Ptolemy

● Wrote The Almagest, a treatise on Astronomy

● Bases his model of the solar system on “Perfect Circles”
○ Uses empirical data compiled by Hipparchus
○ Says his model is based on proofs and ‘agreement of the phenomena’
■ Deviations from proofs are due to “careful methodological procedure”
● Outlines struggles of previous philosophers
● Almagest Book 9
○ Focuses on Ptolemy’s theory of planetary motion
○ Theory of longitudes?
■ Wanted to better fit observational data
○ The Ptolemaic System
■ Geo centric, five planets, sun, moon, and earth
■ Based on epicycles and a concept called the equant
● Accounts for irregularity of retrograde motion
■ Deviated from previous Aristotlean ideas of perfect circles
● Still perfect circles, but off center
● If P is on an epicycle around Earth, the equant is a point off center (not
on earth) that P rotates around
● Also there was a deferent?
○ Deferent is what the center of P’s epicycle rotates along
● Epicycles explain retrograde motion
■ Extremely accurate
● Predict position of plants in the sky could be predicted well
■ Shortcomings
● Geocentric -- cannot be as accurate as a heliocentric model
● Idea of circles being perfect limited model’s physical accuracy
● Mercury required different definition of the epicycle and equant than the
other four planets
○ Not resolved for a long time -- Einstein

More Ptolemy, Copernicus, and “Save the Phenomena”

● Ptolemy -- see above
● Copernicus 1473-1530
○ On the Revolution of Heavenly Spheres
■ Uses math and insight that was already around for millennium
● Math could already predict well, so math could not determine which of
the two systems was correct -- both good
■ Raised many philosophical and theological issues at the time
■ Preface by Osiander
● Unapproved by Copernicus, who was on his deathbed
● Included by Osiander, Lutheran theologian, to say that this model should
be take as a hypothetical
 ○ “Cannot attain the true causes, he will adopt whatever
suppositions enable the motions t be computed correctly for the
principles of the geometry for the future as well as for the past”
■ Implications of this system
● Forced people to change how they look at religious scripture
○ Cannot take it literally
● Fundamentally changed our understanding of the universe and our place
in it
● “Save the phenomena”
○ Difference between physics and astronomy at the time
■ Astronomers were math people who used it to explain what was observable
■ Physicists more concerned with why
○ No need to account for physical reality in your theories, just explain what is observed
○ Ptolemy
■ Understood that his system simply tried to save the phenomenon with math
○ Copernicus
■ Believed his system to be reality
■ Unapproving preface on his work presenting heliocentric model
○ Truth and pursuit of the objective truth was not always the aim of science

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FINAL EXAM

● Writing Mini-essay
○ Do not waste time introducing topic again
○ Go further into your topic
○ Wants you to go deeper and compare it to modern times
○ When you say refer to primary text, do you mean the passage we gave you, or just in
general to the entire text
■ Like do we still want to focus on a specific part of the text
● Due April 26th