When and why should people change their minds? People change their minds when something is said by someone popular or proved to be true by others. In the “Investigations 2” packet from Big History Project, the eight documents portrays this. Their minds change due to rethinking conventional ideas, new technology opening a path to difference, and collective learning. Document 1 talks about Ptolemy’s theory of the geocentric theory. The geocentric theory is the belief that the Universe revolved around the Earth. This is what many people believed at the time because that was all that could be seen with the naked eye: “Ptolemy believed that the Earth was at the center of the Universe and that the Sun, Moon, planets and stars went round the Earth …show more content…
As he was studying, he began to disagree with it. He used science, math, and a yardstick to study the Universe for himself. After measuring the altitude and angles of stars and planets, he was able to claim that the planets revolved around the sun and that only the moon orbited around Earth. According to the document, “Copernicus wrote a short report called the Little Commentary, that explained his heliocentric theory (8).” This report was only shared with a couple of his friends. After 20 years, Copernicus agreed to share his new discovery with the world by publishing a book called On the Revolutions of the Celestial Spheres about his discoveries. In document 5, Galileo Galilei wrote a letter to a friend, Kepler, for his support for Copernicus’ theory years after he died. In this letter he explains how Galileo believes that the heliocentric theory is the correct theory and that he was too scared to publish his arguments supporting Copernicus. Galileo was scared because only in the eyes of few people and mocked and made fun of by many. Galileo says that he would feel better coming out with his ideas if the idea was more populrized in a positive way. According to document 6, Galileo was an inventor. Even if he didn’t invent the first ever telescope, he invented a very updated version of it. When looking through his invention, he saw that the moon wasn’t smooth and has sunspots which supportted and extened the heliocentric
For instance, Roman astronomer; Ptolemy developed the “Geocentric” theory of the universe, in which the Earth was believed to be in the center of the universe. (Doc. C) Furthermore, polish astronomer; Nicolaus Copernicus, who relied on mathematics and observations created a different understanding of the universe, called the “Heliocentric” universe. Heliocentric meaning “sun-centered,” in other words meaning that the sun is believed to be at the center of the universe unlike the Geocentric theory. (Doc. C)
Such as the way people thought the layout of the universe was. There were two different ways it was assumed to look either in the favor of Ptolemy or Copernicus. “He developed a theory of the universe that was adopted by most scholars” (Doc C). The difference in scientific information from the Renaissance to the Middle Ages verified how statistics has developed throughout time. Roman astronomer, Ptolemy, developed a geocentric (Earth-centered) model of the universe which was believed to be true by most scholars (Doc C).
Other scientists like Nicolas Copernicus believed in the Heliocentric Theory. At first, it didn’t explain how the planets orbits the way they did and was very hesitant to share it with others. In 1601, another scientist named Johannes Kepler proved that Copernicus idea was correct. They show that the planets rotate around the sun. Another method Copernicus, Kepler, and Galileo developed was called the Scientific Method.
Relying mostly on mathematics, he developed a very different understanding of the universe” (Doc C). Copernicus created the heliocentric model of the universe proving that the sun was the center of the universe. This theory, while not completely correct, has been the foundation of Astronomy and astronomical sciences for
Galileo continued to study the heliocentric and in 1932, he even published a book called Dialogue Concerning the Two Chief World System supporting Copernicus’s theory. ( The Scientific Revolution) . Galileo publishing the Dialogue Concerning the Two Chief World System supporting Copernicus’s showed that Galileo supported the Heliocentric theory. Galileo teaching the opposite of what the church had to say makes Galileo a
Galileo’s theories portrayed a heliocentric solar system while the Catholic Church had said it was geocentric; as a result, Galileo’s works were put on the Index of Prohibited Books and he was later put under house arrest by the Inquisition. A letter from an Italian monk in Document 3 depicts how religious figures would try to convince him to retract his discovery of the moon having craters in order to avoid confusion and contradiction of the Bible, which portrays how religious figures hindered the progress of the Scientific Revolution because these new ideas challenged the Bible and their old
Autumn Stern Galileo Trial Summary + Copernicus Write Up In the early 17th century, there was no doubt that the Catholic church held extreme power throughout Europe. They also held to the geocentric theory (all planets, heavenly bodies and the sun revolving around the earth) put forth by Ptolemy and Aristotle because of how neatly it could fit into the current teachings. Unlike this theory, however, Galileo enforced Copernicus’ heliocentric theory with inductive reasoning rather than deductive. Galileo made observations about the moons of Jupiter and their orbit around Jupiter, which he likened to a smaller version of their solar system.
During the Middle Ages a Roman Astronomer named Ptolemy came up with the theory that all surrounding planets orbited around the Earth. Advancement in telescopes and technology helped Copernicus during the renaissance create a more logical and accurate theory which stated how the sun is in the middle of our universe and all planets orbited the sun. This changed the way man thought because it realized how small Earth is compared to the rest of the solar system and how we may not be
Analysis of Galileo’s Letter to Grand-Duchess Christina During the time that Galileo wrote the letter to Grand-Duchess Christina, there was much debate about the orientation of the universe. There were two different theories of thought at this time. One was the Heliocentric Universe, which believed the sun was the center of the universe and the Earth orbits it.
By using his eyes, Galileo confirmed the heliocentric theory and created his own in reply: the Copernican theory. His theory stated that the sun was at the center of the universe, with the earth and other planets rotating around it in elliptical paths and at uniform speeds. Copernicus had used Bacon’s implications that “seeing is believing.” He also theorized that the other planets were made of substances similar to those found on earth. These two ideas even furthered the notion that humans were not special to God because they inhabited an earth that looked like all the other planets.
Copernicus developed the heliocentric theory which claimed that the earth revolved around the sun. This immediately challenged the authorities who believed the opposite. Galileo furthered Copernicus’ argument and promoted that the Bible, that God
Soon after Galileo used the telescope to discover the Milky Way and the moon's craters, Kepler announced his three laws of planetary motion which inferred that other bodies in the Solar System have elliptical orbits. Kepler uses these principles to make a conclusion that our moon exists for us on the earth, not for other planets. He explains that each planet and its occupants is served by its own satellites. This pluralistic way of thinking suggests that the Earth is nothing special in regards to other planets and is just another planet revolving around a fixed star. Kepler extends heliocentrism to other solar systems and not just ours.
Its originality can be seen in the in scription of the map and accurate orientation. In ancient Greece, even if Homer was n ot a mapmaker, his geographical descriptions in Iliad and Odyssey almost made readers to regard him as a master cartographer. Hesiod’s poems written probably durin g the 8th century BCE gave the statement of the ancient geography. Through the lyr ics of Works and Days and Theogony he showed to scholars of his generation some defin ite geographical knowledge.
Additionally, he wrote in left-handed mirror writing to make it harder to read and steal his ideas. o Before Copernicus, he knew about Earth not being center of universe o Before Galileo, he suggested a telescope invention to see the stars. He did not create a telescope invention, but he had the idea of something like it to magnify outer space and make it closely visible to the human eye. o Before Newton, he knew of a pull on the Earth (that we now know to be gravity) and that the planet was round.
Galileo also may have made the first recorded studies of the planet Neptune, though he didn't think it was a planet. Galileo helped to support Copernicus’ theory. Copernicus theory was that the sun is the center of the universe and the planet revolve around also known as the heliocentric theory. His observations of Venus and the fact that Jupiter had moons that did not orbit Earth, helped support the theory. He ended up becoming a Italian physicist.