James Bradley, Sailing on the Thames

Lightspeed ◽  
2019 ◽  
pp. 49-57
Author(s):  
John C. H. Spence
Keyword(s):  
Eighteenth Century ◽  
Experimental Evidence ◽  
The Sun ◽  
Theory Of Relativity ◽  
Speed Of Light ◽  
Astronomical Observations ◽  
The Earth ◽  
Independent Estimate ◽  
The Universe ◽  
At Home

The story of the astronomical observations of James Bradley in the eighteenth century, whose measurements of the small movements of a star throughout the year provided an independent estimate of the speed of the Earth around the Sun relative to the speed of light. His work provided the first experimental evidence in support of Copernicus’s theory that the earth is in motion, and against the idea that it is stationary at the center of the universe. His simple telescope at home, his brilliant idea and perseverance, and his life’s work and influence. The importance of his result for the development of Einstein’s theory of relativity and for theories of the Aether in the following centuries.

Ole Roemer, Who Started It All

Lightspeed ◽  
2019 ◽  
pp. 18-26
Author(s):  
John C. H. Spence
Keyword(s):  
Life Story ◽  
The Sun ◽  
Speed Of Light ◽  
The Earth ◽  
At Home

The story of the first measurement of the speed of light by Ole Roemer in 1676. Galileo had discovered the moons of Jupiter with his new telescope, and proposed using observations of their eclipse every forty-two hours as a universal clock for our planet, since they could be seen from practically anywhere. This would keep track of the time at home, and so give a traveller his or her local longitude. (The King of Spain had offered a prize for longitude determination to avoid disasterous shipwrecks.) Roemer noticed that the eclipses were sometimes a little late, which he concluded was due to the time it took light to get from Saturn to Earth and the movement of the Earth between eclipses. His estimate of the time for light to travel from the Sun to Earth was quite accurate. Roemer’s remarkable life story and many other achievements are told.

scholarly journals Astronomy and political theory

2009 ◽  
Vol 5 (S260) ◽  
pp. 595-602
Author(s):  
Nicholas Campion
Keyword(s):  
Eighteenth Century ◽  
Political Theory ◽  
Near East ◽  
Natural Rights ◽  
The Sun ◽  
Political Uncertainty ◽  
Global Village ◽  
The Earth ◽  
The Universe ◽  
Single Set

AbstractThis paper will argue that astronomical models have long been applied to political theory, from the use of the Sun as a symbol of the emperor in Rome to the application of Copernican theory to the needs of absolute monarchy. We will begin with consideration of astral divination (the use of astronomy to ascertain divine intentions) in the ancient Near East. Particular attention will be paid to the use of Newton's discovery that the universe operates according to a single set of laws in order to support concepts of political quality and eighteenth century Natural Rights theory. We will conclude with consideration of arguments that the discovery of the expanding, multi-galaxy universe, stimulated political uncertainty in the 1930s, and that photographs of the Earth from Apollo spacecraft encouraged concepts of the ‘global village’.

Much Ado about (Practically) Nothing

2010 ◽  
Author(s):  
David Fisher
Keyword(s):  
Energy Source ◽  
Atomic Nucleus ◽  
The Sun ◽  
Scientific Journals ◽  
Rare Gases ◽  
Important Work ◽  
The Earth ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Life On Mars ◽  
The Universe

There are eight columns in the Periodic Table. The eighth column is comprised of the rare gases, so-called because they are the rarest elements on earth. They are also called the inert or noble gases because, like nobility, they do no work. They are colorless, odorless, invisible gases which do not react with anything, and were thought to be unimportant until the early 1960s. Starting in that era, David Fisher has spent roughly fifty years doing research on these gases, publishing nearly a hundred papers in the scientific journals, applying them to problems in geophysics and cosmochemistry, and learning how other scientists have utilized them to change our ideas about the universe, the sun, and our own planet. Much Ado about (Practically) Nothing will cover this spectrum of ideas, interspersed with the author's own work which will serve to introduce each gas and the important work others have done with them. The rare gases have participated in a wide range of scientific advances-even revolutions-but no book has ever recorded the entire story. Fisher will range from the intricacies of the atomic nucleus and the tiniest of elementary particles, the neutrino, to the energy source of the stars; from the age of the earth to its future energies; from life on Mars to cancer here on earth. A whole panoply that has never before been told as an entity.

scholarly journals III. On the nature and construction of the sun and fixed stars

1795 ◽  
Vol 85 ◽  
pp. 46-72 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Central Body ◽  
Planetary System ◽  
Considerable Progress ◽  
The Sun ◽  
Great Satisfaction ◽  
The Earth ◽  
The World ◽  
Celestial Bodies ◽  
The Universe ◽  
Made In

Among the celestial bodies the sun is certainly the first which should attract our notice. It is a fountain of light that illuminates the world! it is the cause of that heat which main­tains the productive power of nature, and makes the earth a fit habitation for man! it is the central body of the planetary system; and what renders a knowledge of its nature still more interesting to us is, that the numberless stars which compose the universe, appear, by the strictest analogy, to be similar bodies. Their innate light is so intense, that it reaches the eye of the observer from the remotest regions of space, and forcibly claims his notice. Now, if we are convinced that an inquiry into the nature and properties of the sun is highly worthy of our notice, we may also with great satisfaction reflect on the considerable progress that has already been made in our knowledge of this eminent body. It would require a long detail to enumerate all the various discoveries which have been made on this subject; I shall, therefore, content myself with giving only the most capital of them.

Cosmic Deer as an Archaic Symbol in the Narratives and Rituals of the Tungus-Manchus

2020 ◽  
pp. 112-121
Author(s):  
Татьяна Юрьевна Сем
Keyword(s):  
Bronze Age ◽  
The Sun ◽  
Time Model ◽  
Space And Time ◽  
The Earth ◽  
Cosmic Scale ◽  
First Time ◽  
The Universe ◽  
The Bronze Age

Статья посвящена мифологическому образу космического оленя в традиционной культуре тунгусо-маньчжуров. В работе рассматриваются материалы фольклора, шаманства, промысловых и календарных ритуалов, а также искусства. Впервые систематизированы материалы по всем тунгусо-маньчжурским народам. Образ космического оленя в фольклоре эвенов имеет наиболее близкие аналогии с амурскими народами, которые представляют его с рогами до небес. Он сохранился в сказочном фольклоре с мифологическими и эпическими элементами. В эвенском мифе образ оленя имеет космические масштабы: из тела его происходит земля и всё живущее на ней. У народов Амура образ оленя нашел отражение в космогенезе, отделении неба от земли. Своеобразие сюжета космической охоты характеризует общесибирскую мифологию, относящуюся к ранней истории. В ней наиболее ярко проявляется мотив смены старого и нового солнца, хода времени, смены времен года, календарь тунгусо-маньчжуров. В результате анализа автор пришел к выводу, что олень в тунгусо-маньчжурской традиции моделирует пространство и время Вселенной, характеризует образ солнца и хода времени. Космический олень является архетипичным символом культуры тунгусо-маньчжуров, сохранившим свое значение до настоящего времени в художественной культуре This article is devoted to the mythological image of cosmic deer in traditional Tungus-Manchu culture. It examines materials of folklore, shamanism, trade and calendar rituals as well as art and for the first time systematizes materials from all of the Tungus-Manchu peoples. The image of cosmic deer in the folklore of the Evens has its closest analogy in that of the Amur peoples, reflected in the image of a deer with horns reaching up to the sky. This image is preserved in fairytales with mythological and epic elements. In the Even myth, the image of a deer is on a cosmic scale, as the cosmos issues from its body. Among the Amur peoples, the image of a deer is also related to cosmogenesis, to the separation of the earth from the sky. The plot of a cosmic hunt is reflected in pan-Siberian mythology, dating back to the Bronze Age. It clearly illustrates the motif of the change of the old and new sun, the passage of time, the change of seasons, the Tungus-Manchu calendar. The author comes to the conclusion that deer in the Tungus-Manchu tradition, in depicting the image of the sun and the passage of time, model the space and time of the Universe. The cosmic deer is an archetypal symbol of Tungus-Manchu culture, which has retained its significance in artistic culture to the present day.

THE COSMIC JOURNEY OF ODYSSEUS

Numen ◽  
2001 ◽  
Vol 48 (4) ◽  
pp. 381-416 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nanno Marinatos
Keyword(s):  
Iron Age ◽  
Mediterranean Region ◽  
Near East ◽  
British Museum ◽  
Polar Axis ◽  
The Sun ◽  
East Mediterranean ◽  
The Earth ◽  
The Universe ◽  
East Mediterranean Region

AbstractIn vain have scholars tried to produce a coherent geographical picture of Odysseus' travels. It is argued here that Odysseus makes a cosmic journey at the edges of the earth (perata ges), a phrase used in the text to describe several lands that the hero visits. The cosmic journey was a genre current in the East Mediterranean region in the Iron Age. It was modeled on the Egyptian the journey of the sun god who travels twelve hours in the darkness of the underworld and twelve hours in the sky. Evidence of similar concepts in the Near East is provided by a Babylonian circular map (now in the British Museum) as well as by Phoenician circular bowls. Gilgamesh seems to perform a cosmic journey. As well, Early Greek cosmology utilizes the concept of a circular cosmos. Odysseus' journey spans the two cosmic junctures of the universe: East, where Circe resides, and West, where Calypso lives. Another polar axis is the underworld and the island of the sun.

Geological Time Versus Astronomical Time: Are Scientific Theories Falsifiable?

1989 ◽  
Vol 8 (2) ◽  
pp. 167-169 ◽  
Author(s):  
Norriss Hetherington
Keyword(s):  
General Relativity ◽  
Homogeneous Model ◽  
Scientific Theories ◽  
Geological Time ◽  
Astronomical Observations ◽  
The Earth ◽  
Geological Age ◽  
Astronomical Time ◽  
Edwin Hubble ◽  
The Universe

During the 1930s when a relativistic, expanding, homogeneous model of the universe lead to an age for the universe embarrassingly less than the geological age of the earth, the astronomer Edwin Hubble, influenced by philosophical values, persisted in his support for a theory in conflict with observation and prediction. Notwithstanding well attested and unrefutable evidence of geological time, and various astronomical observations as well, the theory of a homogeneous, expanding universe of general relativity proved, in practice, not falsifiable.

scholarly journals Speed of Light as an Emergent Property of the Fabric

2016 ◽  
Vol 8 (3) ◽  
pp. 111
Author(s):  
Dirk J. Pons ◽  
Arion D. Pons ◽  
Aiden J. Pons
Keyword(s):  
Optical Materials ◽  
Theoretical Perspective ◽  
Theory Of Relativity ◽  
Speed Of Light ◽  
Hidden Variable ◽  
Cosmological Principle ◽  
Fabric Density ◽  
Non Local ◽  
Universal Applicability ◽  
The Universe

<p class="1Body"><strong>Problem</strong>- The theory of Relativity is premised on the constancy of the speed of light (c) in-vacuo. While no empirical evidence convincingly shows the speed to be variable, nonetheless from a theoretical perspective the invariance is an assumption. <strong>Need-</strong> It is possible that the evidence could be explained by a different theory. <strong>Approach</strong>- A non-local hidden-variable (NLHV) solution, the Cordus particule theory, is applied to identify the causes of variability in the fabric density, and then show how this affects the speed of light. <strong>Findings</strong>- Under these assumptions the speed of light is variable (VSL), being inversely proportional to fabric density. This is because the discrete fields of the photon interact dynamically with the fabric and therefore consume frequency cycles of the photon. The fabric arises from aggregation of fields from particles, which in turn depends on the proximity and spatial distribution of matter. Results disfavour the universal applicability of the cosmological principle of homogeneity and isotropy of the universe. <strong>Originality</strong>- The work proposes causal mechanisms for VSL, which have otherwise been challenging to ascertain. Uniquely, this theory identifies fabric density as the dependent variable. In contrast, other VSL models propose that c varies with time or some geometric-like scale, but struggle to provide plausible reasons for that dependency. This theory also offers a conceptually simply way to reconcile the refraction of light in both gravitational situations and optical materials.</p>

The Early Years of the Royal Society

1960 ◽  
Vol 13 (4) ◽  
pp. 365-382
Author(s):  
Harold Spencer Jones
Keyword(s):  
Seventeenth Century ◽  
Royal Society ◽  
Early Years ◽  
Physical Basis ◽  
Mathematical Representation ◽  
The Sun ◽  
Ancient Greek ◽  
The Third ◽  
The Earth ◽  
The Universe

This year the Royal Society celebrates the third centenary of its foundation. In this paper Sir Harold Spencer Jones, the late Astronomer Royal, who was the Institute's first President, describes the early years of the Society and shows how closely some of its work was related to navigation.For some two thousand years, until well into the seventeenth century, the writings of the ancient Greek philosophers, and in particular those of Aristotle, were regarded as the supreme fountain of wisdom and the source of all knowledge. The break with the Aristotelian dogma may be said to have started with the publication by Copernicus in 1543 of his De Revolutionibus Orbium Coelestium whereby the Earth was displaced from proud position as the centre of the Universe, fixed and immovable, and asserted to be not only rotating around an axis but also to be merely one of a system of planets revolving around the Sun as a centre. Copernicus had refrained for thirty years from publishing his theory as he knew that it would be received with ridicule, not merely because it was not in accordance with Aristotelian dogma but also because it would be held to be against the Scriptures. The Copernican theory met, in fact, with widespread opposition and more than a century elapsed before it came to be generally accepted; for long it was regarded as merely a convenient mathematical representation of the motions of the planets without any true physical basis.

Machines

On Purpose ◽  
2019 ◽  
pp. 42-60
Author(s):  
Michael Ruse
Keyword(s):  
Sixteenth Century ◽  
Scientific Revolution ◽  
Natural Philosophy ◽  
The Sun ◽  
The Real ◽  
The Earth ◽  
The World ◽  
Real Change ◽  
The Universe ◽  
The Revolution

This chapter discusses the Scientific Revolution that is dated from the publication of Nicolaus Copernicus's On the Revolutions of the Heavenly Spheres in 1543, the work that put the sun rather than the earth at the center of the universe to Isaac Newton's Mathematical Principles of Natural Philosophy in 1687, the work that gave the causal underpinnings of the whole system as developed over the previous one hundred and fifty years. Historian Rupert Hall put his finger precisely on the real change that occurred in the revolution. It was not so much the physical theories, although these were massive and important. It was rather a change of metaphors or models—from that of an organism to that of a machine. By the sixteenth century, machines were becoming ever more common and ever more sophisticated. It was natural therefore for people to start thinking of the world—the universe—as a machine, especially since some of the most elaborate of the new machines were astronomical clocks that had the planets and the sun and moon moving through the heavens, not by human force but by predestined contraptions. In a word, by clockwork!

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