summarize this : The wandering stars posed a somewhat more difficult problem. Aplanet such as Mars moves slowly from west to east against the fixed background stars and then mysteriously reverses direction for a period of time before resuming its previous path (Fig. 1.2). Attempting to understand this backward, or retrograde, motion became the principal problem in astron- omy for nearly 2000 years! Eudoxus of Cnidus, a student of Plato's and an exceptional mathematician, suggested that each of the wandering stars occupied its own sphere and that all the spheres were connected through axes oriented at different angles and rotating at var- ious speeds. Although this theory of a complex system of spheres initially was marginally successful at explaining retrograde motion, predictions began to deviate significantly from the observations as more data were obtained
summarize this :
The wandering stars posed a somewhat more difficult problem. Aplanet such as Mars moves slowly from west to east against the fixed background stars and then mysteriously reverses direction for a period of time before resuming its previous path (Fig. 1.2). Attempting to understand this backward, or retrograde, motion became the principal problem in astron-
omy for nearly 2000 years! Eudoxus of Cnidus, a student of Plato's and an exceptional mathematician, suggested that each of the wandering stars occupied its own sphere and that all the spheres were connected through axes oriented at different angles and rotating at var-
ious speeds. Although this theory of a complex system of spheres initially was marginally successful at explaining retrograde motion, predictions began to deviate significantly from the observations as more data were obtained.
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