Good points, John. It was really Copernicus who gave us the notion that you could better explain the motions of the planets; it was Kepler who worked out elliptical orbits (but hated them -- circular motion required no explanation, but ellipses do), and Newton who invented gravity to explain the elliptical orbits.
Galileo gave observational evidence that there were more than "seven heavenly bodies" in his observations of the satellites of Jupiter. He gets the "blame" because he was the one who provided evidence for the notion that things weren't as the Ptolemaic system would have it. m -- Marc Carter, PhD Associate Professor and Chair Department of Psychology College of Arts & Sciences Baker University -- > -----Original Message----- > From: John Kulig [mailto:ku...@mail.plymouth.edu] > Sent: Tuesday, September 14, 2010 6:44 PM > To: Teaching in the Psychological Sciences (TIPS) > Subject: Re: [tips] Galileo Was Wrong? > > > 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. > ==================================================================== > The information contained in this e-mail and any attachments thereto ("e-mail") is sent by Baker University ("BU") and is intended to be confidential and for the use of only the individual or entity named above. The information may be protected by federal and state privacy and disclosures acts or other legal rules. If the reader of this message is not the intended recipient, you are notified that retention, dissemination, distribution or copying of this e-mail is strictly prohibited. If you have received this e-mail in error please immediately notify Baker University by email reply and immediately and permanently delete this e-mail message and any attachments thereto. Thank you. --- 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=4826 or send a blank email to leave-4826-13090.68da6e6e5325aa33287ff385b70df...@fsulist.frostburg.edu
