ASTRONOMY IN THE RENAISSANCE AND SLIGHTLY POST RENAISSANCE ERAS SP 211 SOME TIMELINE INFORMATION After the fall of Rome… Astronomy and science was hindered in Europe… 1269 was not too bad – Peter Peregrinus of Maricourt (French) wrote the first complete writings concerning magnetism and Roger Bacon is actively working on Alchemy (and necromancy…) In the Middle East, science was advancing rapidly with the astrolabe and Abd al-Rahman al- Sufi discovered the Andromeda Galaxy. (Also, they were resolving issues with various Greek models of astronomy…) COPERNICUS (1543) Copernican Revolution – Nicolaus Copernicus (POLISH not ITALIAN) proposed the first heliocentric model of the universe. (Real name : Copernik) While it was orginially controversial, there were many champions for this work. Galileo Galilei, Johannes Kepler and Isaac Newton all adapted to his model and therefore improved upon his work. Tycho Brahe did not approve of his work, but aided in its success with his detailed observations. TYCHO BRAHE Tycho Brahe is the craziest figure during this time period… When he was 2 years old, his uncle (wealthy Danish noble Jorgen Brahe) stole Tycho from his parents. His parents were strangely ok with this kidnapping… Brahe was inspired by a solar eclipse in 1560 to be an astronomer and he decided he was going to be the most accurate recorder of celestial occurances. Lost part of his nose in a duel with another Danish nobleman who was his third cousin (Manderup Parsberg). It was said it was over a mathematical formula. Articles if you’re interested: Brahe's Crazy life Brahe Exumed TYCHO BRAHE (D. 1601) Brahe Exumed 2 His foster father (his kidnapping uncle) died in 1565 trying to save the king of Denmark from drowning… and Tycho inherited basically 1% of the entire wealth of Denmark. He believed that midgets had psychic powers and kept one in his castle. He also kept an elk as a pet which died from drinking too much beer. Recent medical evidence exhumed his body since his cause of death was not suspect. Before medical analyses, it was believed that he could have been murdered. (Very unpopular man – was possibly having an affair with the Queen of Denmark…) Although, he most likely just a poor diet, had possible diabetes and he was an alcoholic. JOHANNES KEPLER (1571 – 1630) He is the hero astronomy needed. His first work Mysterium Cosmographicum in 1596 was the first defense of the Copernican system. Was a pupil of Brahe starting in 1600 (shady timing in accordance to Brahe’s death, some suspect he was the murderer)… and Brahe was overall impressed by his scholarly activity. Brahe started showing Kepler his very accurate journals. These two men were also known to frequently fight with each other. Kepler walked out several times. JOHANNES KEPLER (1571 – 1630) Brahe was also very supportive of Kepler and kept supporting him. Kepler was aiding in the newest set of Brahe’s observations When Brahe died, Kepler took advantage of the confusion of whether there would be a rightful heir to his estate. (Brahe married a commoner, there were many apprentices, his sudden death, etc)..and HE STOLE BRAHE’S JOURNALS AND THEN HID THEM WHILE HE WORKED ON HIS THEORIES. A quote : "I confess that when Tycho died, I quickly took advantage of the absence, or lack of circumspection, of the heirs, by taking the observations under my care, or perhaps usurping them." He then used the very accurate data that Brahe observed to create his three laws. 3 LAWS IN A PICTURE FOCUSING ON LAW THREE: We are assuming a perfect circle for our calculations. 2 ac = v /R (centripetal acceleration) 2 Velocity FG = GmEm/R (Gravitational Force) F G Derivation: FG = mac 2 2 GmEm/R = mv /R Acceleration 2 GmE = (2πR/T) *R 2 2 3 GmET = 4π R.