LESSON 1

Astronomy has a major influence on the development of Physical

Science, together with ancient Greek philosophy and Cosmology, among
others, when talking about heavenly bodies. All of them have great impacts
on unveiling the real planet Earth. Now, let us trace back how prominent
people and scientists view our Mother Earth before, and how we came to
what we believe in at the present.

Ancient Greek Philosophers

Anaximander (c.610-546 B.C.) was an early Pre-Socratic

philosopher from the Greek city of Miletus in Ionia (modern-
day
Turkey). He was a key figure in the Milesian School, as a
student of Thales and teacher of Anaximenes and Pythagoras. He is often
considered the founder of astronomy, and he tried to observe and explain
different aspects of the universe and its origins, and to describe the
mechanics of celestial bodies in relation to the Earth. He made important
contributions to cosmology, physics, geometry, meteorology, and geography
as well as to Metaphysics.
The earth for Anaximander is still a cylinder
circled by air and then fire "like the bark of a
tree" which separated off at an early stage. We
still see echoes of the early cosmologies here,
but an attempt is made to explain the scheme in
purely physical--in fact, in mathematical--
terms.
Figure 1: Anaximander cylindrical
Earth Shape source:
https://www.crystalinks.com/anax.
gif

Anaximenes of Miletus (c. 525 BCE) The third of the Ionian

thinkers refined the flat-earth idea, suggesting that all things
are produced through a process of gradual condensation and
"rarification":
earth condenses out of air, and fire is "exhaled" from the earth.
The earth and heavenly bodies are flat
and loft on infinite air like a leaf.
Celestial bodies do not set beneath the
earth, just as in mythology, but instead
turn at an angle (the axis of rotation,
 after all, is visible to us in the northern
part of the sky) so that many are
obscured by the "higher" parts of earth to
the north.
Fig.2 Anaximenes: Earth floats source: https://www.crystalinks.com/anax2.gif

Ancient Greek Philosophers: Development of Greek Models of the Earth

and Universe

Pythagoras (c. 570 - c. 495 BC) Universe is

mathematical; mathematics as the best way to express
truth about the
Universe; Sun, moon and Earth are spherical; placed Earth as
the center of the Universe.
The counter-earth also solves a major
problem in this view, serving to eclipse
the Hearth-Fire so that we never look
God in the face, so to speak. The
concepts of number, harmony, and
music all influenced the Pythagoreans to
invent this fullyrealized version of the
concentric celestial orbits, which
resonate with "the music of the
spheres".
Fig.3 Pythagoreans: The Hearth of the Universe source: https://www.crystalinks.com/anax2.gif

Plato (c. 427 - c. 347 BC) Attainment of

perfection as absence of change; mathematical
symmetries to demonstrate perfect shapes (sphere
and circle); celestial
spheres being crystalline and contains the moon, the Sun and the
stars; explaining the shadows — read on Plato’s Allegory of the Cave and
the Allegory of the Divided Line — as his description or framework on how
to look at the Universe, in particular that the daily and annual patterns of
the sky must have a greater reality besides its appearance.

The regularity of the diurnal and annual motions of the sky can be
explained by the basic model of Plato: spherical crystalline shells
containing the Sun,
Moon, and the five planets (Mercury, Venus,
 Mars, Jupiter, and Saturn). The stars are fixed in the outermost
crystalline sphere that rotates annually. You may add that Plato
is able to that the Platonic solids can be used as a rational for
the proper sequence
of the planets, but this is not necessary.

Fig.4. The platonic Solids source: https://theimaginativeconservative.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/06/Screen-

Shot-2015-06-20-at-3.01.30-PM.png

Diurnal motion of the sky — the appearance that the

objects in the sky moves relative to the Earth’s local horizon
(celestial objects: moon, Sun, stars, planets; there were only
five known planets: Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn)
as observed for one whole day at the same location on
Earth.
Annual motion of the sky — the appearance that objects
in the sky moves relative to the background stars as
observed at the same time of the day and at the same
location on Earth.

Eudoxus (of Cnidus, 408 - 355 BC) followed

previous models of the universe but added auxiliary
spheres to provide appropriate tilt to the planets’ path.
This is answered by the model of Eudoxus of Cnidus that:

• The Earth is the center of the Universe.

• Nested with 27 auxiliary spheres are needed to produce the
appearance that planets deviate from each other’s path.
• He is the first to use mathematics.
Fig• .5. Homo -Geocentric Model source:
https://www.nsf.gov/news/special_reports/scivis/images/planet_lg.jpg

improved on the model

Aristotle (384 - 322 BC)
like that of Eudoxus to make it
more consistent with his theory of motion — his
theory of causes. Aristotle argued that the motion of the
celestial objects can be traced to a Prime Mover that because of
its basic movement, all other crystalline spheres move
accordingly. This model requires a geometric and mathematical
feat so as to fix the gear ratio of the spheres as well as the
 correct tilts of their axes relative to each other to produce the
same appearance!

• their natural location relative to the

center of the Universe: the center of
the Earth.
• 56 auxiliary spheres
• Motion of stars became correlated.
• Prime Mover

• Introduced Aristotelian physics

Fig.5. Aristote’s Universe: https://th.bing.com/th/id/R942a8f30379b49f73c3a85e9729b416c?rik=8ZjiEziFngfLCg&riu=http%3a%2f%2fwww.physicsoftheuniverse.com

%2fimages%2fcosmologies_aristotelian.jpg&ehk=bQW22Q0g9onKvC3gA66ohFW726G6YTU3zo%2fWR1Uc8wI%3d&risl=&pid=ImgRaw

There are two-domain system with terrestrial domain containing four

elements that tries to attain perfection by being in their natural location
relative to the center of the Universe: the center of the Earth. He was a
learner of Plato.
The Celestial Domain -perfect hence can only be made up of the perfect
substance they called “ether” and can only move in perfect motion: circular
in path and constant in speed.
The Terrestrial Domain -objects are imperfect and that the tendency of
things to attain perfection is the cause of their motion. Meanwhile, they also
believed that things, depending on their composition of the elements — fire,
air, water, and earth — tend to move towards the center of the Universe
(center of the Earth) or away from it with earth, naturally, as at the center.
Fire and water naturally move away from the center.
Domain Elements Motion

Terrestrial domain fire air alteration natural

water motion violent
earth motion

Celestial domain Ether perfect motion: circular

and constant speed

Based on the notion of how the Universe is made up and the tendency of
things to move towards their perfection, natural motion is believed as that
brings things towards their more perfect state. Thus, heavy objects fall
“faster” than lighter ones. Even so, they already know the effect of air drag
being related to medium density (air or water) as well as the mass of the
object. Their notion of falling faster may be closer to terminal speed than
the concept of acceleration.
The appearance of the retrograde
motion necessitates the addition of
more mechanisms called “devices” to
produce the visual motion of the
planets. These devices, though
complicates the original model, is
most practically accurate during that
era. The following sample slides shows
the complicated model and the
operation of the devices in producing the apparent retrograde motion
of the planets.
Ptolemy’s model can be subsequently improved (as it was actually done)
by adding more epicycles with smaller radius.