The Dark Side of the Moon

2020 ◽  
pp. 279-298
Author(s):  
Emma Gee
Keyword(s):  
World System ◽  
Second Century ◽  
Dark Side ◽  
The Sun ◽  
The Moon ◽  
Life And Death ◽  
The Earth ◽  
The Face ◽  
The Universe

This chapter brings us from Plato to a second-century CE reception of his dialogues, in the work of Plutarch. It concentrates on one dialogue of Plutarch, the De facie in orbe lunae (On the Face in the Moon’s Disc). In the myth that concludes this dialogue, the speaker, Sulla, references Homer’s Elysium from Odyssey 4. But Sulla lifts the Homeric Elysium from “the ends of the earth,” up a level, so that it is situated in the moon. This sets the scene for the rest of Plutarch’s eschatological myth, in which Elysium is repositioned as part of an ascending world-system. Cosmos in Plutarch is the theater for soul. Soul and cosmos in Plutarch are bound up in a sequence of functional interrelationships. Plutarch’s tripartite cosmos functions like the human entity and in fact is the physical area of operation in the life and death of the human entity. There is a truly intertwined relationship between the tripartite human entity and the tripartite cosmos: a three-stage cosmos gives a three-stage cycle of death to life and back, from the sun to the moon to the earth, over and over again. Plutarch’s whole cosmos takes on the role of an afterlife landscape. The De facie gives us the clearest instance we’ve yet seen of the phenomenon of psychic harmonization, in which the soul is entirely integrated with the universe.

scholarly journals How Children Observe the Universe

2000 ◽  
Vol 17 (2) ◽  
pp. 194-206 ◽  
Author(s):  
John Dunlop
Keyword(s):  
Science Curriculum ◽  
Multiple Choice ◽  
The Sun ◽  
The Moon ◽  
Teaching Session ◽  
Multiple Choice Questions ◽  
The Earth ◽  
Changing Patterns ◽  
The Universe ◽  
Children’S Thinking

AbstractChildren who visited Auckland Observatory and Stardome Planetarium in 1998 were surveyed on their ideas about the Earth, the Moon and the Sun. Widespread misconceptions similar to those found in other studies were revealed, however the single teaching session had an impact on children's ideas comparable to that of much longer interventions. Several ideas not reported previously were expressed. For example, two children drew a figure eight orbit for the Earth; circling the Sun during the day, and the Moon at night. Only one child of the 67 surveyed proposed the notion of day and night being caused by the Sun orbiting the Earth. This is in contrast to many other studies. A drawing based pre-post survey proved to be a convenient and powerful tool for revealing changing patterns in children's thinking. The literature surveyed indicated levels of misconceptions about astronomy among teachers and other adults that were nearly as great as those of the children being taught. It would seem a strategic move to provide teachers with sufficient training if they are required to teach astronomy at every level, as has happened with the New Zealand science curriculum. A comparison between different question types suggests that multiple-choice questions may underestimate the knowledge of younger children by over 300% when compared with interview responses. A drawing based question in this study generated up to 41% more correct responses than a multiple-choice question on the same topic.

scholarly journals ROLE OF HEMANT RITU (EARLY WINTER) FOR MAINTEINANCE AND ENHANCEMENT OF BALA (STRENGTH)

2021 ◽  
Vol 9 (4) ◽  
pp. 829-832
Author(s):  
Shilpa Kachhawaha ◽  
Rajesh Kumar Sharma ◽  
Dinesh Chandra Sharma
Keyword(s):  
The Body ◽  
The Sun ◽  
Heating Effect ◽  
Human Beings ◽  
The Moon ◽  
Review Of Literature ◽  
The Earth ◽  
Body Strength ◽  
The World

Seasons (Ritus) are the inherent global earth clock and the rhythm of the world. As per Ayurveda year is divided into six seasons, in which three season Shishira, Vasanta and Greeshma are known as Aadanakala . Other three seasons Varsha, Sharad and Hemanta are said to be Visargakala. In Visarga kala, as the Sun is located in southwards position, its heat reduces or slows down due to the effect of time and its position with respect to the Earth, wind, cloud and rain. The power of the Moon is predominant. Rainwater decreases the heating effect of nature. All of these lead to the predominance of non- dryunctuous, amla (sour), lavana (salty), and madhura (sweet) rasa respectively and step by step rise of body strength in human beings during these three seasons. Out of all the Ritus, Hemanta Ritu is a unique Ritu in terms of having uttam bala. Falling in Dakshinayana, moon is very powerful than sun, Madhur rasa is predominant in this Ritu, so the strength (Bala) of person enhances during this period. This article focuses to disclose thorough review of literature of Hemant ritucharya and its implication towards maintenance and enhancement of Uttam Bala. In Ayurveda oja, veerya, prana, kapha etc terms are considered as synonyms of Bala. Besides prakruti(genetic), sara(physiological) and aahar(diet), kala (season) is one of the prime factors to govern the Bala of the person. Bala stands for the strength of the body in terms of physical, mental, immunological and resistance to the body, the word Bala is being used in different contexts to denote various aspects accordingly. Keywords: Visarga kala, Hemant ritu, Bala

Heavenly Bodies

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Peter Wothers
Keyword(s):  
Seventeenth Century ◽  
Sixteenth Century ◽  
The Sun ◽  
The Moon ◽  
The Earth ◽  
Night Sky ◽  
The Universe ◽  
Over Time

We don’t know for sure where the names of the longest-known elements come from, but a connection was made early on between the most ancient metals and bodies visible in the heavens. Figure 1 shows an engraving from a seventeenth-century text with the title ‘The Seven Metals’ (translated from the Latin). It isn’t immediately obvious how the image is meant to depict seven metals until we explore the connections between alchemy and astronomy. However strange such associations seem to us now, we shall see that new elements named in the eighteenth, nineteenth, twentieth, and twenty-first centuries have had astronomical origins. We can’t properly understand why some of the more recent elements were named as they were without first understanding these earlier historical connections. As we look into the night sky, the distant stars remain in their same relative positions and seem to move gracefully together through the heavens. Of course, we now know that it is the spinning Earth that gives this illusion of movement. The imaginations of our ancestors joined the bright dots to pick out fanciful patterns such as the Dragon, the Dolphin, or the Great Bear—the latter being more often known today (with rather less imagination) as the Big Dipper, the Plough, or even the Big Saucepan. But, while these patterns, the constellations, remained unchanging over time, there were seven objects, or ‘heavenly bodies’, that seemed to move across the skies with a life of their own. They were given the name ‘planet’, which derives from the Greek word for ‘wanderer’ (‘planetes asteres’, ‘πλάνητες ἀστέρες’, meaning ‘wandering stars’). These seven bodies were the Sun, the Moon, Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, and Saturn, all of which were documented by the Babylonians over three thousand years ago. Until the sixteenth century, the most commonly held view was that the Earth was at the centre of the Universe and that the seven bodies revolved around the Earth, with the relative orbits shown schematically in Figure 2.

scholarly journals Figures and Mirrors in Demetrios Triklinios's 'Selenography'

2021 ◽  
pp. 54-73
Author(s):  
Divna Manolova
Keyword(s):  
Fourteenth Century ◽  
Visual Cognition ◽  
The Other ◽  
Lunar Theory ◽  
The Sun ◽  
The Moon ◽  
The Earth ◽  
Mediterranean World ◽  
The One

This article is about the interplay between diagrammatic representation, the mediation of mirrors, and visual cognition. It centres on Demetrios Triklinios (fl. ca. 1308–25/30) and his treatise on lunar theory. The latter includes, first, a discussion of the lunar phases and of the Moon's position in relation to the Sun, and second, a narrative and a pictorial description of the lunar surface. Demetrios Triklinios's Selenography is little-known (though edited in 1967 by Wasserstein) and not available in translation into a modern scholarly language. Therefore, one of the main goals of the present article is to introduce its context and contents and to lay down the foundations for their detailed study at a later stage. When discussing the Selenography, I refer to a bricolage consisting of the two earliest versions of the work preserved in Bayerische Staatsbibliothek, graecus 482, ff. 92r–95v (third quarter of the fourteenth century) and Paris, Bibliothèque nationale de France, graecus 2381, ff. 78r–79v (last quarter of the fourteenth century). I survey the available evidence concerning the role of Demetrios Triklinios (the author), John Astrapas (?) (the grapheus or scribe-painter), and Neophytos Prodromenos and Anonymus (the scribes-editors) in the production of the two manuscript copies. Next, I discuss the diagrams included in the Selenography and their functioning in relation to Triklinios's theory concerning the Moon as a mirror reflecting the geography of the Earth, on the one hand, and to the mirror experiment described by Triklinios, on the other. Finally, I demonstrate how, even though the Selenography is a work on lunar astronomy, it can also be read as a discussion focusing on the Mediterranean world and aiming at elevating its centrality and importance on a cosmic scale.

Man's Ideas About the Universe

Philosophy ◽  
1953 ◽  
Vol 28 (106) ◽  
pp. 195-206
Author(s):  
Viscount Samuel
Keyword(s):  
Personal Contact ◽  
The Sun ◽  
The Moon ◽  
Direct Communication ◽  
The Earth ◽  
Other World ◽  
The Universe

When man emerged from the millions of years of evolution in the Early and Late Stone-ages he had shed his ape-like characters; he was erect, large-brained, and he had become an agriculturist and a craftsman. He must have wondered—as we wonder still—at the sun, the moon and the stars, the land and the sea, the thunder and lightning, at his own birth, and growth and death. Endowed with intuition and reason, and with curiosity, he must have concluded— as we conclude—that all this did not explain itself. There must have existed, and still exist, Something Else, that he could not perceive and did not understand. Endowed also with imagination, he peopled the earth and the sky with spirits—gods and demigods, ghosts and fairies, demons and angels. There followed beliefs in direct communication from this other world, through dream or trance, ecstasy or intuition; sometimes an individual assurance of personal contact and inspiration. So religion came to be: in the form, first of animism, then of mythology, finally of monotheism.

scholarly journals Earthrise

2002 ◽  
Vol 124 (05) ◽  
pp. 42-46
Author(s):  
Aloysius I. Reisz
Keyword(s):  
New Technologies ◽  
Clean Energy ◽  
Human Intelligence ◽  
Hydrogen Energy ◽  
The Moon ◽  
Apollo Program ◽  
The Earth ◽  
Human Endeavor ◽  
The Universe

This article focuses on the Apollo program that was a remarkable feat of engineering and a heroic human endeavor. It proved that mankind is not bound to Earth. The Apollo missions endowed us with a new sense of confidence in our intelligence and an awareness of our existence. Above all, the view of the graceful Earth from the moon inspired us to engineer better systems for our home planet. Apollo’s engineering leaders showed how to envision solutions to achieve objectives in a required time. Green engineering is developing clean energy and life systems that conserve Earth’s ecology. Clean energy can be obtained from the first elements of the universe, light and hydrogen. Energy from nuclear fusion leaves no hydrocarbon pollutants. Clean energy is also obtained from wind, celestial heat, biomass, and hydrocarbon matter before heavier Earth elements are entrained. Engineering is the application of human intelligence for the betterment of life. Engineers must not be satisfied with a role of merely making rote calculations. Rather, vision and leadership in developing and implementing new technologies should be provided that will allow perpetual use of the Earth and its resources.

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.

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