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THE MOST IMPORTANT
EVENT OFMODERN
ASTRONOMY
R. VEERA MANOHARAN
SR No- 10810
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Introduction
The word astronomy comes from the words astro-which relates to objects like
stars and heavenly bodies and nomoswhich means laws, hence from these two
words we can infer the meaning of astronomy as the laws of nature which govern
the celestial and heavenly bodies. Astronomy is the oldest of all fields of science
known to mankind. This field of study originated not just from casual gaze over
the sky and the effects of inborn curiosity but also due to the religious studies.
The development of the field of astronomy is imprinted with various political,
social and religious issues throughout the history. In this essay I would like to
address one of such events in the history of astronomy i.e. the publication of the
revolutionary theory of heliocentric universe; the theory which says earth
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revolves around the universe. Before I talk more I would like to give a brief
introduction of the history of astronomy.
History of Astronomy
The science of astronomy had its origins, probably at the very start of human
civilizations. There is enough evidence of this from various rock paintings
depicting lunar phases, constellations etc. Some people in the central Africa
probably used lunar calendar to predict seasons and hence determine the time of
planting and harvesting seeds and plants. Some prehistoric monuments like
Stonehenge are interestingly aligned with passage of sun along meridian at
solstice. Much of older day astronomy had something to do with calendars topredict festivals etc. There are several places where such evidences of practices of
astronomy were found. Ancient astronomy was more or less related to astrology
than a science itself.
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The earliest known astronomer whom we know a bit about is Hipparchus. He is
known for his contribution to the star catalogue by cataloging about 850 stars
with information about their positions and their brightness. These observations
when compared with later astronomers showed that the axis of the earth
undergo precession similar to that of a gyroscope. At this time earth was assumed
to be stationary, hence the movement of the stars were explained by an
imaginary celestial sphere. These ideas were emphasized further by the popular
(at least to the clergy) astronomer called Ptolemy. He came with Ptolemaic
system of world which assumed to be the absolute truth about the universe (for a
long time) in which earth was considered to be the centre of the universe and
everything else was considered to be orbiting the planet.
By the 16thcentury these ideas were strongly challenged by the polish
astronomer Nicolaus Copernicus who published his work on heliocentric theory
which made the world realize that it was the earth which was orbiting the sun and
not the vice-versa. This idea initially faced some criticism but defended later by
astronomers like Kepler, Galileo, and Newton etc. Then since the invention of the
telescope the science of astronomy has moved far from being just way of getting
information for calendars to a science which deals with all sorts of celestial bodies
from earth to stats , galaxies and in fact the whole universe. This was also
accelerated with the parallel but later development of other fields of science like
mathematics and physics, which could explain a lot of celestial phenomenon
which could not be explained earlier. Later Edwin Hubble demystified the big-
bang theory. Recently a lot of high tech equipments and satellites have been at
work to learn more about the universe. But still the search for knowledge about
the universe still continues and will continue well into the future.
THE EVENT
The event I have taken in this assignment is the event which according to me is
most revolutionary in the field of astronomy. The event is of course the
publication of the theory of heliocentric model of heavens which can be referred
to as Copernican revolution. This is something that drove the future astronomers
in the right way i.e. to study the science of astronomy in the way it should be. Not
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just this is the event that led to the scientific thinking and scientific method
proper. This is the reason why Nicolaus Copernicus is still regarded as the father
of modern astronomy even though he lived sometime back in 16th
century.
Copernicus is sometimes even credited with beginning the Scientific Revolution.
Imagine a world in which people still believe in a universe where the earth is at
the centre of the universe, that is a geocentric universe which we now know is
not true. There would have been very little advancements in science and
technology, which would have severely, cripple worlds overall development. This
would without development in science and technology would have low economic
prospects and it would lack the knowledge and main reason we study astronomy,
to find out the secrets of the universe(Even though for which even we do not
entirely know the answer). This event in history has also led to development of
other fields of science as well like Physics and Mathematics.
The polish astronomer Nicolaus Copernicus (1473-1543) was born in Torun.
His father was a merchant and his mother also came from a family of merchants.
He studied arts at the University of Cracow. It is possible that he would have got
to study astronomy as well as astrology here. He worked under Domenico Maria
de Novara, the chief astronomer of the University of the Bologna as his assistant.
It is also possible that Novara might have introduced Copernicus to early works
which contained views which opposed the then widely accepted Ptolemys theory.
A few years after this when he went back to Poland, Bishop Watzenrode arranged
a job for him. It was in his spare time which he formed heliocentric theory. There
was a flaw in Ptolemys theory; it could not properly explain the positioning of
Mercury and Venus. Moreover the orbits followed by the heavenly bodies in this
system are quite complex and making the processes of making calendars difficult.
He first postulated in Commentariolusthat if we assume sun to be at rest and that
other bodies move around it, the fall into an ordered sidereal(Time taken to
complete an orbit around the centre) relationship.
He also published another book in collaboration with Rheticus. Here at this point
we can see politics in action; he cleverly described himself to be following the
footsteps of his predecessor Ptolemy, but in principle this is what he exactly does
not do. We can find the reason to be that whatever he wrote is against the
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teaching of the church (about astronomy). He doesnt want to get caught in any
situation where he is punished for going against the teachings of the church more
so ever because he was having a job in church. He published his final publication
over this topic in De revolutionibus orbium coelestium libri vi.Again, to avoid
getting caught in any sort of political issues, he dedicated his work Derevolutionibus orbium coelestium libri vi to the Pope Paul III. Even when he was
about to publish the text, his supervisor advised him to present his ideas as purely
hypothetical. But later the supervisor wrote an unsigned letter to general public
commenting upon the book as untruth, ultimately confusing the readers.
Unfortunately at a later time, he lost consciousness due to a stroke. He died
shortly after the book after his book was published.
Copernicusswork and Religion and Politics
When Copernicus published his work he faced lots of negative comments and
criticism on the basis of religion. One of Copernicuss contemporaries Martin
Luthercondemned him as a fool whose teachings went against religion. He even
describes Copernicus as a fool who went against a holy writ. Here is extract of
one of his descriptions on De revolutionibus orbium coelestium libri vi.
There is talk of a new astrologer who wants to prove that the
earth moves and goes around instead of the sky, the sun, the moon, just as if
somebody were moving in a carriage or ship might hold that he was sitting still and
at rest while the earth and the trees walked and moved. But that is how things are
nowadays: when a man wishes to be clever he must needs invent something special,
and the way he does it must needs be the best! The fool wants to turn the whole art
of astronomy upside-down. However, as Holy Scripture tells us, so did Joshua bid the
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sun to stand still and not the earth. [For more information click here or see the
references]
Although his work face some initial criticism but the overall effect on the
society was ambivalent. But after a few decades his ideas sank in the minds of thepeople and began to take form. Later it time his system of time was used to make
the Gregorian calendar. But the church treated this as just a mathematical
construct rather than a complete theory which can be accepted. In fact, later the
church officially banned the work of Copernicus. His work was relieved by Galileo;
unfortunately he was kept under house arrest for his emphasis on heliocentric
theory. It is interesting to note that he was declared innocent 350 years after his
death.
Copernicusstheory proved that Church is not the ultimate source of truth.
His theory challenged the overall authority of people and the world and rathertheir minds. He started a revolution which has actually changed the world as we
know it now.
Conclusion
Many people believe that Copernicus was the first person to postulate the idea
that the earth was not the center of the universe, though this is not so. While
there were wise Greek, Muslim and Indian civilizations who had also published
ideas about the sun being the center of the universe hundreds of years before
Copernicus, he still remains the one who did the most in depth research andfounded the Copernican Revolution and hence ultimately scientific revolution.
The Copernican revolution has spread Secularism. His theory brought down the
absolute dominance of the church over the society. Hence his theory is a standing
milestone in the history of humanity.
References
Nicolaus Copernicus - Wikipedia: - For information of the works andbiography Copernicus.
History of Astronomy -Wikipedia: - For information on the history ofastronomy. http://abyss.uoregon.edu/~js/ast121/lectures/lec02.html - For more
information on history of astronomy.
Top 10 Most Important Astronomers- List verse
http://www.astronomy.ohio-state.edu/~pogge/Ast161/Unit3/response.htmlhttp://www.astronomy.ohio-state.edu/~pogge/Ast161/Unit3/response.htmlhttp://www.astronomy.ohio-state.edu/~pogge/Ast161/Unit3/response.htmlhttp://abyss.uoregon.edu/~js/ast121/lectures/lec02.htmlhttp://abyss.uoregon.edu/~js/ast121/lectures/lec02.htmlhttp://abyss.uoregon.edu/~js/ast121/lectures/lec02.htmlhttp://www.astronomy.ohio-state.edu/~pogge/Ast161/Unit3/response.htmlhttp://www.astronomy.ohio-state.edu/~pogge/Ast161/Unit3/response.html -
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http://www.astronomy.ohio-state.edu/~pogge/Ast161/Unit3/galileo.html A bit of information of life
timeline of Galileo and his controversies with the church.
[1]http://www.astronomy.ohio-state.edu/~pogge/Ast161/Unit3/response.html the political, religiousviews of the people, society and his contemporaries on His work De
revolutionibus orbium coelestium libri vi. The excerpt of Martin Luther is
taken from this website. http://starchild.gsfc.nasa.gov/docs/StarChild/whos_who_level2/coper
nicus.htmlA brief history on Copernicus.
http://www.astronomy.ohio-state.edu/~pogge/Ast161/Unit3/galileo.htmlhttp://www.astronomy.ohio-state.edu/~pogge/Ast161/Unit3/galileo.htmlhttp://www.astronomy.ohio-state.edu/~pogge/Ast161/Unit3/galileo.htmlhttp://www.astronomy.ohio-state.edu/~pogge/Ast161/Unit3/galileo.htmlhttp://www.astronomy.ohio-state.edu/~pogge/Ast161/Unit3/galileo.htmlhttp://www.astronomy.ohio-state.edu/~pogge/Ast161/Unit3/response.htmlhttp://www.astronomy.ohio-state.edu/~pogge/Ast161/Unit3/response.htmlhttp://www.astronomy.ohio-state.edu/~pogge/Ast161/Unit3/response.htmlhttp://www.astronomy.ohio-state.edu/~pogge/Ast161/Unit3/response.htmlhttp://starchild.gsfc.nasa.gov/docs/StarChild/whos_who_level2/copernicus.htmlhttp://starchild.gsfc.nasa.gov/docs/StarChild/whos_who_level2/copernicus.htmlhttp://starchild.gsfc.nasa.gov/docs/StarChild/whos_who_level2/copernicus.htmlhttp://starchild.gsfc.nasa.gov/docs/StarChild/whos_who_level2/copernicus.htmlhttp://starchild.gsfc.nasa.gov/docs/StarChild/whos_who_level2/copernicus.htmlhttp://starchild.gsfc.nasa.gov/docs/StarChild/whos_who_level2/copernicus.htmlhttp://starchild.gsfc.nasa.gov/docs/StarChild/whos_who_level2/copernicus.htmlhttp://www.astronomy.ohio-state.edu/~pogge/Ast161/Unit3/response.htmlhttp://www.astronomy.ohio-state.edu/~pogge/Ast161/Unit3/response.htmlhttp://www.astronomy.ohio-state.edu/~pogge/Ast161/Unit3/galileo.htmlhttp://www.astronomy.ohio-state.edu/~pogge/Ast161/Unit3/galileo.html