ANNOUNCEMENTS

1. TWO OBSERVING PROJECTS DUE TODAY.

2. RESEARCH PAPERS DUE NEXT THURSDAY:

*** HARD COPY TO ME. E-COPY TO TA BOBBY

WALLACE: wallacer@colorado.edu

3. NO HOMEWORK DUE. HOMEWORK CLUB AS USUAL

next WEDNESDAY WILL BE USED FOR EXAM REVIEW

{the time for at least one additional exam review will be

announced next week}

4. FINAL EXAM THURSDAY December 17th 1:30—4pm

at BESC 180. ONE PAGE OF NOTES + CALCULATOR

ALLOWED.

INTIMATIONS OF MODERN SCIENCE

• CHINESE, MAYA, BABYLONIAN AND THEN GREEKS BEGIN TO LOOK AT THE “CELESTIAL MACHINERY” WITH THE IDEA THAT UNDERSTANDING LEADS TO BOTH BETTER KNOWLEDGE OF NATURE AND POSSIBLY SOME CONTROL OF NATURE BY HUMANS.

• SKY PRESENT CLUES TO NATURAL PROCESSES

• HUMANS APPLY OBJECTIVE OBSERVATION AND THEN LOGIC AND RATIONAL, “ORDINARY” CONSCIOUSNESS

• INCA, NATIVE AMERICAN, AUSTRALIAN ABORIGINAL, AFRICAN, etc etc. RELATE TO THE SKY WITH THE IDEA THAT UNDERSTANDING LEADS TO BETTER HARMONY OF HUMANS WITH NATURE & TO GAIN BETTER KNOWLEDGE OF OURSELVES

• SKY PRESENTS OMENS, VISIONS, LESSONS, etc.

• HUMANS APPLY RITUAL, VISIONS AND NON-ORDINARY CONSCIOUSNESS

• NOT NECESSARILY MUTUALLY EXCLUSIVE !!!

THE WESTERN

TRADITION STARTED

IN THE “FERTILE

CRESCENT”

11000--9000 BCE:

Gobekli Tepe

Catalhoyuk

& Jericho

Göbekli Tepe & Çatalhöyük

Göbekli Tepe

• Dates back to 10th-8th

millennium BCE (Pre-Pottery

Neolithic)

• Circle of massive “T” shaped

stone pillars

• Human forms?

• More than 200 pillars

• Purpose of the structure—

unknown but LIKELY

• RELIGIOUS !

– DID PEOPLE

CREATE VILLAGES

FOR FARMING OR

– FOR RELIGION ?

Göbekli Tepe• Built on flat, barren plateau

• Few humanoid figure found

• Large pillars required 500 people

to move from quarries (50 tons)

• Pre-date pottery, writing and the

invention of the wheel

• Theories:

• Underground

Stone Sanctuary

• Tower of Babel

DID PEOPLE

CREATE VILLAGES

FOR FARMING OR

FOR RELIGION ?

IMAGES

FROM

GOBEKLI

TEPE

INCLUDING “COMPOSITE”

ANIMAL/HUMAN IMAGES

THE “BIRD MAN OF

LASCAUX”… why

such a strange figure

??

FOR FURTHER INSIGHTS see:

“INSIDE THE NEOLITHIC

MIND” BY LEWIS-WILLIAMS

TEMPLE OF DENDERA

ZODIAC…UPPER EGYPT, NOW IN

LOUVRE (PARIS) c. 50 BCE

REAL AND “COMPOSITE”

CREATURES WERE IN THE SKY AS

WELL!!!

EGYPTIAN

HIPPOPOTAMUS

GREEK RIES

TAURUS MARDUK =

GEMINI BULL-MAN

TAURUS

LEO FLYING LION

VIRGO

LEOIBRA

SCORPIO SCORPION-MAN

SAGITTARIUS

SCORPIOORN

AQUARIUS EA = GOD OF

PISCES WATER & LIFE

SOLAR ECLIPSE 7

MARCH 51 BCE ???

THE ZODIAC = “CIRCLE OF ANIMALS” IS

BABYLONIAN/GREEK TRADITION:

GREEK BABYLONIAN

c. 500 BCE c. 2000 BCEARIES = GOLDEN FLEECE

TAURUS MARDUK = BULL-MAN

GEMINI = ONE HUMAN. ONE GOD

CANCER = GATEWAY OF THE SOULS

LEO TIAMAT = FLYING LION

VIRGO = ??

LIBRA = SCALE OF OSIRIS

SCORPIO SCORPION-MAN

SAGITTARIUS = CENTAUR

CAPRICORN = GOAT-FISH

AQUARIUS EA = GOD OF WATER & LIFE

PISCES = FISH-MEN

SPICA

SPICA = EAR OF GRAIN

BUT THE GREEKS ALSO HAD A FEW SURPRISES FOR US TO CONSIDER ! DEMETER, GREEK GODDESS OF GRAIN & THE HARVEST. MOTHER OF PERSEPHONE (HER KORE) WHO WAS “RAPED” THEN MARRIED HADES…AND MADE THE “SHAMAN’S JOURNEY” INTO THE UNDERWORLD

AT THE END OF THE AGE OF TAURUS, THE SUN WAS “IN” DEMETER FOR THE MONTH PRECEDING THE FALL EQUINOX HARVEST TIME AND THE TIME OF A MOST REMARKABLE ANCIENT MYSTERY RITE, HELD EACH AUG, & SEPT. NEAR ATHENS

ELEUSIS… ~ 20 km NW OF ATHENS

TEMPLE OF DEMETER at ELEUSIS MAIN CEREMONY HALL

SITE OF THE “ELEUSINIAN MYSTERIES”, A SECRET RITE THAT

OCCURRED YEARLY AT ELEUSIS FOR NEARLY 1500 YEARS.

IN WHICH SOMETHING WAS “SEEN” BUT THE MYSTERY COULD NOT BE REVEALED ON PENALTY OF DEATH !!

TELEMACHUS RECEIVING A SHEATH OF GRAIN REPRESENTING THE “KYKEON” (BARLEY DRINK + ?) FROM THE GODDESS DEMETER

ELEUSIS… ~ 20 km NW OF ATHENS

TEMPLE OF DEMETER at ELEUSIS MAIN CEREMONY HALL

SITE OF THE “ELEUSINIAN MYSTERIES”, A SECRET RITE THAT

OCCURRED YEARLY AT ELEUSIS FOR NEARLY 1500 YEARS.

MODERN SPECULATION (mostly due to Greek researchers Gordon Wasson and Paul Ruck and chemist Albert Hoffmann) :

THE RITES OF ELEUSIS INVOLVED THE RITUAL INGESTION OF AN “ENTHEOGEN” (psychedelic) SPORE CALLED ERGOT TO ASSIST IN THE ATTAINMENT OF SACRED, ESSENTIAL KNOWLEDGE OF LIFE AND DEATH !

WHAT DOES THIS RITUAL SAY ABOUT THE GREEKS? …WHO ARE LOOKED UPON AS THE FIRST DEVELOPERS OF SOME OF OUR MOST CHERISHED MODERN TRADITIONS:

DEMOCRACY SCIENCE PHILOSOPHY THEATRE etc etc

THAT THIS SAME SOCIETY CONDUCTED YEARLY FOR OVER 1500 YEARS A SACRED, SECRET “MYSTERY” RITUAL THAT LIKELY USED THE MUSHROOM SPORE CALLED ERGOT TO EXPERIENCE “TRUTHS” ABOUT LIFE & DEATH? Greeks were a mixture of ancient and modern in their outlook. ARE WE TO THINK LESS OF THEM BECAUSE OF THAT ??

THE GREEKS WERE THE FIRST TO EMPLOY WHAT WE NOW CALL SCIENCE

SCIENCE IS EXPERIENTIALLY-BASED & LOGICALLY

EXPLAINED EMPIRICAL

INDUCTIVE OR OBSERVATIONAL/EXPERIMENTAL

SIDE…starts with looking and measuring

DEDUCTIVE OR THEORETICAL SIDE starts with

principles of the “underlying perfect forms” (Plato’s Cave)

500 BCE in Greece is the beginning of the separation of

belief and reason in understanding the world, which

continues into modernity.

Not obviously present in any of the ancient or indigenous

cultures we have studied despite their great observing

prowess.

A MODERN MODEL OF THE ANTIKYTHERA MECHANISM c. 200 BCE

THE ULTIMATE GREEK SCIENTIFIC ACHIEVEMENT !!!

THE GEOMETRICAL WORLD

VIEW OF THE GREEKS

BASED ON PHILOSOPHY OF

“PLATO’S CAVE”

PLATO’S “PERFECT FORMS” WERE

GEOMETRICAL

TRANSITION BETWEEN ANCIENT

& MODERN ASTRONOMY

TRANSITION BETWEEN ORAL &

WRITTEN TRADITIONS

THALES (c. 600 BCE) AND

PYTHAGORAS (c. 500 BCE)

BROUGHT GEOMETRY TO GREECE

ANAXAGORAS: FIRST “OBSERVER” IN MODERN SCIENTIFIC SENSE

The Beginnings of Science

Anaxagoras (500-438 BCE):

METEOR FALL NEAR BOSPOROUS

REPORTED TO ANAXAGORAS

“FALLING STAR” WAS A HOT ROCK

STARS ARE HOT GLOWING ROCKS

ANAXAGORAS CONCLUDED FROM

THIS OBSERVATION THAT THE SUN

IS A HOT GLOWING ROCK, LARGER

THAN THE PELOPONNESUS

LOCATED ABOUT 500 MILES ABOVE

THE EARTH’S SURFACE

DIFFERENCE BETWEEN

ANAXAGORAS’ RESULT &

THE MEASUREMENTS OF

ERATOSTHENES WERE IN

THE ASSUMPTIONS.

IF EARTH ASSUMED TO

BE ROUND, THEN

MEASUREMENTS OF

ALTITUDE OF SUN AT

DIFFERENT LATITUDES

DOES NOT DETERMINE

THE DISTANCE TO THE

SUN !!!

THE EARTH IS ROUND ??

ARISTOTLE (384-322 BCE) Edge of Earth’s shadow on Moon

during a Lunar Eclipse

Certain stars visible in Egypt which

cannot be seen in Greece

The natural movement of all Earth

elements is downwards towards a

center Earth must have a center.

Sailing ship lore: older than Homer ??

ERATOSTHENES (276-192 BCE) Inferred circumference of a spherical

Earth by assuming that the Sun is very

far away (see next few pages)

POSIDONIUS (135-50 BCE) Similar inference but using the bright

star Canopus which just grazes the

horizon at Rhodes (37.5 O) but is

easily seen at Alexandria (30.5O).

FIRST MEASUREMENT OF THE SIZE OF THE EARTH ( c. 200 BCE)

30½ O

23½ Odeg

deg

Eratosthenes of Cyrene

Michael LahanasΕρατοσθένης ο Κυρηναίος :

Μέτρηση μήκους περιφέρειας της γης

WELL OF SYENE IN EGYPT

EXACTLY ON TROPIC OF CANCER

23½ DEGREES NORTH LATITUDE

ERATOSTHENES RESULTS:

** SHOW VIEW

FROM SPACE

**

ARISTARCHUSMEASURED THAT AT HALF-

MOON THE MOON WAS:

90 O - {90/30} O THE SUN

WOULD BE ~ 20 x MORE

DISTANT THAN THE MOON..

AND SO ~ 20 TIMES

LARGER AS WELL.

ACTUAL NUMBER IS MORE

LIKE ~ 400 TIMES MORE

DISTANT AND LARGER

ARISTARCHUS HAD RIGHT IDEA BUT

MEASUREMENT WAS HARD

TO MAKE & HE DID NOT DO

A GOOD JOB OF IT.

*** VIEW FROM SPACE ***

DISTANCES IN SPACE

UNTIL THE GREEKS EVERYONE

THOUGHT THAT ALL THE OBJECTS IN

THE SKY WERE CLOSE AND AT SAME

DISTANCE AWAY FROM THE EARTH

ANAXAGORAS: THE MOON COMES

BETWEEN THE EARTH AND THE SUN IN

A SOLAR ECLIPSE THE MOON MUST

BE CLOSER THAN THE SUN.

BY HOW MUCH ?

ARISTARCHUS’ GEOMETRY (300 BCE)

IF THE SUN

IS VERY,

VERY FAR

AWAY

IF SUN IS

CLOSE

DISTANCES IN SPACE:

FIRST STEPS TAKEN BY GREEKS,

BUT VASTNESS WAS NOT

APPRECIATED….EVEN A NEW IDEA

OF MEASUREMENT IS REQUIRED:

THE LIGHT-YEAR: THE DISTANCE

LIGHT TRAVELS IN ONE YEAR @

186,000 MILES PER SECOND.

MOON IS 1.5 LIGHT-SECONDS AWAY

SUN IS 8.5 LIGHT-MINUTES AWAY

SATURN: 30 LIGHT-MINUTES AWAY

PLUTO: 2 LIGHT-HOURS

ALPHA CENTAURUS (NEAREST

STAR BEYOND OUR SOLAR

SYSTEM): 4.5 LIGHT-YEARS

Finite speed of light turns

distances out into space

into durations back into

time

The more distant the

object, the longer its

light has been

traveling to get to us

…and the older that

object is seen to be

… let’s look at a few

examples

DOES THE EARTH MOVE ?

WE DO NOT FEEL MOTION AND SO IT IS NATURAL TO ASCRIBE MOTIONS IN

SKY TO THE MOTIONS OF THOSE OBJECTS: SUN, MOON, PLANETS & STARS

( i.e., THE SUN “RISES”; THE MOON “SETS”)

**** {but: there are two types of motion: “diurnal” and “annual”}

OBJECTS IN SKY SEEN TO BE TINY AND NOT SO FAR AWAY.

WE FEEL NO WIND.

STARS ARE NOT SEEN TO SHIFT BACK & FORTH DUE TO EARTH’S MOTION

THE EARTH IS IMMOBILE AT THE CENTER OF ALL

CREATION !!

ANCIENT COSMOLOGY (WHATEVER THE DEPICTION) IS FLAT &

“PLATE-LIKE” SURROUNDED BY WATER AND CONSISTING

OF 3 “LEVELS”: THE HEAVENS, THE EARTH’S SURFACE &

THE UNDERWORLD ….and CENTRAL & UN-MOVING !!!!

BUT THEN IN GREECE THERE WAS:

PHILOLAUS OF THEBES (c. 400 BCE) CONCEIVED ON

EARTH MOVING AROUND A “CENTRAL FIRE” to account for

both the diurnal and the annual motions of Sun, Moon and planets

ARISTARCHUS OF SAMOS (c. 300 BCE) WHO DEVELOPED A

“HELIO-CENTRIC” MODEL OF THE SOLAR SYSTEM IN WHICH

THE EARTH MOVED AROUND THE SUN LIKE THE OTHER

PLANETS.

HYPATIA OF ALEXANDRIA (C. 400 CE) PHILOSOPHER,

HEAD TEACHER AT THE PLATONIST SCHOOL & DAUGHTER

OF THE LAST LIBRARIAN OF THE LIBRARY…

ARGUED INDIRECTLY THAT THE EARTH MOVED. {FILM!}

SO DISTURBING WAS THIS IDEA THAT IT HAD TO BE

SQUELCHED TWICE BY THE REIGNING RELIGION.

FCQs

End Thursday Dec 3rd lecture

HIPPARCHOS MADE DIRECT AND ACCURATE OBSERVATIONS OF THE MOTION OF THE MOON AND

THE SUN AND FOUND THEM TO BE SLIGHTLY IRREGULAR

ʘ●

HE MEASURED THE 4

QUARTERS OF THE

MONTH (DAYS BETWEEN

NEW, HALF MOONS AND

FULL MOON) … AND YEAR

(i.e., DAYS BETWEEN

SOLSTICES AND

EQUINOXES) AND FOUND

THEY ARE NOT EQUAL

THE EARTH IS OFF-

CENTER IN THE ORBITS OF

MOON AND SUN OFFSET

GEARS IN AK MECHANISM !

WAS EARTH TRULY CENTRAL

? ? ?

MOON in

orbit

around a

center

NOT the

Earth !!!

ELLIPTICAL ORBIT

CIRCULAR ORBIT

COULD ANCIENTS HAVE KNOWN?

ANCIENT COSMOLOGIES WERE ALWAYS MEANT TO BE “META-PHYSICAL”… A SYMBOLICAL, NOT A PHYSICAL DESCRIPTION OF THE WORLD

DANTE’S INFERNO

COPERNICUS’ SOLAR

SYSTEM

c. 400 BCE

42

Retrograde motion?

Not a problem!

Ptolemy

Circles on circles …Epicycles

Still a GEOCENTRIC model WITH AN IMMOBILE EARTH

Prague Orloj

1410 CE

Prague

Czechoslovakia

City Hall

A PHYSICAL

MANIFESTATION OF

THE PTOLEMAIC

“GEO-CENTRIC “

(EARTH-CENTERED)

WORLD SYSTEM

GREEKS WERE THE FIRST TO ASK SEVERAL QUESTIONS ABOUT COSMOLOGY

I. WHAT IS THE LOCATION OF THE EARTH (AND US) IN

THE UNIVERSE? CENTRAL OR PERIPHERAL ?

II. DOES THE EARTH MOVE THROUGH THE COSMOS ?

III. WHAT IS THE SHAPE OF THE UNIVERSE ?

IV. WHAT IS THE EXTENT OF THE UNIVERSE ?

FINITE OR INFINITE?

V. HOW OLD IS THE UNIVERSE ?

THE HELIOCENTRIC (SUN CENTERED) COSMOLOGY OF

ARISTARCHUS (c. 300 BCE) AND COPERNICUS (1572 CE)

De Revolutionibus Orbium

Celestium

DESPITE NOT KNOWING ABOUT LIGHT-YEARS, THE GREEKS DID THINK MORE BROADLY ABOUT THE SIZE OF OUR WORLD:

DOES THE UNIVERSE HAVE AN EDGE?THE SPEAR OF ARCHYTUS

A QUESTION: IF YOU WENT TO THE COSMIC EDGE AND THREW OVER A SPEAR,

WHAT WOULD IT DO?

1) HIT THE EDGE AND BOUNCE BACK? (A WALL)

2) GO OVER AN ABYSS ? (A CLIFF)

3) JUST FADE AWAY ? (A MARSH)

4) ALL OF THESE ARE SO RIDICULOUS THAT THERE CANNOT BE A

COSMIC EDGE.

5) DOES THIS IMPLY THAT THE WORLD MUST BE INFINITE?

A QUESTION: IF YOU WENT TO THE COSMIC EDGE AND THREW OVER A SPEAR,

WHAT WOULD IT DO?

1) HIT THE EDGE AND BOUNCE BACK? (A WALL)

2) GO OVER AN ABYSS ? (A CLIFF)

3) JUST FADE AWAY ? (A MARSH)

4) ALL OF THESE ARE SO RIDICULOUS THAT THERE CANNOT BE A

COSMIC EDGE.

5) DOES THIS IMPLY THAT THE WORLD MUST BE INFINITE?

Lucretius of Rome: “Learn by this that the

Universe cannot be bounded in any direction”

51

Farthest

galaxies: light

was emitted

nearly 13 billion

years ago

…. Still there is

darkness

surrounding

each and every

galaxy in this

image (there are

< one dozen

stars in our

galaxy in this

image)

A QUESTION: COSMIC EDGE RIDDLE SEEMS TO IMPLY THAT THE UNIVERSE MUST BE

INFINITE

BUT IF THE UNIVERSE WAS INFINITE, FILLED

WITH AN INFINITY OF STARS, THE NIGHT SKY

WOULD BE BLAZING WITH LIGHT…

BECAUSE IT IS DARK OUT AT NIGHT, THE

UNIVERSE MUST BE FINITE, WITH A FINITE

NUMBER OF STARS.

WHICH IS CORRECT ?

A QUESTION: COSMIC EDGE RIDDLE SEEMS TO IMPLY THAT THE UNIVERSE MUST BE

INFINITE

BUT IF THE UNIVERSE WAS INFINITE, FILLED

WITH AN INFINITY OF STARS, THE NIGHT SKY

WOULD BE BLAZING WITH LIGHT…

BECAUSE IT IS DARK OUT AT NIGHT, THE

UNIVERSE MUST BE FINITE, WITH A FINITE

NUMBER OF STARS. GALAXIES

WHICH IS CORRECT ?

A QUESTION: COSMIC EDGE RIDDLE SEEMS TO IMPLY THAT THE UNIVERSE MUST BE

INFINITEBUT IF THE UNIVERSE WAS INFINITE, FILLED

WITH AN INFINITY OF GALAXIES, THE NIGHT

SKY WOULD BE BLAZING WITH LIGHT…

BECAUSE IT IS DARK OUT AT NIGHT, THE

UNIVERSE MUST BE FINITE, WITH A FINITE

NUMBER OF GALAXIES

WHAT IF BOTH ARE CORRECT ? WHAT IF OUR

UNIVERSE IS IN FINITE IN SPACE AND FINITE IN

TIME? Then there is a time before when there

were galaxies OUR UNIVERSE HAD A BEGINNING !

THE DARK NIGHT SKY PARADOX:“It is dark outside at night, therefore the Universe is finite in

space or time or both”

Brief History:

1610: Johannes Kepler “ If the Universe was infinite, the

Celestial Vault would be as luminous as the Sun.”

1700: Edmund Halley…what he said

1744: J.P. Cheseaux: Darkness due to dust in space

absorbing the light

1823: Heinrich Olbers…what he said

1848: John Herschel: “…but absorbing gas would heat up

and glow.”

20th Century: many textbooks stated that expansion of

Universe makes night sky dark

20th Century: Ed Harrison, Jim Gunn, et al. “look-back time”

through the Universe exceeds the luminous lifetime of

galaxies The Universe is finite in TIME !!!