed that the prime scholars and philosophers who studied astronomy had their roots in Babylonian and Egyptian cultures, there is strong evidence to show that the present day astronomy started with the Greek civilization.
EGYPTIANS PLACED TOMBS IN PLACES WITH ASTROLOGICAL SIGNIFICANCE
Early thoughts in Greek astronomy originated from renowned philosophers like Plato or Eudoxus of Cnidus, the ideas of whom were concretely established later by Aristotle (384BC-322BC). Aristotle was one of the most eminent thinkers. He developed a geocentric model of the universe with the earth at its centre and the Heavens above.
Astronomical research then remained suspended for many years, due to its religious obligations until in around AD140, Ptolemy, another Greek resident took the earth centered Aristotle model and endeavored to account for the varying speeds and occasional retrograde motion of the planets. According to Ptolemy, each planet moved in a small circle (epicycle) whose centre moved on a bigger circle (the deferent).
Most of Ptolemy’s work was gathered into a book known by its Arabic title, The Almagest, which means, The Greatest. With Ptolemy’s death, classical western astronomy was slipping into the dark ages.
The Ptolemic model of the universe was not superseded until the arrival of Nikolaus Copernicus (1473-1543), the son of a rich Polish merchant. Copernicus developed a revolutionary model for the universe that was unique in its true sense. He is the one who first established the heliocentric model in which the planets travelled around the sun in circular orbits. Copernican model awakened astronomy form its dark age. All of Copernicus’s ideas were published in a book titles De Revolutionibus Orbium Coelestium (on the revolutions of the celestial spheres). The years following Copernicus’s death were to be a golden era for astronomy as it was only within a thirty year period, three major figures in the field of cosmology and astronomy were born.
Tycho Brahe (1546-1601), a Danish nobleman, made important contributions to observational astronomy by many amazing inventions. His wit and talent was enough to impress the then King Frederick II of Denmark who funded him for his research. Tycho Brahe built the very first observatories and made instruments like the quadrant which could measure the position of stars with remarkable accuracy. Tycho Brahe’s work was further carried on by his student Johannes Kepler.
Kepler deduced three, very important and immensely useful laws which hold true even today!
The laws were mainly based on observation and had no mathematical basis.
1.The orbit of a planet about the sun is an ellipse with the sun at one focus.
2.The line joining a planet and the sun sweeps out equal areas in equal times.
3.A planet’s orbital period squared is proportional to its average distance from the sun cubed.
Can you prove the Third Law using laws of Gravitation and Circular Motion?
Galileo Galilei was born shortly before the birth of Kepler in 1564 in Pisa, Italy. He investigated many aspects of physics and was probably the first astronomer to use telescopes for systematic astronomical observations. Galileo’s contribution to astronomy mainly comprised of early attempts of unifying astronomy with material sciences and inventions of more accurate astronomical devices.
Isaac Newton made astronomy a truly scientific subject. Physics and astronomy were used to be considered as separate disciplines until the time of Newton. Newton was the first philosopher or scientists who attempted for the first unification of celestial objects with that of terrestrial objects. He was successful into showing that it was not separate theories but the same, governing the behavior of objects in the universe. While trying to explain what forces cause the motions of planets, he discovered gravity, an attractive force exerted by all masses on all other masses in the universe. His ideas greatly helped in reducing anomalies and complexities in astronomy.
Most of Ptolemy’s work was gathered into a book known by its Arabic title, The Almagest, which means, The Greatest. With Ptolemy’s death, classical western astronomy was slipping into the dark ages.
The Ptolemic model of the universe was not superseded until the arrival of Nikolaus Copernicus (1473-1543), the son of a rich Polish merchant. Copernicus developed a revolutionary model for the universe that was unique in its true sense. He is the one who first established the heliocentric model in which the planets travelled around the sun in circular orbits. Copernican model awakened astronomy form its dark age. All of Copernicus’s ideas were published in a book titles De Revolutionibus Orbium Coelestium (on the revolutions of the celestial spheres). The years following Copernicus’s death were to be a golden era for astronomy as it was only within a thirty year period, three major figures in the field of cosmology and astronomy were born.
A SIMPLIFIED VERSION OF THE COPERNICAN MODEL
Tycho Brahe (1546-1601), a Danish nobleman, made important contributions to observational astronomy by many amazing inventions. His wit and talent was enough to impress the then King Frederick II of Denmark who funded him for his research. Tycho Brahe built the very first observatories and made instruments like the quadrant which could measure the position of stars with remarkable accuracy. Tycho Brahe’s work was further carried on by his student Johannes Kepler.
MANY OF TYCHO BRAHE’S INVENTIONS
Kepler deduced three, very important and immensely useful laws which hold true even today!
The laws were mainly based on observation and had no mathematical basis.
1.The orbit of a planet about the sun is an ellipse with the sun at one focus.
2.The line joining a planet and the sun sweeps out equal areas in equal times.
3.A planet’s orbital period squared is proportional to its average distance from the sun cubed.
Can you prove the Third Law using laws of Gravitation and Circular Motion?
Galileo Galilei was born shortly before the birth of Kepler in 1564 in Pisa, Italy. He investigated many aspects of physics and was probably the first astronomer to use telescopes for systematic astronomical observations. Galileo’s contribution to astronomy mainly comprised of early attempts of unifying astronomy with material sciences and inventions of more accurate astronomical devices.
Isaac Newton made astronomy a truly scientific subject. Physics and astronomy were used to be considered as separate disciplines until the time of Newton. Newton was the first philosopher or scientists who attempted for the first unification of celestial objects with that of terrestrial objects. He was successful into showing that it was not separate theories but the same, governing the behavior of objects in the universe. While trying to explain what forces cause the motions of planets, he discovered gravity, an attractive force exerted by all masses on all other masses in the universe. His ideas greatly helped in reducing anomalies and complexities in astronomy.
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By Mahmud Hasan
The Aftermath Publications
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The Aftermath Publications, Issue 3
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