DOCSLIB.ORG

Space Travel to the Moon and Kepler's Dream

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
Space Travel to the Moon and Kepler's Dream Proceedings of the Iowa Academy of Science Volume 79 Number Article 15 1972 Space Travel to the Moon and Kepler's Dream Paul B. Selz Parsons College Let us know how access to this document benefits ouy Copyright ©1972 Iowa Academy of Science, Inc. Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarworks.uni.edu/pias Recommended Citation Selz, Paul B. (1972) "Space Travel to the Moon and Kepler's Dream," Proceedings of the Iowa Academy of Science, 79(1), 47-48. Available at: https://scholarworks.uni.edu/pias/vol79/iss1/15 This General Interest Article is brought to you for free and open access by the Iowa Academy of Science at UNI ScholarWorks. It has been accepted for inclusion in Proceedings of the Iowa Academy of Science by an authorized editor of UNI ScholarWorks. For more information, please contact [email protected]. Selz: Space Travel to the Moon and Kepler's Dream SPACE TRAVEL & KEPLER'S DREAM 47 Space Travel to the Moon and Kepler's Dream PAUL B. SELZ1 PAUL B. SELZ. Space Travel to the Moon and Kepler's Dream. that the same conclusions would follow. This involved concepts Proc. Iowa Acad. Sci., 79(1):47-48, 1972. ~£ mass, inertia, gravity, acceleration, velocity, and the driving SYNOPSIS: Johann Kepler advocated Copernicus's heliocentric force in a trip to the moon. Twelve years before Newton's birth theory in his Dream and Notes. He imagined how a moon dweller in 1642, Kepler published in this little known dream ideas which would see the solar system and the conclusions he would draw. Newton later developed. Kepler's ideas concerning the moon's Then by reversing the point of view to the earth, Kepler showed distance, motion, and conditions to be met in space are reviewed. INTRODUCTION Kepler's Dream ·has been in print for more than 300 years, Among Kepler's writings there is one in La'tin, "Somni­ but it is still little known. He was a man before his time um, The Dream or Lunar Astronomy." It was written in and his ideas in this work deserve careful attention by mor~ historians of science, physicists, and astronomers. 1593 with many notes and appendices added between 1621 and 1630. The work was printed in 1634, four years a:fter THE DREAM OR LUNAR ASTRONOMY Kepler's death. His son-in-law, Jacob Bartsch, and his son Although the title and content of The Dream have to do Ludwig arranged for the publication at Frankfurt/Main. The with lunar astronomy, Kepler's secondary aim was to sup­ expense df printing was paid by Kepler's heirs. Ludwig Kep­ port the heliocentric theory. He cast his arguments in the ler hoped to raise funds by sale of the book for Kepler's sec­ form of an allegorical dream of a trip to the moon, possibly ond wife and four minor children. This did not work out, for for two reasons. First, there was an intense religious conflict the book was forgotten until modern space travel became a during the early part of the 17th Century that erupted in possibility. the Thirty Years' War, 1618-1648. Kepler was deeply re­ HISTORY OF The Dream ligious and held refonned positions on some theological Johannes Kepler attended Tubingen University in Ger­ questions. Perhaps he hoped to escape criticism. Second, as a many where students were required to write and publicly de­ dream he could solve the then impossible space travel prob­ fend dissertations. In 1593 Kepler wrote a dissertation in lems by an appeal to magic. After all, the hardware for space Latin on Lunar Astronomy in which he supported 'the Co­ adventures was more than 350 years in the 'future! pernican heliocentric theory o'f the universe. Few scholars of His plan was to have a man fly to the moon, look a:t the that day were willing to abandon the geocentric or earth­ usual celestial phenomena as seen from that body, and in­ centered system. Ecclesiastical authorities were dead-set terpret them in the same manner as an eai-.th dweller would against any other concept of the universe. On the Tubingen do. To avoid awkwardness he gave new names to the earth faculty only Kepler's teacher in mathematics and astronomy and the moon, calling the earth "Volva" and the moon "Le­ accepted the Copernican theory. A student friend selected 20 vania." theses from Kepler's dissertation which he proposed to de­ The inhabitan'ts of the moon, or Levania, just as earth fend. He presented ~hem to Professor Vie't Muller who was in dwellers, feel no movement through space. They see the same charge o'f the public debates. When Muller refused to ap­ constellations and the same passage o'f the sun from east to prove them because o'f their Copernican point of view, Kep­ west as we do. Naturally, then, they assume Levania to be ler laid his dissertation aside. Not until twenty-seven years motionless while the universe revolves around them daily, a later did he prepare it for publication. day equalling 29.5 earth days. One no'ta'ble difference is the Knowing that the ordinary reader would need explan­ startling phenomenon of the earth, Volva, hanging always at ations, Kepler wrote 223 detailed notes between 1621 and tlhe same place in the sky. At least this would be startling to 1630. He annotated statements, cited references, and added the visitor from earth. Volva's rotation, however, is easy 'to appendices. In the beginning The Dream, the name he gave perceive by the succession o'f the blue o'f the oceans and to the revised dissertation, covered less than 20 pages. The the brown of the continents. Its 24 hour period and its pro­ final product covered about 170. The Dream was being set gression through the identical phases that we see in 'the in type when Kepler died in 1630. His son-in-law and his son moon make Volva a perfect time keeper. Although the sun's saw it through the press in 1634. His Latin text was re­ pace across the sky is not steady, it appears to moon dwell­ printed once in 1858. Two partial translations into German ers as obviously revolving around Levania. Thus, to the peo­ were written in 1871 and 1898. An unpublished English ple of Levania, the universe is Lunacentric. version was made in 1947. In 1965 Patricia Kirkwood This is precisely the interpretation put upon the same ce­ translated it into English with an interpretation by John lestial phenomena by earth dwellers, but a visitor from earth Lt':'ar. Then in 1967 Edward Rosen translated The Dream would point out that it is false because i't is Levania that is from a 1634 Latin copy in the Columbia University Li­ in motion. So Kepler advocated the heliocentric theory by brary. The last two books were used in preparing this paper. showing that the diurnal notion of the sun and stars is ac­ tually due to the earth's movements. A few mrght have been 1 Paul B. Selz, Professor Emeritus of Physics and Mathematics, persuaded, but the common folk continued to trust their Parsons College, Fairfield, Iowa. sense of being at rest, and church officials flcitly rejected any Published by UNI ScholarWorks, 1972 1 Proceedings of the Iowa Academy of Science, Vol. 79 [1972], No. 1, Art. 15 48 PRoc. lowA AcAD. Ser. 79 ( 1972-1973) view differing from the traditional concepts of a motionless of the moon was the cause of the tides, and in note 202 ea1•th at the center of the universe. calls attention to the higher tides whenever the sun and In The Dream's imaginative description of the flight to the moon are in conjunction. He did not extend gravity to the moon, Kepler displays a surprising knowledge of the prob­ stars because of their far greater distance. Between the earth lems involved. For example, in his choice o!f a favorable mo­ and nearby bodies, however, he says there is a mutually at­ ment for take-off, he takes into account the need for protec­ tractive force. Thus a stone falls to earth not only because tion from the direct sunlight, the lack of air, and the ex­ the earth attracts it, but also because the stone attracts the treme cold of outer spa:ce. He was not too concerned with earth. This mutual attraction is a property of all material the technological problems of the equipment required for bodies. It varies directly wtih the "weights"5 of the bodies, space flight in The Dream. He seems confident that these and inversely as the distance between them. Newton stated could be solved by future scientists. Meanwhile, in a jok­ this relationship mathematically. Newton, born twelve years ing way he turns to magic. He embodied this idea in a myth­ after Kepler's death, must have been influenced by Kepler's ical spirit of knowledge which he called "Daemon." In his ideas. "Dissertatio cum Nuncio Sidero" (Prague 1610), Kepler Following the violent acceleration, the earth and the trav­ says, "Provide a ship or sails adapted to the heavenly eler are soon separated far enough for the earth's pull to ap­ breezes, and ~here will be some who will not fear even that proach zero, or a state of weightlessness. In The Dream, when void ... (of interplanetary space) ... So, for those who will the point is reached where the moon's pull equalizes that of come shortly to attempt this journey, let us esta:blish the the earth, the Daemon eases its efforts, and "the body pro­ astronomy." So he imagined that the daemon traveled to and ceeds by our will alone."6 In notes 7.5 and 76 Kepler calls from the moon within the earth's shadow.
Load more

Recommended publications
  • The Astronomers Tycho Brahe and Johannes Kepler
    Ice Core Records – From Volcanoes to Supernovas The Astronomers Tycho Brahe and Johannes Kepler Tycho Brahe (1546-1601, shown at left) was a nobleman from Denmark who made astronomy his life's work because he was so impressed when, as a boy, he saw an eclipse of the Sun take place at exactly the time it was predicted. Tycho's life's work in astronomy consisted of measuring the positions of the stars, planets, Moon, and Sun, every night and day possible, and carefully recording these measurements, year after year. Johannes Kepler (1571-1630, below right) came from a poor German family. He did not have it easy growing Tycho Brahe up. His father was a soldier, who was killed in a war, and his mother (who was once accused of witchcraft) did not treat him well. Kepler was taken out of school when he was a boy so that he could make money for the family by working as a waiter in an inn. As a young man Kepler studied theology and science, and discovered that he liked science better. He became an accomplished mathematician and a persistent and determined calculator. He was driven to find an explanation for order in the universe. He was convinced that the order of the planets and their movement through the sky could be explained through mathematical calculation and careful thinking. Johannes Kepler Tycho wanted to study science so that he could learn how to predict eclipses. He studied mathematics and astronomy in Germany. Then, in 1571, when he was 25, Tycho built his own observatory on an island (the King of Denmark gave him the island and some additional money just for that purpose).
    [Show full text]
  • Jerzy Piotr Majchrzak
    WYŻSZA SZKOLA PEDAGOGICZNA ZIELONA GÓRA IM. TADEUSZA KOTARBIŃSKIEGO 1992 ' STUDIA ZACHODNIE str. 47-55 Jerzy Piotr Majchrzak WALLENSTEIN JAKO KSIĄŻĘ ŻAGANIA Dnia 3 września 1627 r. Ferdynand II Habsburg zawiadomił Śląską Ka­ merę Domen we Wrocławiu , że jest zdecydowany sprzedać Księstwo Żagań­ skie Albrechtowi Wallensteinowi za sumę 150 858 florenów reńskich jako cesarskie lenno, z prawem dziedziczenia w linii męskiej 1 • Wallenstein wahał się, czy przyjąć Żagań jako lenno - cesarz winien był mu znaczne sumy z tytułu wynagrodzenia za służbę. Zanim zdecydował się przyjąć ofertę kupna Żagania zażądał od monarchy ustalenia wysokości należnych mu poborów. W połowie stycznia 1628 r. Ferdynand ustalił wysokość wynagrodzenia Wal­ lensteina na sumę 6 tysięcy florenów reńskich miesięcznie. Cesarskim posta­ nowieniem z dnia 26 kwietnia suma ta ma zostać wypłacona Wallensteinowi z wyrównaniem od 25 lipca 1625 r. Dług Habsburga wynosił 198 tysięcy florenów reńskich. Po odliczeniu kwoty za Żagań Ferdynand nadal zalegał z wypłatą poborów na sumę 47 150 florenów. Tych pieniędzy Wallenstein nigdy nie otrzymaF. Podpisanie aktu sprzedaży-kupna nastąpiło już 18 grudnia 1627 r. w Pradze. Obszar obejmujący zamek i ogród zamkowy w Żaganiu, wsie Łozy (Loos), Czernice (Tschiebsdorf) i Machnów (Polnischmachen) nabył Wallen­ stein jako cesarskie lenno pod nazwą "Księstwo Żagańskie" 3 . Ten szczątkowy twór, pozostałość rozciągającego się niegdyś na powierzchni 715 km2 księ- 1Regest tego dokumentu w: Stadtbuch, nr 23 , (1627-1711), Lehnsverhii.ltnisse des Fiirstentums Sagan (Akta m . Żagania Oddz. AP Żary , sygn. 12, p. 4). P ełne brzmie­ nie tego listu podaje A. H e i nr i c h , Wallenstein ais Herzog von Sagan, Breslau 1896, s.
    [Show full text]
  • Art on Mars: a Foundation for Exoart
    THESIS SUBMITTED FOR THE DEGREE OF DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY UNIVERSITY OF CANBERRA AUSTRALIA by TREVOR JOHN RODWELL Bachelor of Design (Hons), University of South Australia Graduate Diploma (Business Enterprise), The University of Adelaide ART ON MARS: A FOUNDATION FOR EXOART May 2011 ABSTRACT ART ON MARS: A FOUNDATION FOR EXOART It could be claimed that human space exploration started when the former Soviet Union (USSR) launched cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin into Earth orbit on 12 April 1961. Since that time there have been numerous human space missions taking American astronauts to the Moon and international crews to orbiting space stations. Several space agencies are now working towards the next major space objective which is to send astronauts to Mars. This will undoubtedly be the most complex and far-reaching human space mission ever undertaken. Because of its large scale and potentially high cost it is inevitable that such a mission will be an international collaborative venture with a profile that will be world- wide. Although science, technology and engineering have made considerable contributions to human space missions and will be very much involved with a human Mars mission, there has been scant regard for artistic and cultural involvement in these missions. Space agencies have, however, realised the influence of public perception on space funding outcomes and for some time have strived to engage the public in these space missions. This has provided an opportunity for an art and cultural involvement, but there is a problem for art engaging with space missions as currently there is no artform specific to understanding and tackling the issues of art beyond our planet.
    [Show full text]
  • Johannes Kepler (1571-1630)
    EDUB 1760/PHYS 2700 II. The Scientific Revolution Johannes Kepler (1571-1630) The War on Mars Cameron & Stinner A little background history Where: Holy Roman Empire When: The thirty years war Why: Catholics vs Protestants Johannes Kepler cameron & stinner 2 A little background history Johannes Kepler cameron & stinner 3 The short biography • Johannes Kepler was born in Weil der Stadt, Germany, in 1571. He was a sickly child and his parents were poor. A scholarship allowed him to enter the University of Tübingen. • There he was introduced to the ideas of Copernicus by Maestlin. He first studied to become a priest in Poland but moved Tübingen Graz to Graz, Austria to teach school in 1596. • As mathematics teacher in Graz, Austria, he wrote the first outspoken defense of the Copernican system, the Mysterium Cosmographicum. Johannes Kepler cameron & stinner 4 Mysterium Cosmographicum (1596) Kepler's Platonic solids model of the Solar system. He sent a copy . to Tycho Brahe who needed a theoretician… Johannes Kepler cameron & stinner 5 The short biography Kepler was forced to leave his teaching post at Graz and he moved to Prague to work with the renowned Danish Prague astronomer, Tycho Brahe. Graz He inherited Tycho's post as Imperial Mathematician when Tycho died in 1601. Johannes Kepler cameron & stinner 6 The short biography Using the precise data (~1’) that Tycho had collected, Kepler discovered that the orbit of Mars was an ellipse. In 1609 he published Astronomia Nova, presenting his discoveries, which are now called Kepler's first two laws of planetary motion. Johannes Kepler cameron & stinner 7 Tycho Brahe The Aristocrat The Observer Johannes Kepler cameron & stinner 8 Tycho Brahe - the Observer The Great Comet of 1577 -from Brahe’s notebooks Johannes Kepler cameron & stinner 9 Tycho Brahe’s Cosmology …was a modified heliocentric one Johannes Kepler cameron & stinner 10 The short biography • In 1612 Lutherans were forced out of Prague, so Kepler moved on to Linz, Austria.
    [Show full text]
  • 2 / Lunar Base Concepts
    2 / LUNAR BASE CONCEPTS HE TERM "LUNAR BASE" can refer to a spectrum of concepts ranging from a mannable "line shack" to a multifunctional, self-sufficient, populous Tcolony. In general, the authors contributing to this book discuss the earliest stages of a permanently manned facility with the capability for scientific investigations and some ability to support its own operation with local materials. The exact form of the "final" configuration usually is not critical to the discussion until cost is included. Costs of a lunar base can be similar to the space station program or can be at the level of the Apollo project. Since cost is such a sensitive topic in the advocacy phase, it becomes very important to understand not only the total cost but also the spending rate and the basic assumptions about what is charged to the project. The costs derived by Hoffman and Niehoff in their study presented in this section differ from costs referenced by Sellers and Keaton in a later section. The final configurations in the two studies differ considerably, but in both cases the spending rates over the duration of the project are well within the rate of expenditure of the current space program and are substantially less than rates associated with Project Apollo. Because lower cost is a major strategy goal, design concepts generally adopt hardware from prior programs. For example, the studies conducted by NASA in the 1960's and described by Lowrnan and by Johnson and Leonard depict habitats inspired by the Apollo transportation system. Contemporary drawings show space station modules emplaced on the lunar surface.
    [Show full text]
  • Moonstruck: How Realistic Is the Moon Depicted in Classic Science Fiction Films?
    MOONSTRUCK: HOW REALISTIC IS THE MOON DEPICTED IN CLASSIC SCIENCE FICTION FILMS? DONA A. JALUFKA and CHRISTIAN KOEBERL Institute of Geochemistry, University of Vienna. Althanstrasse 14, A-1090 Vienna, Austria (E-mail: [email protected]; [email protected]) Abstract. Classical science fiction films have been depicting space voyages, aliens, trips to the moon, the sun, Mars, and other planets, known and unknown. While it is difficult to critique the depiction of fantastic places, or planets about which little was known at the time, the situation is different for the moon, about which a lot of facts were known from astronomical observations even at the turn of the century. Here we discuss the grade of realism with which the lunar surface has been depicted in a number of movies, beginning with George Méliès’ 1902 classic Le Voyage dans la lune and ending, just before the first manned landing on the moon, with Stanley Kubrick’s 2001: A Space Odyssey. Many of the movies present thoughtful details regarding the actual space travel (rockets), but none of the movies discussed here is entirely realistic in its portrayal of the lunar surface. The blunders range from obvious mistakes, such as the presence of a breathable atmosphere, or spiders and other lunar creatures, to the persistent vertical exaggeration of the height and roughness of lunar mountains. This is surprising, as the lunar topography was already well understood even early in the 20th century. 1. Introduction Since the early days of silent movies, the moon has often figured prominently in films, but mainly as a backdrop for a variety of more or (most often) less well thought-out plots.
    [Show full text]
  • Iwona Matuszkiewicz O Jednym Takim, Co Poleciał Na Księżyc Na Tyle
    Iwona Matuszkiewicz O jednym takim, co poleciał na Księżyc Na tyle dziwaczny, co intrygujący tytuł książki autora, znanego już dobrze czytelnikom z wypraw w światy znane i nieznane, sprawia, że po raz kolejny czujemy się zaproszeni do penetracji dziejów Śląska poprzez niezwykłe historie. Pojawiająca się w jej tytule Jak Johannes Kepler, jadąc do Żagania na Śląsku, zahaczył o Księżyc postać przenosi nas w krainę siedemnastowiecznej astronomii, w której utrwalała się heliocentryczna koncepcja kosmosu, a nowa optyka fascynowała kolejnych badaczy nieba. Miłośników prozy Wańka interesować będzie głównie literackie wykorzystanie znanych z biografii Keplera wątków. Ten twórca mechaniki niebieskiej spędził w Żaganiu ostatni okres swojego życia, tam też napisał Somnium seu astronomia lunaria (Sen, czyli dzieło poświęcone astronomii księżycowej) wydane już po śmierci autora przez jego zięcia (o tym fakcie, podobnie jak o polskim przekładzie dzieła, wspomina Waniek na końcu powieści1). Sen, noszący z jednej strony znamiona traktatu naukowego a z drugiej opowieści science fiction, to relacja z wyimaginowanej, bo odbytej za sprawą demonów podczas snu, podróży na Księżyc, wzbogacona opisem kosmicznego krajobrazu i Ziemi widzianej ze Srebrnego Globu. O sile oddziaływania tej literatury na ówczesnych niech świadczy fakt, że matka astronoma, Fiolxhilda, która we Śnie występuje jako islandzka czarownica, oskarżona została o czary i następnie uwięziona, a stało się tak za sprawą jednej z rękopiśmiennych kopii traktatu, która dostała się w ręce niepowołanych czytelników. Co prawda Kepler zrobił wszystko, aby uniknęła tortur i została uwolniona, ale mimo to po roku zmarła. Ponoć to właśnie wtedy ten badacz nieba przeklął astrologię, którą tak hołubił, ponieważ nie ostrzegła go w porę o grożącym niebezpieczeństwie (jak później to zinterpretowano, cała sprawa była efektem oddziaływania Urana, który wówczas nie był jeszcze odkryty).
    [Show full text]
  • The Origins of Science Fiction Criticism: from Kepler to Wells Arthur B
    View metadata, citation and similar papers at core.ac.uk brought to you by CORE provided by DePauw University DePauw University Scholarly and Creative Work from DePauw University Modern Languages Faculty Publications Modern Languages 1999 The Origins of Science Fiction Criticism: From Kepler to Wells Arthur B. Evans DePauw University Follow this and additional works at: http://scholarship.depauw.edu/mlang_facpubs Part of the French and Francophone Language and Literature Commons, and the Modern Languages Commons Recommended Citation Arthur B. Evans. "The Origins of Science Fiction Criticism: From Kepler to Wells" Science Fiction Studies 26.2 (1999): 163-186. Available at: http://scholarship.depauw.edu/mlang_facpubs/14/ This Article is brought to you for free and open access by the Modern Languages at Scholarly and Creative Work from DePauw University. It has been accepted for inclusion in Modern Languages Faculty Publications by an authorized administrator of Scholarly and Creative Work from DePauw University. For more information, please contact [email protected]. ORIGINS OF SF CRITICISM: FROM KEPLER TO WELLS 163 Arthur B. Evans The Origins of Science Fiction Criticism: From Kepler to Wells The world of conjecture is without limits. To speculate on the possible and the future is no ineligible occupation. The invention is active to create, and the judgment busy in weighing and shaping its creations. Our own pleasure is promoted, for there is pleasure in the mere exercise, and the happiness of others is not neglected. Truths of the utmost moment may thus be struck out and communicated to others. None of my faculties have been so much exercised as my invention, and I value myself on this circumstance, because it is the surest pledge of my own felicity and usefulness.
    [Show full text]
  • Kepler in Żagan
    O R G A N O N 9 (1973) L E 400 e A N N IV E R S A IR E DE LA NAISSANCE D E K E P L E R Jerzy Dobrzycki (Polen) KEPLER IN ŻAGAN „In Zeiten, da Städte, Provinzen und Länder zerfallen, da alte und neue Geschlechter untergehen, in ständiger Angst vor den unmenschlichen ÜBerfällen und Zerstörungen, Bemüht meine Furcht nicht zu zeigen, muß ich Buchdrucker dingen, um endlich mit der Veröffentlichung der BeoBachtungen des Tycho Brahe anzufangen. Mit Gottes Hilfe werde ich es vollBringen — im militärischen Stil will ich mutig und selBstBe­ wußt Befehle erteilen, und die Gedanken an das eigene BegräBnis auf morgen verschieBen”. So schrieB Johannes Kepler aus Żagań im OktoBer 1629 1. ABer das will nicht heißen, daß diese zwei Jahre in Żagań, die letzten im LeBen dieses unermüdlichen, großen Gelehrten, Besonders sor­ genvoll und schwer gewesen sind. Das Gefühl der Unsicherheit und Be­ drohung, das dem angeführten Brief anhaftet, Beherrschte wohl alle in diesen tragischen Zeiten des Dreißigjährigen Krieges. Doch während der letzten LeBensjahre Keplers BlieBen die schlesischen GeBiete von den Kriegswirren verschont. Stürmisch und dramatisch waren vielmehr die vorigen Jahre. Während der StadtBelagerung im Jahre 1626 arBeitete Kepler in Linz an der AusgaBe der Rudolphinischen Tafeln in einem Raum, der an die Festungsmauer angrenzte und den er BuchstäBlich mit der Besatzungsmannschaft teilte. Mit diesen Rudolphinischen Tafeln, die Kepler in Ulm aBschloß und die dort im Jahre 1627 herausgegeBen wurden, geht für ihn eine Zeit­ spanne wichtiger ArBeiten zu Ende. Diese TaBellen Bedeuteten die Erfül­ lung der HauptaufgaBe, die ihm als dem Kaiserlichen Astronomen üBer­ tragen worden war: die Verwertung der BeoBachtungen des Tycho Brahe Bei der AusarBeitung von neuen, astronomischen Tafeln.
    [Show full text]
  • Some Thoughts on Faster-Than-Light (FTL) Travel
    12 Propulsion and Energy Forum AIAA 2016-4918 July 25-27, 2016, Salt Lake City, UT 52nd AIAA/SAE/ASEE Joint Propulsion Conference Destination Universe: Some Thoughts on Faster-Than-Light (FTL) Travel Gary L. Bennett* Metaspace Enterprises Faster-than-light (FTL) travel is a staple of science fiction and it has been seriously investigated by a number of physicists. Despite the challenges both theoretical and practical, the idea of FTL travel is intriguing because if it can be achieved it offers the human race the chance to travel to the stars within the lifetimes of the crew. Three of the principal FTL concepts are discussed in this paper: (1) tachyons which are hypothetical FTL particles with properties consistent with the special theory of relativity; (2) wormholes which offer a window to distant star systems using general relativity; and (3) warp drives which employ general relativity to modify spacetime to get around the velocity of light speed limit. Issues facing hypothetical FTL travelers are discussed. In space there are countless constellations, suns and planets; we see only the suns because they give light; the planets remain invisible, for they are small and dark. There are also numberless earths circling around their suns, no worse and no less than this globe of ours. For no reasonable mind can assume that heavenly bodies that may be far more magnificent than ours would not bear upon them creatures similar or even superior to those upon our human earth. ---Giordano Bruno (1548 – 1600) Burned at the stake for heresy (17 February 1600) 1. Introduction The stars have beckoned the human race since before the dawn of history.
    [Show full text]
  • Kepler's Somnium by Matt Mccall
    Kepler’s Somnium by Matt McCall Newton once said 'if I have seen further, it is by standing on the shoulders of giants'. Two of them were Copernicus and Galileo, but the other was the greatly underappreciated Johannes Kepler. A brilliant mathematician, Kepler contributed more to scientific thought throughout his hard life than many believe. His three laws of planetary motion changed science in the 1600s and eventually led to the law of universal gravitation. But it was his imagination that created a work of writing that, Volume 35, No. 4 Volume 35, No. 4 to this day, remains mostly unknown even among some in the scientific community. Begun in 1593 as a Theses and published posthumously, complete with footnotes forty years later, Kepler's story of lunar astronomy speaks of a fantastic voyage to the Moon. He called it 'Somnium,' Latin for 'The Dream.' His dream of astronomy on the Moon was one born from a fascination of the heavens, but even a man of strong Christian faith such as Kepler led an anxiety-laden life full of disability and anguish. The harmony he knew existed above was not a concept those around him shared, and the privately circulated manuscript of lunar astronomy fell into the hands of the religious leaders of the day, eventually landing his mother in a torturous prison on witchcraft charges for six years. All because the main character's mother shared similar traits with Kepler's own mother, such as knowledge of mixing herbs. The ceremonies performed by the mother in the story to summon a 'Daemon' did not help the situation either.
    [Show full text]
  • Z Działalności Komitetu Historii Nauki I Techniki Pan
    KRONIKA Z DZIAŁALNOŚCI KOMITETU HISTORII NAUKI I TECHNIKI PAN SESJA NAUKOWA POŚWIĘCONA ŻYCIU I DZIAŁALNOŚCI JOHANNESA KEPLERA W ramach światowych obchodów 400 setnej rocznicy urodzin J. Keplera Komitet. Historii Nauki i Techniki PAN, Zakład Historii Nauki i Techniki PAN oraz Miejska Rada Narodowa w Żaganiu zorganizowały w dniu 23 października 1971 r. sesję nau- kową. Wybór Żagania na miejsce sesji nie był przypadkowy, tutaj bowiem w latach 1628—1630 żył i działał wielki astronom. Na sesję przybyli zaproszeni goście z War- szawy, Krakowa, Wrocławia, Katowic i Zielonej Góry. Przyjechał także, bawiący w Polsce, sekretarz generalny Międzynarodowej Akademii Historii Nauki, Pierre Costabel z Paryża. Gości i licznie zebraną miejscową publiczność powitał gospodarz miasta Sła- womir Prządka, oddając następnie przewodnictwo honorowemu przewodniczącemu Komitetu Organizacyjnego, prof. Jerzemu Bukowskiemu. Pierwszy referat Kepler i prawda kopernikańska wygłosił gość z Francji, Pierre Costabel. Referat prof. Costabela wcześniej został przetłumaczony na język polski; na sali wręczono uczestnikom powielone egzemplarze. Prof. Costabel po powitaniu sesji w imieniu Międzynarodowej Akademii Historii Nauki, wypunktował zasadnicze myśli referatu. Zwrócił on uwagę na niezwykle istotne, a nieprzebadane dotychczas, elementy wczesnej twórczości naukowej Keplera zawarte w jego Mysterium Cosmo- graphicum. Obliczenia Keplera dotyczące położenia Merkurego i Wenus, oparte na materiale obserwacyjnym Tychona Brahe, pozwoliły mu wykazać wyższość systemu kopernikańskiego nad ptolemejskim także w dziedzinie tłumaczenia pozornego ru- chu tych planet. Te wyniki Keplera, jak dotychczas nie dosyć doceniane przez histo- ryków nauki, dostarczają cennego argumentu do współczesnej dyskusji z konwencjo- nalizmem, głoszącym — niezgodnie z rzeczywistością — równoważność tych dwóch systemów, ptolemejskiego i kopernikańskiego, gdy rozważane są one jako dwa spo- soby wytłumaczenia pozornych ruchów ciał niebieskich oglądanych z Ziemi.
    [Show full text]