[HN Gopher] Precursors of Copernicus' heliocentric theory
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Precursors of Copernicus' heliocentric theory
Author : chmaynard
Score : 32 points
Date : 2024-12-07 05:36 UTC (17 hours ago)
(HTM) web link (johncarlosbaez.wordpress.com)
(TXT) w3m dump (johncarlosbaez.wordpress.com)
| srean wrote:
| Fitting with epicycloids is a form of Fourier analysis/synthesis
| and such curves can approximate any smooth closed curve --
| universal approximators.
|
| With deep NNs being used for Physics research to fit data it does
| make me wary if we are getting into epicycles again.
| guyomes wrote:
| > Aristarchus had come up with a heliocentric theory way back
| around 250 BC.
|
| He notably did convincing calculations showing that the sun
| should be larger than Earth. However, this was not convincing
| enough for his opponents who argued notably that usually fire
| hardly remains in a fixed position. Also, if Earth was moving, it
| was hard to understand why there was no observed parallax on the
| stars at night. Actually, the first apparent proof that Earth was
| moving came after inventing instruments precise enough to observe
| parallax on far enough stars, in 1727, from James Bradley. It
| actually had different results from expectation, due to the
| finite speed of light [1].
|
| Just after Aristarchus came also Seleucus of Seleucia [2]. He
| supposedly had a theoretical argument for heliocentrism, but it
| was lost.
|
| [0]:
| https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/On_the_Sizes_and_Distances_(Ar...
|
| [1]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Bradley
|
| [2]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seleucus_of_Seleucia
| Dracophoenix wrote:
| There's a currently ongoing anime called Orb: Movements of The
| Earth m. It depicts a compelling albeit fictionalized account of
| the rocky and often dangerous road faced by proponents of
| heliocentrism in the 16th century. Despite its fictional nature,
| the show makes reference to real thinkers such as Aristarchus and
| Occam, among others.
| ryzvonusef wrote:
| I understand that it isn't supposed to be accurate, given that
| it's based on a _fictional_ country 'P' and based on a
| _fictional_ church 'C', but the parallels are obvious to
| Polish/Catholic regime.
|
| As someone living in a country where blasphemy lynching are
| still a part of life, and professors are made to renounce
| scientific beliefs[1], it feels disturbingly familiar to me.
|
| [1]: https://www.dw.com/en/pakistani-clerics-cancel-theory-of-
| evo...
| selimthegrim wrote:
| Is it true you still have to sign iqrarnama against Ahmedis
| to get your PhD?
| nyc111 wrote:
| "Sometime between 410 and 420 AD, Martianus Capella came out with
| a book saying Mercury and Venus orbit the Sun, while the other
| planets orbit the Earth!"
|
| Was there ever serious considerations of Capella's model? How do
| we know it is wrong? For instance, Tycho's model was found to be
| wrong because, if I remember correctly, some orbits crossed each
| other and that ruined the theory. Is there such a contradiction
| with Capella's model?
| awanderingmind wrote:
| For anyone interested in the topic of Copernicus' heliocentrism,
| I can recommend Arthur Koestler's 'The Sleepwalkers':
| https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Sleepwalkers:_A_History_of....
|
| While it does contain some speculation that is, in my opinion,
| poorly grounded, overall it is very informative and does a good
| job of dispelling some of the oversimplified narratives that are
| told about e.g. Galileo's persecution by the Church. (Of course
| since this is HN I can't wait to hear somebody tell me about some
| oversimplified narratives due to Koestler!)
|
| It's also just very written and full of amazing anecdotes - e.g.
| about how Kepler's mother was accused of witchcraft(!)
| awanderingmind wrote:
| update: I consulted my copy of 'The Sleepwalkers' again, and I
| see that Martianus Capella is listed twice in the index.
|
| Koestler claims that Martianus Capella's system, wherein Venus
| and Mercury orbit around the Sun, while the rest of the planets
| orbit around the Earth, is originally due to Herakleides
| (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heraclides_Ponticus, not to be
| confused with Heraclitus), a 4th century BC Greek philosopher.
| But I see that wikipedia links to an article [1] by Eastwood
| from 1992 that claims this to be a complete misattribution
| lacking any evidence. Link for the interested:
| https://adsabs.harvard.edu/pdf/1992JHA....23..233E.
|
| [1] Eastwood, B.S., 1992. Heraclides and heliocentrism: Texts,
| diagrams, and interpretations. Journal for the History of
| Astronomy, 23(4), pp.233-260.
| jumping_frog wrote:
| I highly recommend this channel. The human story behind the
| discovery.
|
| Copernicus: The Man Who Made A God
|
| https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OgVOhbk8H1c
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