Planetary Motions: A Historical Perspective (Greenwood Guides to Great Ideas in Science)

Students in an introductory physics class learn a variety of different, and seemingly unconnected, concepts. Gravity, the laws of motion, forces and fields, the mathematical nature of the science - all of these are ideas that play a central role in understanding physics. And one thing that connects all of these physical concepts is the impetus the great scientists of the past had to develop them - the desire to understand the motion of the planets of the solar system. This desire led to the revolutionary work of Copernicus and Galileo, Kepler and Newton. And their work forever altered how science is practiced and understood. An introduction to the history of science Babylonian planetary astronomy Plato and saving the phenomena Eudoxus and concentric spheres Eccentrics and epicycles Equivalence Astronomy and physics Saving the phenomena quantitatively Ptolemy's exposition of mathematical astronomy Reality or mathematical fiction? The greatest astronomer of antiquity or the greatest fraud in the history of science? Islamic planetary astronomy Revival in the west Copernicus and planetary motions The Copernican revolution Breaking the circle Isaac Newton and gravity The Newtonian revolution. Presents an historical perspective of planetary motions that enables students to understand how the discoveries of the luminaries of the Scientific Revolution impact the way physics is practices today.