The Ballet of the Planets
A Mathematician's Musings on the Elegance of Planetary Motion
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Product details:
- Publisher OUP USA
- Date of Publication 21 June 2012
- ISBN 9780199891009
- Binding Hardback
- No. of pages192 pages
- Size 236x152x22 mm
- Weight 386 g
- Language English
- Illustrations 60 b&w 0
Categories
Short description:
The Ballet of the Planets unravels the beautiful mystery of planetary motion. The book shows how our understanding of planetary motion evolved from ancient Greece to the time of Newton. It illustrates the interaction between theory and observation, the scientific method, a process still central to the science of today.
MoreLong description:
The Ballet of the Planets unravels the beautiful mystery of planetary motion, revealing how our understanding of astronomy evolved from Archimedes and Ptolemy to Copernicus, Kepler, and Newton. Mathematician Donald Benson shows that ancient theories of planetary motion were based on the assumptions that the Earth was the center of the universe and the planets moved in a uniform circular motion. Since ancient astronomers noted that occasionally a planet would exhibit retrograde motion--would seem to reverse its direction and move briefly westward--they concluded that the planets moved in epicyclic curves, circles with smaller interior loops, similar to the patterns of a child's Spirograph. With the coming of the Copernican revolution, the retrograde motion was seen to be apparent rather than real, leading to the idea that the planets moved in ellipses. This laid the ground for Newton's great achievement--integrating the concepts of astronomy and mechanics--which revealed not only how the planets moved, but also why. Throughout, Benson focuses on naked-eye astronomy, which makes it easy for the novice to grasp the work of these pioneers of astronomy.
For anyone with a keen interest in astronomy, geometry, and the history of science, however, the book will be a must-read.
Table of Contents:
Acknowledgements
Introduction
1 The Survival of the Valid
I. Birth
2 The Bowl of Night
3 Epicycles and Relative Motion
4 The Deferent-Epicycle Model
5 Making Money, Et Cetera
II Rebirth
6 The Reluctant Revolutionary
7 Circles No More
8 The War with Mars
III Enlightenment
9 The Birth of Mechanics
10 The Astronomical Alchemist
A. The Greek Alphabet
B. Vectors
Notes
References
Index
