Yeah, I agree! (sort of, but ...) My understanding (haven't read the original) is that Copernicus (Latinized from the Polish name Kopernik) was theoretically embedded in the medieval way of thinking which was to try to fit the available data into pre-existing medieval-style thinking. I believe he showed that either a geo or helio-centered universe could be made consistent with existing data. Galileo deserves a tremendous amount of credit for pushing science forward, but look to Kepler's three laws of planetary motion (1609/1619) for a real data-driven science (Tycho Brahe's data though), moving from the perfect circles of medieval thinking to elliptical orbits. But in empirically derived laws, he saw a different sort of perfection, mathematically, such as the relationship between distance from the sun and time to orbit (3rd law I believe) ...
========================== John W. Kulig Professor of Psychology Plymouth State University Plymouth NH 03264 ==================================================================== GALILEO GALILEI: I do not feel obligated to believe that the same God who has endowed us with sense, reasons, and intellect has intended us to forgo their use. ==================================================================== ----- Original Message ----- From: "John Serafin" <john.sera...@email.stvincent.edu> To: "Teaching in the Psychological Sciences (TIPS)" <tips@fsulist.frostburg.edu> Sent: Tuesday, September 14, 2010 5:24:29 PM Subject: Re: [tips] Galileo Was Wrong? Hey, wait a minute here. Why is that Italian, Galileo, getting credit (or blame, depending on your perspective) for all of this business about a heliocentric universe? I thought that my Polish ancestor, Copernicus, was the one responsible for all of this rabble-rousing. If they're going to go off on a witch hunt or defamatory exploration, they should at least get the right victim. Geez! John -- John Serafin Psychology Department Saint Vincent College Latrobe, PA 15650 john.sera...@email.stvincent.edu --- You are currently subscribed to tips as: ku...@mail.plymouth.edu. To unsubscribe click here: http://fsulist.frostburg.edu/u?id=13338.f659d005276678c0696b7f6beda66454&n=T&l=tips&o=4811 or send a blank email to leave-4811-13338.f659d005276678c0696b7f6beda66...@fsulist.frostburg.edu --- You are currently subscribed to tips as: arch...@jab.org. To unsubscribe click here: http://fsulist.frostburg.edu/u?id=13090.68da6e6e5325aa33287ff385b70df5d5&n=T&l=tips&o=4815 or send a blank email to leave-4815-13090.68da6e6e5325aa33287ff385b70df...@fsulist.frostburg.edu
