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Geocentric and heliocentric systems of the world: essence, meaning and differences. What is the geocentric model of the universe

Hipparchus, Alexandrian scholar, who lived in the 2nd century BC. e., and other astronomers of his time paid much attention to observations of the motion of the planets. These movements seemed to them extremely confusing. In fact, the directions of motion of the planets in the sky, as it were, describe loops in the sky. This apparent complexity in the motion of the planets is caused by the movement of the Earth around the Sun - after all, we observe the planets from the Earth, which itself moves. And when the Earth "catches up" with another planet, it seems that the planet seems to stop, and then moves back. But ancient astronomers thought that the planets did make such complex movements around the Earth.

In the 2nd century AD Alexandrian astronomer Ptolemy put forward his "system peace". He tried to explain the structure of the Universe, taking into account the apparent complexity of the movement of the planets. Considering the Earth to be spherical, and its dimensions negligible compared to the distance to the planets and especially the stars. Ptolemy, however, following Aristotle, argued that The earth is the immovable center of the universe. Since Ptolemy considered the earth to be the center of the universe, he system peace called geocentric. Around the earth according to Ptolemy, the Moon, Mercury, Venus, the Sun, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, stars move (in order of distance from the Earth). But if the motion of the Moon, Sun, stars is circular, then the motion of the planets is much more complicated. Each of the planets, according to Ptolemy, does not move around the Earth, but around a certain point. This point, in turn, moves in a circle, in the center of which is the Earth. The circle described by the planet around the moving point, Ptolemy called the epicycle, and the circle along which the point moves around the Earth, the deferent.

It is hard to imagine such intricate movements taking place in nature, and even around imaginary points. Such an artificial construction was required by Ptolemy in order to explain the apparent complexity of the movement of the planets, based on a false idea of the immobility of the Earth, located in the center of the Universe. Ptolemy was a brilliant mathematician for his time. But he shared the view of Aristotle, who believed that the Earth is motionless and only it can be the center of the universe. System peace Aristotle-Ptolemy seemed plausible to contemporaries. It made it possible to pre-calculate the movement of the planets for the future - this was necessary for orientation along the way while traveling and for the calendar. This false system has been recognized for almost fifteen hundred years. This system was also recognized by the Christian religion. Christianity based its worldview on the biblical legend of creation. peace God in six days. According to this legend, the Earth is the "center" of the Universe, and the heavenly bodies were created in order to illuminate the Earth and decorate the firmament. Any deviation from these views was mercilessly pursued by Christianity. System peace Aristotle - Ptolemy, who placed the Earth at the center of the universe, perfectly responded to the Christian doctrine. The tables compiled by Ptolemy made it possible to determine in advance the position of the planets in the sky. But over time, astronomers have discovered a discrepancy between the observed positions of the planets and the predicted ones. For centuries it has been thought that system peace Ptolemy is simply not perfect enough and trying to improve it, they introduced new and new combinations of circular motions for each planet.

The geocentric system of the world (from ancient Greek Γῆ, Γαῖα - Earth) is an idea of the structure of the universe, according to which the central position in the Universe is occupied by the motionless Earth, around which the Sun, Moon, planets and stars revolve. An alternative to geocentrism is the heliocentric system of the world.

Development of geocentrism

Since ancient times, the Earth has been considered the center of the universe. At the same time, the presence of the central axis of the Universe and the asymmetry "top-bottom" were assumed. The earth was kept from falling by some kind of support, which in early civilizations was thought of as some kind of giant mythical animal or animals (turtles, elephants, whales). The first ancient Greek philosopher Thales of Miletus saw a natural object as this support - the oceans. Anaximander of Miletus suggested that the Universe is centrally symmetrical and does not have any preferred direction. Therefore, the Earth, located in the center of the Cosmos, has no reason to move in any direction, that is, it freely rests in the center of the Universe without support. Anaximander's student Anaximenes did not follow his teacher, believing that the Earth was kept from falling by compressed air. Anaxagoras was of the same opinion. The point of view of Anaximander was shared, however, by the Pythagoreans, Parmenides and Ptolemy. The position of Democritus is not clear: according to various testimonies, he followed Anaximander or Anaximenes.

One of the earliest images of the geocentric system that have come down to us (Macrobius, Commentary on the Dream of Scipio, manuscript of the 9th century)

Anaximander considered the Earth to have the shape of a low cylinder with a height three times less than the diameter of the base. Anaximenes, Anaxagoras, Leucippus considered the Earth to be flat, like a table top. Fundamentally new step made by Pythagoras, who suggested that the Earth has the shape of a ball. In this he was followed not only by the Pythagoreans, but also by Parmenides, Plato, Aristotle. This is how the canonical form of the geocentric system arose, which was subsequently actively developed by ancient Greek astronomers: the spherical Earth is at the center of the spherical Universe; the visible daily movement of the celestial bodies is a reflection of the rotation of the Cosmos around the world axis.

Medieval depiction of the geocentric system (from the Cosmography of Peter Apian, 1540)

As for the order of the luminaries, Anaximander considered the stars located closest to the Earth, followed by the Moon and the Sun. Anaximenes first suggested that the stars are the objects farthest from the Earth, fixed on the outer shell of the Cosmos. In this, all subsequent scientists followed him (with the exception of Empedocles, who supported Anaximander). An opinion arose (probably for the first time among Anaximenes or the Pythagoreans) that the longer the period of revolution of the luminary in the celestial sphere, the higher it is. Thus, the order of the luminaries turned out to be the following: Moon, Sun, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, stars. Mercury and Venus are not included here, because the Greeks had disagreements about them: Aristotle and Plato placed them immediately after the Sun, Ptolemy - between the Moon and the Sun. Aristotle believed that there is nothing above the sphere of fixed stars, not even space, while the Stoics believed that our world is immersed in infinite empty space; atomists, following Democritus, believed that beyond our world (limited by the sphere of fixed stars) there are other worlds. This opinion was supported by the Epicureans, it was vividly stated by Lucretius in the poem "On the Nature of Things."

"The figure of the celestial bodies" is an illustration of the Ptolemaic geocentric system of the world, made by the Portuguese cartographer Bartolomeu Velho in 1568.

Stored in the National Library of France.

Rationale for geocentrism

Ancient Greek scientists, however, substantiated the central position and immobility of the Earth in different ways. Anaximander, as has already been pointed out, pointed out the spherical symmetry of the Cosmos as the reason. Aristotle did not support him, putting forward a counterargument later attributed to Buridan: in this case, the person in the center of the room in which food is located near the walls must die of hunger (see Buridan's donkey). Aristotle himself substantiated geocentrism as follows: the Earth is a heavy body, and the center of the Universe is a natural place for heavy bodies; as experience shows, all heavy bodies fall vertically, and since they move towards the center of the world, the Earth is in the center. In addition, the orbital motion of the Earth (which the Pythagorean Philolaus assumed) was rejected by Aristotle on the grounds that it should lead to a parallactic displacement of the stars, which is not observed.

Drawing of the geocentric system of the world from an Icelandic manuscript dated circa 1750

A number of authors give other empirical arguments. Pliny the Elder, in his encyclopedia Natural History, justifies the central position of the Earth by the equality of day and night during the equinoxes and by the fact that during the equinox, sunrise and sunset are observed on the same line, and the sunrise on the day of the summer solstice is on the same line. , which is the entry per day winter solstice. From an astronomical point of view, all these arguments are, of course, a misunderstanding. Slightly better are the arguments given by Cleomedes in the textbook "Lectures on Astronomy", where he substantiates the centrality of the Earth from the contrary. In his opinion, if the Earth were east of the center of the universe, then the shadows at dawn would be shorter than at sunset, celestial bodies would appear longer at sunrise than at sunset, and the duration from dawn to noon would be shorter than from noon to sunset. Since all this is not observed, the Earth cannot be displaced to the west of the center of the world. Similarly, it is proved that the Earth cannot be displaced to the west. Further, if the Earth were located to the north or south of the center, shadows at sunrise would extend north or south, respectively. Moreover, at dawn on the equinoxes, the shadows are directed exactly in the direction of the sunset on those days, and at sunrise on the summer solstice, the shadows point to the point of sunset on the winter solstice. It also indicates that the Earth is not offset north or south of center. If the Earth were higher than the center, then less than half of the sky could be observed, including less than six signs of the zodiac; as a consequence, the night would always be longer than the day. Similarly, it is proved that the Earth cannot be located below the center of the world. Thus, it can only be in the center. Approximately the same arguments in favor of the centrality of the Earth are given by Ptolemy in the Almagest, book I. Of course, the arguments of Cleomedes and Ptolemy only prove that the Universe is much larger than the Earth, and therefore also are untenable.

Pages from SACROBOSCO "Tractatus de Sphaera" with the Ptolemaic system - 1550

Ptolemy is also trying to justify the immobility of the Earth (Almagest, book I). First, if the Earth were displaced from the center, then the effects just described would be observed, and if they are not, the Earth is always in the center. Another argument is the verticality of the trajectories of falling bodies. The lack of axial rotation of the Earth Ptolemy justifies as follows: if the Earth rotated, then “... all objects that do not rest on the Earth should seem to make the same movement in the opposite direction; neither clouds nor other flying or hovering objects will ever be seen moving eastward, as the Earth's movement towards the east will always throw them away, so that these objects will appear to be moving westward, in the opposite direction." The inconsistency of this argument became clear only after the discovery of the foundations of mechanics.

Explanation of astronomical phenomena from the standpoint of geocentrism

The greatest difficulty for ancient Greek astronomy was the uneven movement of the celestial bodies (especially the backward movements of the planets), since in the Pythagorean-Platonic tradition (which Aristotle largely followed), they were considered deities who should make only uniform movements. To overcome this difficulty, models were created in which the complex apparent motions of the planets were explained as the result of the addition of several uniform circular motions. The concrete embodiment of this principle was the theory of homocentric spheres of Eudoxus-Callippus, supported by Aristotle, and the theory of epicycles by Apollonius of Perga, Hipparchus and Ptolemy. However, the latter was forced to partially abandon the principle of uniform motions, introducing the equant model.

Rejection of geocentrism

During the scientific revolution of the 17th century, it became clear that geocentrism is incompatible with astronomical facts and contradicts physical theory; the heliocentric system of the world was gradually established. The main events that led to the rejection of the geocentric system were the creation of the heliocentric theory of planetary motions by Copernicus, the telescopic discoveries of Galileo, the discovery of Kepler's laws and, most importantly, the creation of classical mechanics and the discovery of the law gravity Newton.

Geocentrism and religion

Already one of the first ideas opposed to geocentrism (the heliocentric hypothesis of Aristarchus of Samos) led to a reaction on the part of representatives of religious philosophy: the Stoic Cleanthes called for Aristarchus to be brought to justice for moving the “Center of the World” from its place, meaning the Earth; it is not known, however, whether the efforts of Cleanthes were crowned with success. In the Middle Ages, since the Christian Church taught that the whole world was created by God for the sake of man (see Anthropocentrism), geocentrism also successfully adapted to Christianity. This was also facilitated by a literal reading of the Bible. The scientific revolution of the 17th century was accompanied by attempts to administratively ban the heliocentric system, which led, in particular, to the trial of a supporter and propagandist of heliocentrism, Galileo Galilei. Currently, geocentrism as a religious belief is found among some conservative Protestant groups in the US.

RUSSIAN STATE SOCIAL UNIVERSITY OF THE MINISTRY OF EDUCATION AND SCIENCE OF THE RUSSIAN FEDERATION

Branch of the Russian State social university

Ministry of Education and Science of the Russian Federation in Togliatti Samara region

Department: "SOCIAL MANAGEMENT"

TEST

On the course "Concepts of modern natural science"

On the topic: "Geocentric system of the world"

Completed by: 3rd year student

group MS-7/05 Krivyakina T.S.

Checked by: Filipova G.R.

Togliatti 2008

Introduction

Aristotelian system of the world

The structure of the geocentric system of the world

Ptolemaic system of the world

Conclusion

Bibliography

Introduction

To improve the theories of the motions of the planets, a thorough knowledge of the geometry developed in Greece (not earlier than the 4th century BC) was required. At this time, Eudoxus of Cnidus, the predecessor of Aristotle, created the theory of homocentric spheres (which has come down to us only in the retelling of Aristotle), according to which the planet is attached to the surface of a hollow sphere, uniformly rotating inside another sphere, also rotating around an axis that does not coincide with the axis of rotation of the first sphere. . At the center of these spheres is the Earth. To represent the complex movement of some planets, several such concentric spheres were required, the total number of which was brought up to 55 by the student of Eudoxus Calippus. Later, in the 3rd century. BC e., the Greek geometer Apollonius of Perga simplified this theory by replacing the rotating spheres with circles, and this laid the foundation for the theory of epicycles, which was completed in the work of the ancient Greek astronomer Ptolemy (2nd century AD), known as the Almagest. It was assumed that all celestial bodies move in circles and, moreover, evenly. The uneven movements of the planets, changes in the direction of their movement were explained, assuming that they simultaneously participate in several circular uniform movements occurring in different planes and at different speeds. The earth, the sphericity of which was already taught by the Pythagorean school in the 6th century. BC e., was considered to be at rest in the center of the universe, which corresponded to the direct impression created by the view starry sky.

For practical application the theory of epicycles needed the values of the quantities that determine the periods of revolution of the planets, the mutual inclinations of their orbits, the lengths of the arcs of backward motions, etc., which could only be obtained from observations by measuring the corresponding time intervals and angles.

The geocentric system of the world is an idea that arose in ancient Greek science and survived until the late Middle Ages about the central position of the Earth in the Universe. In accordance with it, all celestial bodies (planets, the Sun and others) revolve around the Earth in circular orbits.

Aristotelian system of the world

Starting from the IV century BC. e. Greek thinkers build geometric models of the world, designed to explain the movement of heavenly bodies. The birth of a new cosmological model was facilitated by the most prominent scientist of Ancient Greece - Aristotle (384 - 322 BC). Based on the achievements of all Greek science, he created a unified scientific system, formed a detailed worldview. Aristotle turned information about visible celestial phenomena and the movements of the stars into a coherent theory - a system of the world. The system of the world according to Aristotle was based on four principles, which were the synthesis of all Greek science.

Principles underlying the geocentric system of the world

1. The vault of heaven (the sphere of fixed stars) is the support for the stars and the boundary between heaven and earth. It makes a full revolution in a day around the axis connecting the north pole of the sky with the south. The axis of rotation intersects with the celestial sphere at two fixed points - the poles of the world. The principle was preserved until Copernicus.

2. Spirituality of celestial bodies: stars, like other celestial bodies, have a soul that sets them in motion.

3. The principle of heavenly perfection:

“... the cosmos as a whole, made up of integral parts, perfect and not involved in decrepitude and ailments. Then, by rotation, God rounded the cosmos to the state of a sphere, the surface of which is everywhere equally spaced from the center ... ”- Plato.

Heavenly perfection is due to several circumstances:

· Heaven is perfect in every way. They themselves and their supports consist of eternal matter - ether. Ether, according to Aristotle, is the lightest element, which lies on the border between material and non-material. Ether cannot be transformed into other elements, therefore, it cannot be created or destroyed. Therefore, for celestial bodies, movement is possible, which is inaccessible to anything earthly. Therefore, the sky could not have arisen, and, therefore, the world exists forever.

· All celestial bodies and the Earth are spherical. Ball and sphere, ideal geometric shapes. The ball, when rotating around its own axis, always occupies the same part of the space. Sphere - a geometric body, all points of the surface of which are equidistant from the center. The concept of the spherical shape of bodies in the Universe and the Universe itself became the basis of all subsequent constructions of the Universe.

· In the heavens, only perfect motion is realized: perfect motion is eternal, uniform circular motion.

4. Music of the spheres: the basis of celestial phenomena are mathematical laws. The existence of eight celestial spheres and the same number of tones of the musical scale confirmed this. Each sphere sings its own note, and the eight notes merge into harmony - the music of the sky.

All principles are subordinated to the main concept of the ancient Greeks: harmony rules the world. An example of heavenly harmony is the Platonic solids. There are only five regular convex polyhedra of various shapes. First studied by the Pythagoreans, these five regular convex polyhedra were later described in detail by Plato and became known in mathematics as the Platonic solids. All faces of polyhedra are the same regular polygons, all polyhedral angles are equal. With the help of triangles, Plato builds four regular polyhedra, associating them with four earth elements(earth, water, air and fire). And only the last of the five existing regular polyhedra - the dodecahedron, all twelve faces of which are regular pentagons, claims to be a symbolic image of the heavenly world.

rice. Platonic polyhedra

The honor of discovering the dodecahedron (or, as it was supposed, the Universe itself, this quintessence of the four elements, symbolized, respectively, by the tetrahedron, octahedron, icosahedron and cube) belongs to Hippasus, who later died in a shipwreck. This figure captures many relationships of the golden section, so he was given the main role in the heavenly world.

The structure of the geocentric system of the world

The Aristotelian model of the universe had a clear structure. She looked like an onion.

1. The Universe has a center. This is the still earth.

“I simply postulated the immobility of the Earth in the center of the World in order to substantiate the reality of the daily rotation of the entire firmament. According to the kinematic principle of relativity of motion, if the Earth is stationary, then the sky is moving. Since the sphericity of the Universe was "visible" with a simple eye (the shape of the firmament, the circular daily movement of heavenly bodies), in such a limited Universe there must necessarily be a center as a point equidistant from the periphery. The central position of the Earth followed from the general properties of the Universe: the heaviest element is “earth”, which mainly makes up Earth, cannot but be always in the center of the World”- Aristotle

· Transparent solid spheres with celestial bodies (planets) attached to them revolve around the Earth in the following sequence: Moon, Sun, Venus, Mercury, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn.

The primary cause of motion is the rotation of the sphere of fixed stars. The movement of the first sphere is transmitted to other spheres - lower and lower down to the Earth. The whole model contained a total of 55 spheres, as if nested in each other and transmitting movement to each other.

· The “Sublunar” world, ie the region between the orbit of the Moon and the center of the Earth, is a region of chaotic uneven movements. Circular motion is not characteristic of her and is for her something violent. All bodies in this region are composed of the four lower elements: earth, water, air and fire. Earth, as the heaviest element, occupies a central place, above it are successively shells of water, air and fire.

· The "supralunar" world, ie the region between the Moon's orbit and the extreme sphere of the fixed stars, is the region of eternally uniform motions, and the stars themselves consist of the fifth, most perfect element, the ether.

· Behind the last sphere of the world is only God. There can be no other being beyond the world.

Bodies that are characterized by certain movements. This is a movement towards the center of the world, towards its periphery and a circular motion. But all these types of motion are possible only in a sphere. And since nothing exists outside the sphere, emptiness cannot exist beyond it. The world encompasses in itself not only the whole place, but also all the time. Time itself is a measure of movement. Since motion does not extend to the region beyond the world, time does not extend to it either.

Ptolemaic system of the world

An attempt to solve the difficulties in the Aristotelian model was made by the outstanding Alexandrian scientist Claudius Ptolemy. Claudius Ptolemy (AD 90–168) was an eminent Greco-Egyptian astronomer, astrologer, mathematician, geographer, and optician, probably from Ptolemias in Middle Egypt. In his work The Great Building, known by its Arabic name Almagest, Ptolemy drew on the discoveries of his predecessors, in particular Aristarchus of Samos and Hipparchus. Drawing on the deep tradition of Greek geometry, Ptolemy transformed Aristotle's cosmology into mathematical model Universe. For each planet, he developed his own theory, consisting of a variety of geometric techniques. It was assumed that the planets simultaneously participate in two independent, but "perfect" motions. The observed “imperfect” movement is the result of the addition of perfect movements (Eudoxus of Cnidus 406 BC). The idea of decomposing the motion of the planets into two components laid the foundation for the successful solution of the above problems. To reconcile the geocentric model with observations, Ptolemy rebuilt Aristotle's geometric model of the universe using the combination

deferents (lat. deferentis- carrier)

eccentrics (off center)

and epicycles (lat. epi kyklos- on the circle).

The deferent is the main bearing circle of each planet. It is not the planet itself that moves uniformly along the deferent, but the center S the second circle of smaller diameter - the epicycle. The planet itself moves uniformly along the epicycle. The centers of the epicycles of the lower planets lay on the straight line connecting the Earth and the Sun. For the upper planets, a restriction was also introduced: the segment connecting the upper planet with the center of its epicycle is parallel to the straight line connecting the Earth with the Sun.

Conclusion

Astronomy in the Middle Ages. Ptolemy's Almagest, which summed up the astronomical knowledge of that time, remained for many centuries the foundation of the geocentric system of the world. The emergence of Christianity with its dogmatism, the invasions of the barbarians led to the decline of natural science and, in particular, in the Middle Ages.

For a whole millennium in Europe, little was added, but much was forgotten from what was known about the structure of the Universe thanks to the works of scientists of the ancient world. Holy Scripture was the canon from which answers to all questions were drawn. Only the Arabs and the peoples who came into contact with them made an attempt, if not to reform astronomy in the Middle Ages. Ptolemy's Almagest, which summed up the astronomical knowledge of that time, remained for many centuries the foundation of the geocentric system of the world. The rise of Christianity with its dogmatism and the invasions of the barbarians led to the decline of natural science, and of anthropology in particular, in the Middle Ages. For a whole millennium in Europe, little was added, but much was forgotten from what was known about the structure of the Universe thanks to the works of scientists of the ancient world. Holy Scripture was the canon from which answers were drawn to all questions, including those from the field of Astronomy.

Only the Arabs and the peoples in contact with them made an attempt, if not to reform Astronomy, then at least to clarify the old theories with new observations. The Baghdad caliph al-Ma'mun ordered in 827 to translate Ptolemy's work from Greek into Arabic. Arab scholar al-Battaii at the end of the 9th - beginning of the 10th centuries. made numerous observations, specifying the values of the annual precession, the inclination of the ecliptic to the equator, the eccentricity and longitude of the perigee of the solar orbit. In the same 10th c. Arab astronomer Abul-Vefa discovered one of the inequalities (irregularities) in the motion of the moon. Great merits in the development of astronomy belong to Abu Reykhan Viruni (Khorezm, late 10th-11th centuries), the author of various astronomical studies. Astronomy flourished among the Arab peoples and in Wed. Asia until the 15th century. Many prominent scientists, along with other sciences, were engaged in refining the astronomical constants of the geocentric theory. Particularly well known are the astronomical tables compiled in 1252 by Jewish and Moorish scholars on the orders of the Castilian ruler Alfonso X, and therefore called Alphonse. Observational astronomy was developed in Azerbaijan, where Nasiraddin Tuei built a large observatory in Maragha. In terms of size, quantity, and quality of instruments, Ulugbek's observatory in Samarkand occupied an outstanding place, where a new large catalog of stars was compiled in 1420–37. The Arabs preserved the classical astronomy of the Greeks from oblivion, updated the planetary tables, and developed the theory, but, following Ptolemy, they did not introduce fundamental reforms into Astronomy. During this era, astronomical observations were also made in China and India. In the 12th-13th centuries. some revival of natural science began to be noticed also in Europe. Gradually, not without the influence of the Arabs, the most enlightened people became acquainted with the science and philosophy of the ancient Greeks, whose works were translated (often from Arabic) into Latin. Aristotle's teaching was found to be consistent with church dogma: the geocentric system of the world did not contradict holy scripture. In Italy, and then in other countries Zap. In Europe, universities were established, which, although they were under the strong influence of church scholasticism, nevertheless contributed to the development of natural science.

Bibliography

1. History: Textbook / Ed. ed. prof. O.D. Kuznetsova and prof. I.N. Shapkin. Moscow, 2000.

2. Voshchanova G.P., Godzina G.S. History: Proc. allowance. Moscow, 1998.

3. Russia and the world: Educational book on history. In 2 parts. Part II. / Under the general editorship of prof. A.A. Danilova. Moscow, 1994.

4. Loiberg M.Ya. History: Textbook. 2001.

Scientific picture of the world is a holistic view of the world at this stage of development of scientific knowledge and development social relations. It synthesizes knowledge of specific sciences with philosophical generalizations.

A. Einstein: “A person strives in some adequate way to create in himself a simple and clear picture of the world; and this not only in order to overcome the world in which he lives, but also in order to try, to a certain extent, to replace this world with the picture he has created. This is done by the artist, the poet, the theorizing philosopher, and the naturalist, each in his own way.”

There are 2 main components in the structure of the scientific picture of the world: conceptual And sensual-figurative .

Conceptual presented philosophical concepts , such as matter, motion, space, time, etc., principles - the principle of universal interconnection and interdependence of phenomena and processes, the principle of development, the principle of the material unity of the world, etc. and laws the laws of dialectics. Also general scientific concepts , such as field, matter, energy, universe, etc., general scientific laws - the law of conservation and transformation of energy, the law of evolutionary development, etc., general scientific principles - the principle of determinism, verification, etc.

The sensory-figurative component is a set of visual representations of the world. For example, the idea of the atom as a “porridge with raisins” by Thomson, Rutherford’s planetary model of the atom, the image of the Metagalaxy as an inflating sphere, the idea of the electron spin as a rotating top, etc.

The scientific picture of the world performs and a number functions:

heuristic , that is, sets the scientific search program;
systematizing , that is, it combines the knowledge obtained by various sciences within the framework of a single scientific program;
worldview , that is, it develops a certain view of the world, a certain attitude towards the world.

The scientific picture of the world is not a frozen formation, but constantly changing. In the process of developing scientific and technical knowledge, qualitative transformations take place in it, which lead to the replacement of the old picture of the world with a new one.

This process is considered in his work by the famous American scientist, historian of science Thomas Kuhn . According to T. Kuhn, there are two periods in the development of any science: “pre-paradigmatic” and “post-paradigmatic”. During the first one, it is still impossible to speak of a “normal” science based on a number of generally accepted scientific principles. On the contrary, the second one passes under the sign of a model of scientific knowledge that is unified for the entire community of scientists. (paradigms). This is the period of the “normal” stage in the development of science.

Scientific paradigm is a set of methods, methods, principles of scientific knowledge, as well as theories and hypotheses approved by the scientific community in a certain historical period time. Scientific paradigm - it is also a model, a standard, a template used to solve the existing scientific problems and tasks.

Over time, the development of science within the framework of this paradigm becomes more difficult, anomalies appear in theories. Ultimately, this leads to a crisis requiring paradigm shift , i.e. scientific revolution . As a result of the paradigm shift, the scientific community is beginning to see the world differently. A different set of initial principles is put in the basis of scientific knowledge, and a new period in the development of science begins.

A scientific description of a paradigm shift is impossible in terms of logic - it requires an appeal to psychology scientific creativity and to sociology. The new and old paradigms are essentially incomparable, and therefore it cannot be assumed that the development of science proceeds through the gradual accumulation of scientific knowledge. Consequently, in this sense it is impossible to speak of a single line of development of science.

The difference between the concept of a paradigm and the concept of a scientific picture of the world lies in the fact that a paradigm within the framework of a given science may not be of a “global” nature, but be associated with some particular section of science or even with one group of problems. On the other hand, the concept of a paradigm includes not only the basic principles of a given science, but also the rules for their successful application, standard measurement procedures, etc. Thus, the concept of a paradigm and the scientific picture of the world coincide only partially.

But the main problem posed by T. Kuhn is as follows: is there a certain continuity in the change of paradigms and scientific pictures of the world, or is this change not of a natural nature?

The principle of correspondence of scientific theories assumes that the new theory rejects the old one not completely, but only outside the area of its applicability. Therefore, one should not agree with the statement of T. Kuhn and his followers that a theory formulated in one paradigm can neither contradict nor correspond to a theory from another paradigm due to the different meanings of the terms used in these theories.

Various scientific pictures of the world are not "things in themselves", that is, systems completely isolated from each other. They include, along with excellent ones, some general concepts and principles (for example, the position of the three-dimensionality and continuity of space, the principle of conservation of energy, etc.) Although a number of elements of the old pictures of the world are replaced by new, more fruitful ones, many fundamental principles and laws retain their strength and are “woven” into the fabric of the new science.

The emergence of a scientific picture of the world

For centuries, man has sought to unravel the mystery of the world order of the universe, which ancient Greek philosophers called the Cosmos (translated from the Greek “cosmos” means order, beauty) in contrast to Chaos, which preceded the appearance of the Cosmos. People asked themselves why the celestial movements and phenomena are so regular and periodic (the change of day and night, winter and summer, tides, etc.) and, finally, how did the world around us arise? Looking for answers to these similar questions, people discovered patterns in nature, on the basis of which they could predict certain events (for example, solar and lunar eclipses, the appearance of certain constellations in the sky, etc.). Thus, since ancient times, man has tried to comprehend the integrity of the world, to create in his imagination an ordered system of objects, phenomena and their causes, defining for himself his own worldview and picture of the world.

The content of the historically first pictures of the world was determined by astronomical science - one of the oldest sciences. It originates in the Ancient East: in Egypt, India, China, Babylon. So, in the “Rig Veda”, the oldest monument of ancient Indian philosophical and religious thought, we can find a description of one of the first pictures of the world: the Earth is a flat, boundless surface, the sky is a blue vault dotted with stars, and between them is luminous air. In ancient times, astronomy had only applied, practical significance, it solved, first of all, the pressing problems of people. The immovable Pole Star served as a guide for people on land and at sea, the rising of the star Sirius foreshadowed the flood of the Nile to the inhabitants of Egypt, and the seasonal appearances in the sky of certain constellations indicated to people that agricultural work was approaching.

The first natural-scientific ideas about the world around us that have come down to us were formulated by ancient Greek philosophers and scientists in the 7th-5th centuries. BC. Their teachings were based on the previously accumulated knowledge and religious experience of the Egyptians, Sumerians, Babylonians, Syrians, but differed from the latter in their desire to penetrate into the essence, into the hidden mechanism of world phenomena. The fundamental provisions of these teachings can be formulated as the basic principles of the ancient picture of the world.

Basic principles of the ancient picture of the world

The principle of circular shapes, movements and cyclicity. Observation of the round disks of the Sun and the Moon, the rounded horizon line on the sea, the rising and setting of the luminaries, the change of seasons, rest and work, etc. led the Greeks to think about circular forms, movements, cycles of development.

Principle the existence of the principle underlying the diversity of the phenomena of the world. The first ideas about such a beginning were reduced to the primary elements, such as water, air, earth and fire. In the future, abstract representations appear that are not reducible to sensory perception, such as the atom of Democritus or the matter of Plato and Aristotle.

Representation of the sky. It was assumed that the Earth is in the center of the world, and the firm firmament serves as a support for the stars and separates the sky from the Earth. The stars are fixedly attached to the firmament, and the planets (which included the Sun and the Moon) move relative to the background of the fixed stars. The word "planet" comes from the ancient Greek word for "wandering". Moving around the Earth, the planets made complex, loop-like movements. The fact is that each planet was attached to a transparent solid sphere. The sphere revolved evenly around the Earth in a regular circular orbit, and the planet itself also moved around the sphere. The idea of the firmament (the sphere of fixed stars) was preserved even in the system of N. Copernicus, although he transferred the center of the world from the Earth to the Sun.

The principle of spirituality of celestial bodies. Plato believed that the planets, like other bodies moving for no apparent reason, have a soul. A student of Plato, Aristotle, considered the primary cause of the movement of bodies to be the prime mover, which is immaterial, motionless, eternal, perfect.

The principle of heavenly perfection. Plato, Aristotle, and other philosophers believed that the heavens were perfect in every way. Based on this, they believed that the celestial bodies, their spheres and orbits along which they move should consist of an indestructible eternal substance - ether. The shape of celestial bodies must be spherical, since the sphere is the only geometric body, all points of the surface of which are equidistant from the center. The sphere (circle) was considered by the Greeks to be an ideal, perfect figure.

The principle of the music of the heavenly spheres. For the Pythagoreans, musical harmony and the movement of the planets were due to the same mathematical laws. Pythagoras discovered a wonderful connection between numbers and the laws of musical harmony. He discovered that the pitch of an oscillating string, the ends of which are fixed, directly depends on its length. Reducing the length of the oscillating part of a violin string by half leads to an increase in the tone of the sound generated by it by an octave. Reducing the length of the string by one third raises the tone of the sound by a fifth, by one quarter by a fourth, by one fifth by a third. The Pythagoreans also discovered a pattern of pitch change with the size of the rotating object and with the distance from the object to the observer. Thus, a stone tied to a rope and rotated overhead will make a sound of a certain pitch. If you change the size of the stone and the length of the rope, then the height of the sound emitted by the stone will change. Following this logic of reasoning, Pythagoras assumed the musical-numerical structure of the cosmos and the music of the celestial spheres.

The principle of emptiness or fullness of space. On this issue, ancient Greek philosophers were divided into two opposing schools. The head of one of them - Democritus believed that the substance of the cosmos consists of tiny, invisible, indivisible particles - atoms moving in the surrounding empty space. According to their opponents (for example, Parmenides), the world is filled with one or more substances that form a continuous medium.

The principle of centrism or homogeneity. Are we at the center of the Universe, or does the Universe have no center in principle, and cannot exist? The world of Plato and Aristotle resembled an onion, in the middle of which was the Earth, while the sphere of fixed stars constituted its outer shell. Atomists thought differently. In particular, Lucretius Carus wrote: "The universe has no center and contains an infinite number of inhabited worlds."

Despite the variety of principles and models of the Universe in the ancient world, the cultural atmosphere that had developed by that time and the scientific paradigm led to the fact that a geocentric picture of the world was approved, the author of which was the great ancient Greek scientist of the 4th century BC. BC Aristotle.

Geocentric picture of the world of Aristotle - Ptolemy

Aristotle of Stagira (384 - 322 BC) is known as a versatile scientist who possessed encyclopedic knowledge. He was a famous philosopher, physicist, biologist, logician, psychologist, public figure. As a biologist, he and his students defined the concept of life, described and classified more than 1000 species of animals and plants. So, Aristotle was the first to prove that the whale is not a fish, but a mammal.

In the treatise "On the Sky" Aristotle describes his physical and cosmological picture of the world. Here we see how his astronomical views of the universe are closely intertwined with physical and philosophical views.

Under Universe Aristotle understood all existing matter, consisting from his point of view of 4 ordinary elements: earth, water, air and fire, as well as the 5th element - ether, unlike others, which has neither lightness nor heaviness. The universe is a finite limited sphere, beyond which there is nothing material. There is no and space, which is conceived as something filled with matter. Outside the universe, there is no time. Time Aristotle defined it as a measure of motion (amount of motion) and connected it with matter, explaining that “there is no motion without a physical body”. Outside the universe was placed non-material, eternal, motionless, perfect prime mover (deity), who communicated to the world, and in particular to cosmic bodies, a perfect uniform circular motion.

Since the sphericity of the Universe was visible to the naked eye in the form of the sky, the circular daily movement of the heavenly bodies (the Sun, the Moon, etc.), in the observation of lunar eclipses, when the round shadow of the Earth crawled onto the disk of the Moon (which also confirmed the sphericity of our Earth), then in for such a limited universe, there must have been a center as a singular point equidistant from the periphery. Thus, the central position of the Earth followed from the general properties of the Universe: the heaviest element - the earth, which mainly constitutes the globe, could not but be always in the center of the world. The less heavy element, gravitating towards the earth, was water, and the lighter elements were fire and air. In the supralunar world, the only element - the ether - was in perpetual circular motion in the world space. From the ether, according to Aristotle, all celestial bodies consisted, of an ideal spherical shape, fastened each with its own sphere, solid and crystal-clear, with which they moved together across the sky. More precisely, the spheres moved, and with them the planets. The movement of celestial bodies from east to west was considered by Aristotle to be natural and best (“nature always makes the best possible”). Aristotle identified 8 spheres in the universe. He believed that for celestial bodies is natural exactly circular, eternal , uniform motion, which was postulated as a sign of the perfection of celestial bodies.

Earth's immobility at the center of the world Aristotle simply postulated to justify the daily rotation of the entire firmament (“if the Earth is stationary, then the sky moves”). According to the scientist The Universe did not arise and is fundamentally indestructible, it is eternal, since it is the only and encompasses all possible matter, it has nothing to arise from and nothing to turn into. “It is not the Cosmos that arises and is destroyed, but its states.”

Aristotle's cosmological system was a theory based on the experimental data of the sciences of that time (the visible circular motions of the planets, the Sun, the Moon, the rounded horizon line on the sea, etc.). Aristotle believed that the Earth floats freely in space, and is not rooted in infinity (Xenophanes), or does not float on water (Thales). But along with the erroneous ideas of his predecessors, Aristotle also rejected the correct guesses of the Pythagoreans about the rotation of the Earth around its imaginary geometric axis, since this rotation was not felt in everyday experience.

Aristotle sought to clear the picture of the world from the mythological element. He sharply criticized the ancient teachings, according to which the sky and celestial bodies, in order not to fall to the Earth, had to rely on the shoulders of mighty heroes - the Atlanteans.

Aristotle's model of the universe can be called teleological , based on the highest ultimate goals and causes and explaining everything with them (prime mover, ideal divine circular forms, best opportunity etc.) This model became the first organizing factor on the path of further development of science. Within its framework, specific scientific ideas were formed over 1.5 thousand years. Being dogmatized, in medieval Europe and on Arab East, Aristotle's picture of the world survived until the 16th century.

The Aristotelian geocentric picture of the world was mathematically substantiated 4 centuries later by the Alexandrian astronomer, a Roman by birth, Claudius Ptolemy (87 - 165 AD)

The creation of the first mathematical theory of the apparent motion of the planets, the "Mathematical System", was devoted to 5 of the 13 books of Ptolemy under common name"Almagest". “Almagest” in Arabic means “greatest”. The fact is that the Greek original was lost, but only the Arabic translation of the works of K. Ptolemy has come down to us.

Ptolemy based his theory on several postulates: the sphericity of the Earth, its immobility and central position in the Universe, the uniform circular motion of celestial bodies, the colossal remoteness of the Earth from the sphere of fixed stars .

Ptolemy believed that the faster the planet moves across the sky (i.e. we are talking about the apparent movement), the closer to the Earth it is located. From this followed the location of the planets relative to the Earth: the Moon, Mercury, Venus, the Sun, Mars, Jupiter and Saturn.

Ptolemy not only followed the statements of Aristotle, but tried to substantiate them based on known ideas and observations. So, he believed that from the surface of the rotating Earth (if such a place took place), all bodies freely lying on it would have to be torn off and thrown aside into world space, reverse direction rotation of the Earth (clouds, birds, people, houses, etc.). In part, Ptolemy was right. However, he did not take into account the colossal mass of the Earth in comparison with all living and non-living objects on its surface. But even today no one is surprised by the fact that at the equator the weight of the same objects due to centrifugal force is less than at the pole.

The theory of K. Ptolemy was a tremendous success of human thought in the mathematical analysis of natural phenomena. Thus, the intricate apparent movements of the planets were presented as the result of the addition of simple elements - uniform movements in a circle. In Ptolemy's scheme, movement every planet described as follows. It was assumed that around the motionless Earth there is a circle, the center of which is placed somewhat away from the center of the Earth ( deferent ). The center of the smaller circle moves along the deferent - epicycle - with an angular velocity that is constant with respect not to its own center of the deferent and not to the Earth itself, but to a point located symmetrically to the center of the deferent relative to the Earth. This auxiliary point, from which the motion of the planet will seem uniform (aligned), as well as the circle corresponding to it, Ptolemy introduced for a more accurate description of the observed irregularities in the apparent motions of the planets and called equant (leveling). The planet itself in the Ptolemaic system moved uniformly along the epicycle. To describe the newly discovered irregularities in the movements of the Moon or planets, new additional epicycles were introduced - the second, third, etc. By introducing the equant, Ptolemy violated the principle of the structure and properties of the Universe in Aristotle's physical picture of the world. But N. Copernicus understood this and paid attention to it only after one and a half thousand years.

The theory of K. Ptolemy made a huge impression not only on his contemporaries. Until the 16th century, his geocentric system reigned supreme over the minds of people. However, Ptolemy himself considered his theory only a way of describing phenomena, without claiming that his complex construction expressed the true essence of things (the structure of the Universe). Meanwhile, the church and the scholastic science of the Middle Ages turned the geocentric picture of the world into the ultimate truth, elevated it to an official doctrine, to the rank of an indisputable religious dogma.

In fairness, it should be noted that the Greek thinkers who created models of the movement of the celestial spheres could be divided into two competing camps. They differed in their views on the role of mathematics and mathematical models.

Representatives of the first camp, headed by Aristotle, considered mathematics to be the servant of philosophy and common sense. They believed that mathematics can be useful in describing phenomena, but it is not able to reflect their depth and essence.

Representatives of another camp, the Pythagoreans, believed that mathematical laws underlie all phenomena. They believed that the laws of mathematical harmony are a more appropriate guide to the comprehension of heavenly secrets than experience and common sense. The Pythagoreans believed that it would be more natural to assume that the movement of the stars we observe is a consequence of the movement of the Earth, which we do not feel, in a circle, but in the opposite direction to the movement of the stars. In the center of this circle is the "central fire". It was also assumed that the Earth rotates around an axis passing through its geometric center, just as a cart wheel turns on its axis.

The highest achievement of the Pythagoreans was the heliocentric model of the world proposed by Aristarchus of Samos (III century BC). He considered the Sun to be motionless, located in the center of the world, and the Earth, revolving around the Sun and around its own axis. Aristarchus also assumed that the entire orbit of the Earth, compared with the sphere of stars, is nothing more than a point.

However, all these ideas were destined to remain aloof from the mainstream of the development of ideas about the world. The revival of heliocentrism did not occur until the 16th century.

The heliocentric system of N. Copernicus and its further development in the works of J. Bruno, G. Galileo and I. Kepler

N. Copernicus (1473 - 1543) is considered to be the founder of heliocentrism. Copernicus was born on the territory of Poland in the city of Torun. He graduated from Krakow University, one of the oldest in Europe, where he studied mathematics, physics, astronomy, the works of Hipparchus, Ptolemy, and others.

By the beginning of the 16th century, the problem of revising and clarifying the calendar became acute. The point is that the date spring equinox, which fell in the 4th century on March 21 (approved by the 2 Council of Nicaea in 325), from which they calculated Christian holiday Easter, by the 16th century, fell on March 11th. The spring religious holiday of Easter inevitably shifted to winter, which the church leadership could not allow. According to church custom, Easter is celebrated on the first Sunday after the spring equinox (March 21) and the first March full moon. Easter happens between April 3rd and May 2nd.

It was proposed to solve the problem of the calendar by well-known astronomers of that time, including N. Copernicus. The latter managed to overcome the admiration for authorities and the dogma into which geocentrism was erected. Copernicus looked for beauty and harmony in nature as a key to explaining many problems. The result of his long reflections was the work “On the rotations of the celestial spheres”, which saw the light in 1543, that is, in the year of the death of the scientist himself.

The revolutionary idea of Copernicus was that he is at the center of the world places the Sun, around which the planets move, and among them the Earth with its satellite the Moon. At a great distance from the solar system is the sphere of stars. The earth was thus reduced to the rank of an ordinary planet, and the visible movements of planets and stars were explained by the daily rotation of the Earth around its axis and its annual revolution around the Sun . However, like the ancient scientists, the movements of celestial bodies remained uniform and round . To accept heliocentrism, Copernicus was helped by the idea of the relative nature of motion, known even in antiquity and used by the Pythagoreans.

The Copernican system was based on 2 principles: the assumption of the mobility of the Earth and the recognition of the central position of the Sun in the system.

The advantage of the theory of Copernicus in comparison with the theory of K. Ptolemy was logical simplicity, harmony and practical applicability. Copernicus believed that “nature does not tolerate excess” and seeks, perhaps with a smaller number of reasons, to ensure, perhaps, more consequences and events. Thanks to the Copernican system, from October 5, 1582, in Europe, at the initiative of Pope Gregory 13, a new (Gregorian) style of calculating time was introduced, which we still use today.

However, in order to somehow soften the impression of his innovation, Copernicus pointed out that the size of the sphere of stars and its remoteness from the solar system are so colossal that the whole solar system together with the now mobile Earth, can practically be considered as the center of the Universe, as a single point.

Thanks to the Copernican system, movement was seen as natural property of celestial objects, including the Earth. The movement was subject to common laws, a single mechanics. Therefore, Aristotle's idea of the prime mover, which existed for centuries, "collapsed".

Thanks to Copernicus, the “perishable Earth” ceased to be opposed to the divine planets and stars and acquired an equal status with them.

Copernicus one of the first critical mind showed the limitations of our sensory knowledge and proved the need to supplement it.

The work begun by N. Copernicus was continued by the monk of one of the Neapolitan monasteries, the Italian scientist Giordano Bruno (1548 - 1600). On the development of his views big influence was provided by the natural philosophy of Nicholas of Cusa, which denied the possibility for any body to be the center of the Universe, since the Universe is infinite, and infinity has no center. By combining the philosophical and cosmological views of N. Cusa and the clear heliocentric conclusions of N. Copernicus (whose teachings were supported by Bruno), J. Bruno creates his own natural-philosophical picture of the infinite Universe. Bruno's concept is clearly visible in his main works: “ About the reason, the beginning and one”, “On infinity, the universe and the worlds”, etc.

Following N. Kuzansky Bruno denied the existence of any was the center of the universe . He asserted the infinity of the universe in time and space. Bruno wrote about the colossal differences in distances to different stars and concluded that the ratio of their apparent brilliance could be misleading.

The scientist claimed changeability (evolution) of all celestial bodies, assuming that there is a continuous exchange of cosmic matter between them. He extended the idea of variability to the Earth as well. , arguing that the surface of our Earth changes only after large intervals of epochs and centuries, during which the seas turn into continents, and continents into seas.

Interesting and promising was the statement of the scientist about commonality of elements that make up the earth, like all other celestial bodies. Moreover, At the basis of all things lies an unchanging, non-disappearing , primary material substance . Proceeding from this unity, Bruno logically suggested that in an infinitely developing Universe there must exist an infinite number of centers of intelligence, many inhabited worlds.

For expressed seditious ideas, contrary to church dogmas, J. Bruno was sentenced by the Inquisition to be burned at the stake, which was carried out in Rome in 1600.

The Copernican Revolution brought about revolution in mechanics , the founder of which was G. Galileo from Padua (1564 - 1642). Mechanical processes interested Galileo throughout his life. He was the first to build an experimental mathematical motion science – dynamics, the laws of which he deduced as a result of generalization of specially staged scientific experiments. Galileo proposed a new understanding of motion - motion by inertia. Formerly dominated Aristotelian understanding of movement according to which the body moves due to external influence on it, and when the latter stops, the body stops. Galileo suggested the principle of inertia, according to which a body is either at rest or moving, without changing the direction and speed of its movement for an arbitrarily long time, if no external influence is made on it.

Galileo discovered the laws of free fall of bodies: the independence of the time of such a fall from the mass of the body in a vacuum, determined that the path traveled by a falling body is proportional to the square of the fall time (l ~ t2).

Galileo developed the theory of uniformly accelerated motion.

The scientist showed that the trajectory of an abandoned body moving under the influence of the initial push and gravity is a parabola.

Galileo discovered the laws of pendulum oscillation.

G. Galileo's research method is called experimental-theoretical . Its essence lies in quantitative analysis observed particular phenomena and the gradual mental approximation of these phenomena to some ideal conditions in which the laws governing these phenomena could manifest themselves in a pure form.

In addition to the discovery of the laws of motion, Galileo made a number of astronomical discoveries using new methods of observation. G. Galileo independently designed a telescope based on the spotting scope invented in Holland. This telescope gave a direct image and operated on the principle of binoculars. At first, the increase was 3 times, and soon 32 times. Galileo used a telescope to study the sky. Galileo began a new optical era in observational astronomy. What did Galileo discover with his telescope?

In pale clouds milky way a huge cluster of stars was discovered.
The stars are immensely removed from us in comparison with the planets, since the planets in the telescope increased and looked like circles, while the stars remained dots, only increasing in brightness.
Described the real surface of the Moon, which, as it turned out, does not have a smooth “polished” surface, but represents bumps and elevations, like earth's surface covered with huge mountains, deep abysses and cliffs. Galileo first estimated the height of the largest lunar mountain (about 7 km).
Extremely important was the discovery by Galileo in 1612 on the disk of the Sun of small dark formations (spots) that moved across the disk of the Sun. This allowed Galileo to assert that the Sun rotates on its axis. The sun ceased to be a symbol of purity and perfection, because even it had spots (“there are spots on the Sun”).
Galileo discovered in 1610 4 satellites of Jupiter (Io, Europa, Ganymede, Callisto). In total, 15 satellites have been discovered around Jupiter to date. Thus, the Moon ceased to be an exception, and the Earth ceased to be the only planet with a satellite.

With all his discoveries, G. Galileo irrefutably proved the correctness of the heliocentric system of N. Copernicus. Galileo's sympathy for heliocentrism was reflected in the work "Dialogue on the two systems of the world - Ptolemaic and Copernican". The Holy Inquisition did not sleep either. In 1633, Galileo was summoned to Rome and thrown into the dungeons of the Inquisition for several weeks. Under the threat of torture, the 69-year-old scientist was forced to recant his “delusions”. After that, Galileo leaves Italy and travels to the Protestant Netherlands, where he continues to work and republish his works, which were already very popular among scientists at that time.

350 years after the death of G. Galileo, in October 1992, he was rehabilitated by the Catholic Church. The condemnation of Galileo was recognized as erroneous, and the teaching as correct.

The search for the exact laws of planetary motion became the main work of the life of the German astronomer I. Kepler (1571 - 1630). The main works of I. Kepler are “A new astronomy or physics of the sky that seeks reasons” (“Astronomy is new”), “The reduction of Copernican astronomy”, “Harmony world”, “Rudolf Tables”, etc. were connected with the idea of world harmony and with the search for simple numerical relations expressing it.

I. Kepler was a neo-Pythagorean mathematician who believed in the harmony of the world. Nature is created in accordance with mathematical rules and it is the duty of the scientist to understand them. Kepler was convinced that the structure of the world can be determined mathematically, because when creating the world, God was guided by mathematical considerations, that simplicity is a sign of truth, and mathematical beauty is identified with harmony and beauty. Kepler used the fact that there are 5 regular polyhedra, which must somehow correlate with the structure of the universe. “Earth's orbit is the measure of all other orbits. Describe a dodecahedron around it (a regular 12-hedron), then the sphere, which in turn will describe it, will be the sphere of Mars. Describe a tetrahedron (regular 4-hedron) around the sphere of Mars, then the sphere that embraces it will be the sphere of Jupiter. Describe a cube (a regular 6-hedron) around the sphere of Jupiter, the sphere enclosing it will be the sphere of Saturn. Inscribe an icosahedron (regular 20-hedron) into the orbit of the Earth, the sphere inscribed in it will be the sphere of Venus, inscribe an octahedron (regular 8-hedron) into the sphere of Venus, the sphere of Mercury will be inscribed in it. Thus you will understand the reason for the number of planets.”

The idea of a connection between planets and polyhedra soon proved to be untenable, but it revealed a future research agenda.

Neither K. Ptolemy, nor N. Copernicus, nor T. Brahe could explain the "irregular" movement of Mars. I. Kepler undertook this task and solved it. The scientist came to the conclusion that the theoretical calculations of the motion of the planets coincide with observations, if we assume the motion of the planets in elliptical orbits with varying speed. “Introducing the elliptical hypothesis instead of the centuries-old dogma about the circular nature and uniformity of planetary movements, Kepler carried out a profound revolution within the Copernican revolution itself” (A. Pasquinelli).

The search for world harmony led Kepler to create three laws of planetary motion. The first two laws were discovered in 1605.

Kepler's first law. Each planet moves in an ellipse with the Sun at one of its foci. Thus, the principle of circular motions in space was destroyed.

Kepler's second law. Each planet moves in a plane passing through the center of the Sun, and the line connecting the Sun with the planet for equal periods of time describes equal areas. Thus, the nature of the change in speed during the movement of the planet in orbit was shown (the speed of the planet is the greater, the closer it is to the Sun at a given moment). In connection with this law, the principle of uniformity of celestial movements collapsed.

P1P2 is the distance the planet travels in time t1.

P3P4 is the distance the planet travels in time t2.

SP1P2 and SP3P4 - describe sectors of equal areas for equal periods of time.

Ten years later, in 1615, Kepler deduces the third law of planetary motion.

Kepler's third law . The squares of the orbital periods of the planets around the Sun are related as the cubes of the semi-major axes of their orbits. (The squares of the periods of revolution of the planets around the Sun are related as the cubes of the distance of each of them from the Sun).

Thus, a universal relationship was established between the periods of revolution of the planets and their average distance from the Sun. As the distance from the Sun decreases, the speed of the planets decreases.

Based on these laws, Kepler developed the concept of the mechanism of action of the force that moves the planets, as about the vortex , arising in the ethereal medium, from the rotation magnetic field Sun and entraining surrounding bodies.

Kepler also developed theory of solar and lunar eclipses and methods for their prediction.

The scientist made the so-called Rudolf tables , with which it was possible to determine the position of the planets at any time with high accuracy.

The problem of the structure of the planetary world, thanks to Kepler, moved from the area of mythological and hypothetical constructions to the area of scientific knowledge and became the subject of exact sciences. Kepler's celestial mechanics was a consequence of the Copernican theory and, at the same time, it paved the way for the formation of a mechanistic picture of the world.

Questions for self-control

What science existed in antiquity?
Who gave the first classification of sciences?
What are the main historical stages of its development that science has passed?
What is classical science and when does it begin to take shape?
What is a scientific revolution and how many have there been in the history of science?
What is non-classical science?

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It is limited, and the Earth is motionless at its center. Sometimes in history there was a variant in which the Earth is located in the center of the world, but rotates around its axis in one day. The geocentric system of the world can be considered in any reference system, including the heliocentric one, in which the Sun is chosen as the origin of coordinates.

Ancient Greek scientists, however, substantiated the central position and immobility of the Earth in different ways. Anaximander, as already indicated, pointed out the spherical symmetry of the Cosmos as the reason. He was not supported by Aristotle, putting forward a counterargument later attributed to Buridan: in this case, the person in the center of the room in which there is food near the walls must die of hunger (see Buridan's donkey). Aristotle himself substantiated geocentrism as follows: the Earth is a heavy body, and the center of the Universe is a natural place for heavy bodies; as experience shows, all heavy bodies fall vertically, and since they move towards the center of the world, the Earth is in the center. In addition, the orbital motion of the Earth (which the Pythagorean Philolaus assumed) was rejected by Aristotle on the grounds that it should lead to a parallactic displacement of the stars, which is not observed.

Further, if the Earth were located north or south of the center, the shadows at sunrise would extend in a north or south direction, respectively. Moreover, at dawn on the equinoxes, the shadows are directed exactly in the direction of the sunset on those days, and at sunrise on the summer solstice, the shadows point to the point of sunset on the winter solstice. It also indicates that the Earth is not offset north or south of center. If the Earth were higher than the center, then less than half of the sky could be observed, including less than six signs of the zodiac; as a consequence, the night would always be longer than the day. Similarly, it is proved that the Earth cannot be located below the center of the world. Thus, it can only be in the center. Approximately the same arguments in favor of the centrality of the Earth are given by Ptolemy in Almagest, book I. Of course, the arguments of Cleomedes and Ptolemy only prove that the Universe is much larger than the Earth, and therefore are also untenable.

Distribution and development of the geocentric system in the Middle Ages and the Renaissance

The most scientifically developed country at the beginning of the Middle Ages was Byzantium, which until the 7th century included Alexandria, the center of Hellenistic science, including astronomy. From the VI century in Byzantium received a wide [ ] the distribution of the book of the merchant Cosmas Indikopleustus "Christian Topography", in which (following the tradition of Antiochian theology) the geocentric system of the world was rejected and the theory of a spherical Earth was ridiculed. However, starting from the 8th century, the popularity of Cosmas' anti-scientific views began to decline. The foundations of the geocentric system are reflected in a number of works of an encyclopedic nature: "Accurate Exposition of the Orthodox Faith" by John of Damascus (VIII century), "Myriobiblion" by Patriarch Photius (IX century), "On All Science (De Omnifaria Doctrina)" by Michael Psellos (XI c.), "On Nature" by Simeon Seth (XI century) and some others. Through Byzantium, the main ideas of ancient cosmology penetrated into other Orthodox countries, including Russia. Subsequently, more professional writings on cosmological topics were written in Byzantium. Such, for example, is the treatise of Theodore Metochites “General Introduction to the Science of Astronomy” (first half of the 14th century), which was a summary of the foundations of geocentric cosmology, according to Book I of the Ptolemaic Almagest.

However, Byzantine scientists never reached the same level of mastery of the mathematical apparatus of the theory of epicycles as the astronomers of India and Islamic countries. Unlike Western scholastics, Byzantine philosophers did not consider new cosmological hypotheses that went beyond Aristotle's natural philosophy.

Back in the 8th - early 9th centuries, the main works of Aristotle and Ptolemy were translated into Arabic, containing the physical foundations and mathematical apparatus of the geocentric system of the world. Starting with Al-Battani, the Ptolemaic theory of epicycles, combined with the theory of nested spheres, with which the distances to the planets were calculated, became the basis of mathematical astronomy in the countries of Islam. A detailed presentation of the mathematical apparatus of Ptolemy's theory is contained in the works Canon of Mas'ud al-Biruni (X-XI centuries) and Astronomical memoir Nasir ad-Dina at-Tusi (XIII century).

Following the Greeks, astronomers of the East believed that the distance to the planet is determined by the sidereal period of its movement: the farther from the Earth the planet, the longer the sidereal period. According to the theory of nested spheres, the maximum distance from the Earth to each of the planets is equal to the minimum distance to the next farthest planet. The problem of this scheme was associated with the Sun, Mercury and Venus, since these luminaries had the same periods of movement in the zodiac, equal to one year. Astronomer Jabir ibn Aflah (Andalusia, XII century) challenged the opinion of Ptolemy, according to which Mercury and Venus are located between the Moon and the Sun. Jabir ibn Aflah believed that the non-observability of the horizontal parallaxes of Mercury and Venus suggests that they are located farther than the Sun [ ] .

In the XII - early XIII centuries, Arab philosophers and mathematicians of Andalusia came to the conclusion that the theory of epicycles contradicted the basic principles of Aristotle's natural philosophy. These scientists were convinced that the theory of epicycles, despite all its advantages from a mathematical point of view, does not correspond to reality, since the existence of epicycles and eccentric deferents contradicts Aristotle's physics, according to which the only center of rotation of celestial bodies can only be the center of the world, coinciding with the center of the Earth . The founder of this movement (sometimes called the "Andalusian rebellion") was Muhammad ibn Baja, known in Europe as Avempats (d. 1138), the work was continued by his student Muhammad ibn Tufayl (c. 1110-1185) and the students of the last Hyp ad-Din al- Bitrugi (d. c. 1185 or 1192) and Averroes. The culmination of the "Andalusian revolt" was the creation of a new version of the theory of homocentric spheres by al-Bitruji. However, al-Bitruji's theory was completely at odds with observations and could not become the basis of astronomy.

In order to overcome this difficulty, the astronomers of the countries of Islam developed a number of models of the motion of the planets, which remained within the framework of geocentrism, but were alternative to the Ptolemaic one. The first of them were developed in the second half of the 13th century by astronomers of the famous Maraga observatory, due to which all the activities to create non-Ptolemaic planetary theories are sometimes called the "Maraga revolution". These astronomers included Nasir al-Din al-Tusi, Qutb al-Din ash-Shirazi, Mu'ayyad al-Din al-Urdi, and others. This activity was continued by oriental astronomers of a later time: Muhammad ibn ash-Shatir (Syria, XIV century), Jamshid Giyas ad-Din al-Kashi Ala ad-Din Ali ibn Muhammad al-Kushchi (Samarkand, XV century), Muhammad al -Khafri (Iran, XVI century) and others.

According to these theories, the motion around the point corresponding to the Ptolemaic equant appeared to be uniform, but instead of uneven motion in one circle (as was the case with Ptolemy), the average planet moved in a combination of uniform motions in several circles. Since each of these movements was uniform, it was modeled by the rotation of solid spheres, which eliminated the contradiction between the mathematical theory of planets and its physical foundation. On the other hand, these theories retained the accuracy of Ptolemy's theory, since when viewed from the equant, the movement still looked uniform, and the resulting spatial trajectory of the average planet practically did not differ from a circle.

Since the end of the first millennium AD. e. the geocentric system of the world (through scientists from Islamic countries) becomes known to Jews and, despite the opposition of supporters of traditional Talmudic ideas about a flat Earth, is gradually gaining ground among Jewish scientists. A detailed exposition and propaganda of Aristotle's cosmological views is contained in The Guide of the Perplexed by Moses Maimonides. Maimonides also took part in the "Andalusian rebellion" of Arab scientists against the theory of Ptolemy. Maimonides denied physical existence to the epicycles, preferring another modification of the geocentric system, in which the celestial bodies move in circles around the Earth along with the solid spheres that carry them, but the center of these spheres is displaced relative to the Earth. Ultimately, however, Maimonides found this theory just as unsatisfactory, since eccentrics are no less contrary to Aristotelian physics than epicycles. He also found the theory of homocentric spheres unacceptable, since it was unable to explain the irregularity of the motion of the planets. Maimonides did not exclude at all that human understanding is not enough to comprehend the structure of the Universe.

The outstanding astronomer of the Middle Ages was Levi ben Gershom, or Gersonides, who lived at the end of the 13th - the first half of the 14th century in Provence. While remaining a supporter of geocentrism, Gersonides rejected both Al-Bitruja's theory of homocentric spheres, and Ptolemy's theory of epicycles. At the same time, he was guided not only by astronomical, but also by natural-philosophical arguments. In his opinion, the theory of planetary motion must be built on the basis of the eccentric model.

The part of the cosmos closest to the Earth, according to Gersonides. In the center - the Earth, then a layer of meteors, then the Moon, then Mercury. Between the spheres of the planets is space fluid

In Gersonides' theory, the celestial spheres are eccentric. This meant that they could not fit snugly against each other. According to Gersonides, they are separated by layers of liquid, which was the remains primary matter from which God created the world. The velocity of the flow of cosmic fluid varies in space in such a way that between two spheres belonging to different planets, there was a layer where the flow velocity is equal to zero. Based on the law he introduced for changing the speed of the flow of cosmic fluid with distance, Gersonides developed a method for calculating cosmic distances. According to his estimate, the sphere of fixed stars is 157 trillion Earth radii away from us, which is about 100 thousand light years. This was the largest estimate of the size of the world given in the Middle Ages.

Gersonides rejected Aristotle's ideas about the natural places of heavy and light bodies, which served in the Middle Ages as a physical justification for geocentrism. The natural place of an element, in the terminology of Gersonides, is just a place located below all the lighter elements surrounding it, and above all the heavier ones. The earth is at the center of the world, not because it is its natural place there, but simply because it is heavier than all the bodies around it. In general, any body moves up if it is surrounded by heavier bodies, and down if it is surrounded by lighter bodies.

Depiction of the system of nested spheres from Purbach's book New planetary hypotheses

The main sources of cosmological knowledge in early medieval Europe were the works of ancient Roman popularizers - Pliny, Marcian Capella, Macrobius, Chalcidia. Summary geocentric system can be found in encyclopedic writings

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