I found Ptolemy’s argument in Saving the Appearances to be very interesting and invigorating because I have never studied or followed cosmology before. If one ponders the thought of how much knowledge individuals actually had about space, the universe, and how it works; one would come to the conclusion that Ptolemy was a very intelligent man who had a rare grasp on how the universe works. I say this because of the extensiveness and the amount of technology that is available today compared to barely any technology back then. This Greek philosopher, Ptolemy, misplaced the sun and earth and some planets on his educated sketch; however, the broad picture of it was correct.
Another reasoning why I find Ptolemy and his arguments to be so interesting is because he came about them from pure self gained knowledge, studying the universe on his own, with the few tools they obtained during that time period. There are many assumptions that he made that we still believe to be true today. Some of these assumptions are that the earth is a sphere and a whole, the earth does not participate in any motion, and that the heaven is in a spherical form and rotates around the earth. From discussing these arguments in class, we came to a consensus that Ptolemy’s thoughts, assumptions, and arguments were neither illogical nor irrational given the early time period and the technology available.
Many others built on or also studied the idea of the earth, sun, and other planets being perfect spheres, as Ptolemy was discussing. In Europe, by Norman Davies, Galileo states that, “Having discovered that ‘the moon is not smooth or uniform, but rough and full of cavities, like the earth’, he exploded the prevailing theory of ‘perfect spheres’ ”. Galileo expanded and kept with the idea of perfect spheres, and this concept was correct from its original thought and is known to be correct today. I included this in order to portray that it was not only Ptolemy who thought and believed these ideas to be true. I was curious to get a little more history on Ptolemy; therefore I searched the web and found a little write up on him in Science World. (http://scienceworld.wolfram.com/biography/Ptolemy.html)
I also found a three dimensional video displaying the Ptolemaic Planetary Model. I feel that this gives a visual on top of a verbal explanation, in order for better comprehension of what Ptolemy actually studied, and what Copernicus and Galileo also slightly get into concerning their interests. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wGjlT3XHb9A&feature=related
Today’s scientists have discovered many new and innovative facts and experiments from our universe, the sun, the moon, and our planets. We have been to the moon, and are currently trying to get into space for a longer period of time to study planets extensively. NASA wants to theorize and study the possibility of how the human being would, or could survive in space. http://www.cnn.com/2008/TECH/space/09/29/nasa.analysis.ap/index.html#cnnSTCText I find this statement made by a NASA representative to be very stimulating and tonic not only because it is a unique subject but also because it just displays how much we have advanced from the time of Ptolemy to the time we are in now and the abilities and resources we now have. I hope to hear more about this study in the future and am anticipating other future discoveries concerning the study of space and cosmology.
Works Cited:
Davies, Norman. “Renaissances and Reformations.” Europe. New York: Oxford University Press, 1996.508.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wGjlT3XHb9A&feature=related
Ptolemy. "Saving the Appearances" as it appears in Brian Baigrie's Scientific Revolutions: Primary Texts in the History of Science. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Prentice Hall, 2004.
Washington. “NASA at 50: Lost In Space?” October 1, 2008. cnn.com. 2 October, 2008. http://www.cnn.com/2008/TECH/space/09/29/nasa.analysis.ap/index.html#cnnSTCText
also visit Course Readings for in class text books.
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