An unusual approach to Kepler's first law
Kepler's first law of planetary motion states that the orbits of planets are elliptical, with the sun at one focus. We present an unusual verification of this law for use in classes in mechanics. It h...
Kepler's first law of planetary motion states that the orbits of planets are elliptical, with the sun at one focus. We present an unusual verification of this law for use in classes in mechanics. It h...
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The great Copernican cliché
American Journal of Physics -- October 2001 -- Volume 69, Issue 10, pp. 1029-1035
Issue Date: October 2001
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BibSonomy
KEYWORDS and PACS
- 01.50.-i
Communication, education, history, and philosophy Educational aids - 95.10.Ce
Fundamental astronomy and astrophysics; instrumentation, techniques, and astronomical observations Fundamental astronomy Celestial mechanics (including n-body problems) (see also 45.50.Pk in classical mechanics of discrete systems) - YEAR: 2001
PUBLICATION DATA
0002-9505 (print)
AAPT
For more than three centuries scientists, historians, and popularizers of science have been repeating the claim that Copernicus "dethroned" earth from its "privileged" central position in the universe. However, a survey of pre-Copernican natural philosophy (which viewed the earth as located in a cosmic sump) and of Copernicans' own account of the axiological meaning of the new heliocentric astronomy (which exalted earth to the dance of the stars) demonstrates that the cliché about earth's "demotion" is unwarranted and fit to be discarded. ©2001 American Association of Physics Teachers.
| History: | Received 20 March 2001; accepted 11 April 2001 |
| Permalink: | http://dx.doi.org/10.1119/1.1379734 |