Astronomy In The 19th Century Essay

During the 1500s, thinkers applied the scientific method to the pursuit of knowledge, encouraging many others to uncover many unknown features. The heliocentric model of the world was just one important breakthrough that was introduced during

The article ‘On the Recentness of What We Know,’ written by Verlyn Klinkenborg, is a pleasant read about the author’s fondness of astronomy and his insight regarding the science of it and knowledge gleaned from it. Klinkenborg recounts a few of his star-gazing memories and then proceeds to analyze the effects cosmological discoveries have on him personally and humanity in general. The author shares bits of theoretical history of the universe and information on the early astronomers whose hypotheses have developed that history. He goes on to reference various well known discoveries throughout the years and marvels at how drastically information in recent years has changed the stories of our universe.

To begin, astronomy changed man’s view of man in the time of the Renaissance. According to Document C, the drawings of the Middle Ages had different beliefs than the time of the Renaissance. In addition, the Roman astronomer Ptolemy’s drawing is geocentric, and the Polish

The events that unfolded to result in “the intellectual landmark of Newton’s Principia” illustrated the collaborative nature of astronomy throughout Europe, especially England, in

Over the course of the years, society has been reformed by new ideas of science. We learn more and more about global warming, outer space, and technology. However, this pattern of gaining knowledge did not pick up significantly until the Scientific Revolution. In the sixteenth and seventeenth century, the Scientific Revolution started, which concerned the fields of astronomy, mechanics, and medicine. These new scientists used math and observations strongly contradicting religious thought at the time, which was dependent on the Aristotelian-Ptolemy theory. However, astronomers like Copernicus, Kepler, Galileo, and Newton accepted the heliocentric theory. Astronomical findings of the Scientific Revolution disproved the fact that humans were

In summer of 1609, Galileo Galilei (1564-1642) pointed his revolutionary astronomical telescope to the heavens under the starry Venetian sky; his greatly important observations unveiled the mysteries of universe and would end up changing the course of scientific thought forever. Galileo lived in an age where there was much status quo, when scientists and philosophers would accept scientific and religious doctrine that had stood for hundreds, if not thousands, of years instead of challenging the accepted knowledge in favor of intellectual progress. Galileo’s scientific methods lead to significant discoveries explaining key scientific laws, such as the

mind was no longer just between men and women; it was now the working and the

During the first millennium B.C. scientists realized that astronomy had to become more scientific. Middle Eastern and Chinese cultures started studying the Sun, stars and the planets more closely in an attempt to learn more about our position in the universe.. Star positions also became important tools in understanding directions, and helping with navigation. One philosopher stated in 434 B.C. that the Sun was a ball of fire 60 kilometres in diameter, hovering 6500 kilometres above Earth’s surface. Around 130 B.C., Ptolemy wrote Almagest, which was a huge collection of astronomical data which included mathematical models, information about eclipses, and planetary and stellar positions and movements. It remained a major go to book for astronomy for hundreds of years, and was not seriously challenged until Copernicus disputed the geocentric model of the solar system in the 1500’s

Johannes Kepler was a German astronomer and mathematician who lived between 1671-1630. Kepler was a Copernican and initially believed that planets should follow perfectly circular orbits (“Johan Kepler” 1). During this time period, Ptolemy’s geocentric theory of the solar system was accepted. Ptolemy’s theory stated that Earth is at the center of the universe and stationary; closest to Earth is the Moon, and beyond it, expanding towards the outside, are Mercury, Venus, and the Sun in a straight line, followed by Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, and the “fixed stars”. The Ptolemaic system explained the numerous observed motions of the planets as having small spherical orbits called epicycles (“Astronomy” 2). Kepler is best known for introducing three

The Scientific Revolution sparked from the Renaissance and the “medieval view of the universe”(231) that previously governed the views of the people. Three key people in the Scientific Revolution were Nicolaus Copernicus, Galileo Galilei and Johannes Kepler. Nicolaus Copernicus was “a Polish astronomer”(233)

Astronomy is the oldest of the natural sciences, dating back to antiquity, with its origins in the religious, mythological, and astrological practices of pre-history: vestiges of these are still found in astrology, a discipline long interwoven with public and governmental astronomy, and not completely disentangled from it until a few centuries ago in the Western World . In some cultures astronomical data was used for astrological prognostication.

Galileo Galilei built a telescope in 1609, and he studied the night sky, observing the earthlike features of the Moon, moons orbiting Jupiter, and sun spots. He published his work, which later earned him a trial by the church and a house arrest for life. “According to a story that began to circulate shortly afterward, as he left the court for house arrest he stamped his foot and muttered defiantly, looking down at the earth: Still, it moves” (page 530, Chapter 16). Francis Bacon and René Descartes established standards of practice and scientific evidence, and they were true believers in human thinking. Physician, William Harvey contributed to science by observing dissected living animals and experimented on himself that the blood circulates in our bodies through veins, heart, and arteries. Inventor and experimenter Robert Hooke introduced microscope into the laboratory and studied the structure of plants on the cellular level. Isaac Newton gave us laws of motion, universal gravity, the reflecting telescope, optic theories,

Situation Outcome: The Dependent Variable George Bernard Shaw once said, “Progress is impossible without change, and those who cannot change their minds cannot change anything.” Before the Scientific Revolution took place, change was ostracized; their beliefs were practically set in stone by ancient thinkers and were supported up by the powerful church. Lasting from the 16th through the 18th century, Scientific Revolution exhibited individuals challenging tradition; the difference of time period, relationship with the church, and personality affected how Galileo and Copernicus challenged tradition in this era. Born in 1473, Nicolaus Copernicus was a timid mathematician and astronomer connected to the Catholic Church.

"The growth of commerce and industry led to the technological advances, which in turn stimulated, and were stimulated by science.” (p. 403) The European scientific revolution was fueled by the blending of “liberal” and “servile” arts, in other words, science and technology. Because of the European expansion taking place throughout the world, new commerce and industries were advancing, creating the need for new technology and science. The theories and inventions that Copernicus, Galileo, and Newton provided were the fist major advances during the scientific revolution, and perhaps were the most profound.

Astronomy is the branch of science that deals with celestial objects, space, and the universe as a whole. During the medieval era, a golden age of innovations in science took part in the Islamic world. In particular cities in the Iberian Peninsula, like Cordoba, astronomy blossomed and thrived as an aftermath of the genius and creativity that took place there. Innovations in astronomy were vital in inspiring the other scientific discoveries, and were greatly encouraged by the religious groups during the time. In the Oxford Encyclopedia of the Islamic World, S. Nomanul Haq and Massimo Campanini wrote that “astronomy is the only natural science that escaped the censure of the medieval Muslim opponents of secular sciences (ʿulūm al-awāʿil) and found a home in mosques, receiving the blessing of mainstream religious circles.”1 Because of this support and encouragement, scientists of astronomy were set up to thrive and innovate. Discoveries during this period made fundamental advancements on Greek and Mesopotamian astronomy and were crucial for the later advances of Copernicus and Kepler that give the view on astronomy that is held today.