Unit D Ancient Astronomy

This handout merely consists of the information in the PowerPoint presentation for this unit. You may need to take additional notes. You should be reading the appropriate parts of the text (Chapter(s) 2.3-2.4, 3.2). The origins of astronomy are probably practical: timekeeping, navigation, surveying, etc. Most people throughout history have had a magical/supernatural view of the universe. Its not surprising that astrology the belief that the positions of celestial objects influence human events is widespread. Astronomy and astrology slowly separated during the rise of modern scientific astronomy. Eratosthenes (3rd century BCE) and the size of the Earth

Ptolemys explanation of planetary motion

www.astronomynotes.com

Most ancient literate cultures developed reasonably good methods of calculating future planetary positions from past observations these were just calculational recipes, with no underlying physical model of the universe. The Greek approach probably also started as a calculational recipe, but they did the calculations using geometry which will naturally lead to thinking about the actual geometry of the universe. Ancient Greek models of planetary motion typically had the following constraints: 1. The Universe is geocentric the Earth is immobile at the center of the universe. 2. All celestial motion is represented by a combination of uniform circular motions. The most successful ancient Greek model was by Claudius Ptolemy (2nd century CE). Shown here is an illustration of Ptolemys arrangement of the planets from Cosmographia by Peter Apian (1542).

http://www.nordita.dk/~steen/fysik51/ast/astt16_files/AT40202_files/AACHC JU0.JPG

Ptolemys book on astronomy is known by a hybrid Greek-Arabic title, the Almagest. His basic model of planetary motion, with some refinements, was accepted for ~ 1400 years.

The Ptolemaic model can predict planetary positions to about 1, which was considered sufficient precision at the time. One ancient astronomer did consider the possibility of a heliocentric (Sun-centered) universe Aristarchus (3rd century BCE).

Other ancient astronomers rejected this idea for both observational and philosophical reasons. They looked for annual parallax of stars but didnt see it. Why not? Medieval Europeans saw the universe as a Christianized fusion of Ptolemy and Aristotle: the deferents and epicycles are interlocking crystalline spheres in which the planets are embedded. Here is an illustration of the cosmos as described in Dantes Divine Comedy (c. 1310-1314).

Astronomers writing in Arabic preserved and refined Ptolemy during the Dark Ages in Europe. The most important advances were mathematical: - Development of algebra (from al-jebr, the reunion of broken parts) - Discovery of five of the six basic trigonometric functions - Arabic (decimal) numerals (originally from India, but refined and transmitted by Islamic mathematicians) Arabic (decimal) numerals: 26 12 52 260 312 Roman numerals: XXVI times XII Make two columns XXVI XII

Successively divide left column by 2 while multiplying right column by 2. XXVI XIII VI III I XII XXIV LXVIII XCVI CXCII

Cross out lines where left column is even. XXVI XIII VI III I
http://ircamera.as.arizona.edu/NatSci102/images/dante1.gif

XII XXIV LXVIII XCVI CXCII

Most important advances between the fall of the Western Roman Empire and the Renaissance occurred in the Middle East, particularly in the 9th and 10th centuries. This is reflected in the Arabic names of many stars and terms such as azimuth, zenith, nadir, etc.

Add remaining right column entries to get the answer. XXIV + XCVI + CXCII = CCCXII (312)