Heaven and Earth in Ancient Greek Cosmology

Heaven and Earth in Ancient Greek Cosmology PDF

Author: Dirk L. Couprie

Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media

Published: 2011-03-23

Total Pages: 285

ISBN-13: 1441981160

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In Miletus, about 550 B.C., together with our world-picture cosmology was born. This book tells the story. In Part One the reader is introduced in the archaic world-picture of a flat earth with the cupola of the celestial vault onto which the celestial bodies are attached. One of the subjects treated in that context is the riddle of the tilted celestial axis. This part also contains an extensive chapter on archaic astronomical instruments. Part Two shows how Anaximander (610-547 B.C.) blew up this archaic world-picture and replaced it by a new one that is essentially still ours. He taught that the celestial bodies orbit at different distances and that the earth floats unsupported in space. This makes him the founding father of cosmology. Part Three discusses topics that completed the new picture described by Anaximander. Special attention is paid to the confrontation between Anaxagoras and Aristotle on the question whether the earth is flat or spherical, and on the battle between Aristotle and Heraclides Ponticus on the question whether the universe is finite or infinite.

When the Earth Was Flat

When the Earth Was Flat PDF

Author: Dirk L. Couprie

Publisher: Springer

Published: 2018-11-01

Total Pages: 361

ISBN-13: 3319970526

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This book is a sequel to Heaven and Earth in Ancient Greek Cosmology (Springer 2011). With the help of many pictures, the reader is introduced into the way of thinking of ancient believers in a flat earth. The first part offers new interpretations of several Presocratic cosmologists and a critical discussion of Aristotle’s proofs that the earth is spherical. The second part explains and discusses the ancient Chinese system called gai tian. The last chapter shows that, inadvertently, ancient arguments and ideas return in the curious modern flat earth cosmologies.

On the Heavens

On the Heavens PDF

Author: Aristotle

Publisher: Phoemixx Classics Ebooks

Published: 2021-11-14

Total Pages: 155

ISBN-13: 3986772901

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On the Heavens Aristotle - On the Heavens is Aristotle's chief cosmological treatise: written in 350 BC it contains his astronomical theory and his ideas on the concrete workings of the terrestrial world. This work is significant as one of the defining pillars of the Aristotelian worldview, a school of philosophy that dominated intellectual thinking for almost two millennia. Similarly, this work and others by Aristotle were important seminal works by which much of scholasticism was derived.

Understanding the Heavens

Understanding the Heavens PDF

Author: Jean-Claude Pecker

Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media

Published: 2012-12-06

Total Pages: 606

ISBN-13: 3662044412

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The author, a well-known astronomer himself, describes the evolution of astronomical ideas, touching only lightly on most of the instrumental developments. Richly illustrated, the book starts with the astronomical ideas of the Egyptian and Mesopotamian philosophers, moves on to the Greek period and then on to the golden age of astronomy, that of Copernicus, Galileo, Kepler and Newton. Finally, Pecker concludes with modern theories of cosmology. Written with astronomy undergraduates in mind, this is a fascinating survey of astronomical thinking.

Unifying Heaven and Earth. Essays in the History of Early Modern Cosmology

Unifying Heaven and Earth. Essays in the History of Early Modern Cosmology PDF

Author: Miguel Á. Granada

Publisher: Edicions Universitat Barcelona

Published: 2016-05-26

Total Pages: 357

ISBN-13: 8447539601

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One of the most significant events in the history of Western civilization was the cosmological revolution of the 16th and 17th centuries. Among the most salient factors in this change, described by Alexandre Koyré as the ‘destruction of the cosmos’ inherited from ancient Greece, were Copernican heliocentrism and the substitution of a homogeneous universe for the hierarchical cosmos of the Platonic and Aristotelian tradition. Starting with a new approach to the issue of the presence of Islamic astronomical devices in Copernicus’ work and a thorough reappraisal of the cosmological views of Paracelsus, the book deals mainly with the abolition of cosmological dualism and the ways in which it affected the decline of astrology over the 17th century. Other related topics include planetary order and theories of world harmony, the cause of planetary motion in the Tychonic world system or the discussion on comets in Germany through the first presentation of a manuscript treatise by Michael Maestlin on the great comet of 1618.

A Companion to Science, Technology, and Medicine in Ancient Greece and Rome, 2 Volume Set

A Companion to Science, Technology, and Medicine in Ancient Greece and Rome, 2 Volume Set PDF

Author: Georgia L. Irby

Publisher: John Wiley & Sons

Published: 2019-12-05

Total Pages: 1111

ISBN-13: 1119100704

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A Companion to Science, Technology, and Medicine in Ancient Greece and Rome brings a fresh perspective to the study of these disciplines in the ancient world, with 60 chapters examining these topics from a variety of critical and technical perspectives. Brings a fresh perspective to the study of science, technology, and medicine in the ancient world, with 60 chapters examining these topics from a variety of critical and technical perspectives Begins coverage in 600 BCE and includes sections on the later Roman Empire and beyond, featuring discussion of the transmission and reception of these ideas into the Renaissance Investigates key disciplines, concepts, and movements in ancient science, technology, and medicine within the historical, cultural, and philosophical contexts of Greek and Roman society Organizes its content in two halves: the first focuses on mathematical and natural sciences; the second focuses on cultural applications and interdisciplinary themes 2 Volumes

A Companion to Science, Technology, and Medicine in Ancient Greece and Rome

A Companion to Science, Technology, and Medicine in Ancient Greece and Rome PDF

Author: Georgia L. Irby

Publisher: John Wiley & Sons

Published: 2016-01-19

Total Pages: 1112

ISBN-13: 1118373049

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A Companion to Science, Technology, and Medicine in Ancient Greece and Rome brings a fresh perspective to the study of these disciplines in the ancient world, with 60 chapters examining these topics from a variety of critical and technical perspectives. Brings a fresh perspective to the study of science, technology, and medicine in the ancient world, with 60 chapters examining these topics from a variety of critical and technical perspectives Begins coverage in 600 BCE and includes sections on the later Roman Empire and beyond, featuring discussion of the transmission and reception of these ideas into the Renaissance Investigates key disciplines, concepts, and movements in ancient science, technology, and medicine within the historical, cultural, and philosophical contexts of Greek and Roman society Organizes its content in two halves: the first focuses on mathematical and natural sciences; the second focuses on cultural applications and interdisciplinary themes 2 Volumes

Horizons

Horizons PDF

Author: Michael A. Seeds

Publisher: Brooks Cole

Published: 2001

Total Pages: 524

ISBN-13:

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In this fully updated new Seventh Edition, Mike Seeds shows students their place in the universe - not just their location, but their role as planet dwellers in an evolving universe. He also emphasizes how science works, as opposed to simply teaching facts about astronomy. This enthusiastic author inspires students' imagination, sense of wonder, and excitement about new discoveries. At the same time, Seeds strives to arm students with a solid understanding of the process of science. Crafting a story about astronomy, Seeds hopes that students will be able to ask questions of nature and gradually puzzle out the beautiful secrets of the physical world.

Scripture and Cosmology

Scripture and Cosmology PDF

Author: Kyle Greenwood

Publisher: InterVarsity Press

Published: 2015-09-03

Total Pages: 255

ISBN-13: 0830898700

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Christians often claim to hold a biblical worldview. But what about a biblical cosmos view? From the beginning of Genesis we encounter a vaulted dome above the earth, a "firmament," like the ceiling of a planetarium. Elsewhere we read of the earth sitting on pillars. What does the dome of heaven have to do with deep space? Even when the biblical language is clearly poetic, it seems to be funded by a very different understanding of how the cosmos is put together. As Kyle Greenwood shows, the language of the Bible is also that of the ancient Near Eastern palace, temple and hearth. There was no other way of thinking or speaking of earth and sky or the sun, moon and stars. But when the psalmist looked at the heavens, the delicate fingerwork of God, it evoked wonder. Even today it is astronomy and cosmology that invoke our awe and point toward the depths of divine mystery. Greenwood helps us see how the best Christian thinkers have viewed the cosmos in light of Scripture—and grappled with new understandings as science has advanced from Aristotle to Copernicus to Galileo and the galaxies of deep space. It's a compelling story that both illuminates the text of Scripture and helps us find our own place in the tradition of faithful Christian thinking and interpretation.

The Number of the Heavens

The Number of the Heavens PDF

Author: Tom Siegfried

Publisher: Harvard University Press

Published: 2019-09-17

Total Pages: 353

ISBN-13: 0674243382

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The award-winning former editor of Science News shows that one of the most fascinating and controversial ideas in contemporary cosmology—the existence of multiple parallel universes—has a long and divisive history that continues to this day. We often consider the universe to encompass everything that exists, but some scientists have come to believe that the vast, expanding universe we inhabit may be just one of many. The totality of those parallel universes, still for some the stuff of science fiction, has come to be known as the multiverse. The concept of the multiverse, exotic as it may be, isn’t actually new. In The Number of the Heavens, veteran science journalist Tom Siegfried traces the history of this controversial idea from antiquity to the present. Ancient Greek philosophers first raised the possibility of multiple universes, but Aristotle insisted on one and only one cosmos. Then in 1277 the bishop of Paris declared it heresy to teach that God could not create as many universes as he pleased, unleashing fervent philosophical debate about whether there might exist a “plurality of worlds.” As the Middle Ages gave way to the Renaissance, the philosophical debates became more scientific. René Descartes declared “the number of the heavens” to be indefinitely large, and as notions of the known universe expanded from our solar system to our galaxy, the debate about its multiplicity was repeatedly recast. In the 1980s, new theories about the big bang reignited interest in the multiverse. Today the controversy continues, as cosmologists and physicists explore the possibility of many big bangs, extra dimensions of space, and a set of branching, parallel universes. This engrossing story offers deep lessons about the nature of science and the quest to understand the universe.