Hundreds of thousands of years have passed since the first people appeared on Earth. In the earth layers that were formed 150,000 years ago, stone tools were found, processed by the hand of primitive man.
The life of ancient people was harsh. Lightning and thunder, earthquakes and volcanic eruptions - all these terrible natural phenomena inspired superstitious fear in primitive man.
Not knowing how to correctly explain the phenomena of nature, man already then, at the dawn of his history, began to worship the Sun as a deity that gives him warmth, light and food. People who lived about 50,000 years before our era buried the dead with their heads to the west, facing the rising sun.
People have seen the Sun rise above the horizon, reach its highest position, and then descend, hiding behind the horizon in the opposite part of the sky. After sunset, the sky gradually darkens and stars appear on it. In a combination of stars, the outlines of fantastic creatures were presented to the imagination of an ancient person.
A luminous foggy belt stretches across the dark sky - the Milky Way. In some places it is wider and brighter, in others narrower and paler. The position of the Milky Way among the stars is unchanged. It seems that the stars do not change their position in relation to each other. But if you follow the position of the stars relative to earthly objects, then after a short time you can notice the movement of the starry sky. The firmament seems to be slowly revolving.
With special attention, ancient people watched the moon. They noticed that after a short period of moonless nights, the moon appears in the sky. It appears in the form of a narrow luminous crescent and quickly sets. The sickle grows larger every day; every day the moon sets later. After a certain time, the moon becomes round; There is a full moon, during which the moon is visible all night. After the full moon, the moon gradually turns into a crescent and soon completely disappears. The period of moonless nights begins again.
Involuntarily, a person thought: why is all this happening? What are the sun, moon, stars? What is the earth itself? And people tried to explain the celestial phenomena they observed.
The sun and other celestial bodies, according to the ideas of the ancient peoples, moved across the sky, and after sunset they swam around the Earth and continued to move along their celestial paths at sunrise.
Naive and incorrect were the first ideas of people about the shape of our Earth.
The ancient Egyptians considered the Earth to be flat, bounded on all sides by mountains, on which the firm firmament supposedly rests. The Babylonians represented the Earth as convex, surrounded on all sides by water. A firm firmament with stars attached to it separated the water above it from the water surrounding the Earth.
Looking at the night sky, people have long noticed several bright star-shaped luminaries. They differ from ordinary stars in that they do not occupy an unchanged position among them, but move across the sky from constellation to constellation. Moving against the background of stars, the luminaries describe loops in the sky (Fig. 1). Sometimes they hide in the rays of the Sun, and then reappear. The ancient Greeks called these stars "wandering stars" or planets (from the Greek word "planao" - wander). Five such planets were known.
Rice. 1. The path of Mars among the stars in 1952. Roman numerals mark the positions of Mars in different months.
The peoples of antiquity gave the planets various names. However, the names of the Greco-Roman gods were established behind them: Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter and Saturn.
Two planets - Mercury and Venus - can only be seen in the morning or in the evening near the Sun. Therefore, the radiant bluish Venus was called the "evening" or "morning" star. The proximity of Mercury to the Sun makes it especially difficult to observe it: it quickly disappears in the sun's rays. Three other planets - reddish Mars, yellowish Jupiter and Saturn - can be seen at night far from the Sun.
The movements of the planets across the sky could not be explained at that time.
Ancient people believed that any unusual celestial phenomenon portends misfortune on earth: wars, floods, the death of rulers. Such ideas gave rise to pseudoscience - astrology, which was engaged in "predictions" of the future of people according to the position of the planets in the sky.
Great fear among people was caused by "unusual" celestial phenomena - solar and lunar eclipses, the appearance of comets, "shooting stars" - meteors.
For example, on a clear, fine day, the sunlight suddenly begins to gradually weaken. The sun is more and more covered by some kind of black circle, until it is completely covered by it. Darkness sets in and stars appear in the sky. Around the eclipsed Sun, a radiant glow blazes. After some time, the edge of the Sun is shown again, the black circle gradually slips away, and the Sun shines as before.
Observations of heavenly bodies intensified when man turned to cattle breeding and agriculture. People have noticed that some celestial phenomena are repeated after a certain period. The beginning of agricultural work began to be associated with these phenomena. Constant observations of the movements of celestial bodies began. In China, for example, such observations were made as early as one and a half thousand years before our era. Servants of temples - priests - were usually engaged in observations of celestial phenomena, since the sky was considered the dwelling place of the gods.
In every Egyptian and Babylonian temple, celestial bodies were observed with the help of astronomical instruments. It is known, for example, that in the temple of the Egyptian sun god Ra, priests regularly noted the movement of the sun and planets in special tables. The priests learned how to make calendars, determine the beginning of the seasons, predict the time of solar and lunar eclipses.
Fearing to lose power over people and shake faith in religion, the priests kept astronomical knowledge in secret, supporting the superstitions of the people. They said that the heavenly bodies are powerful deities who created the world and have power over man.
Constant observations of the sky, the compilation of the first astronomical tables, the desire to explain celestial phenomena were the first steps of man on the path to knowledge of the universe.
How did the ancient Greeks explain the structure of the universe?
The population of ancient China, Egypt and Babylonia was mainly engaged in agriculture, therefore, observations of celestial bodies were carried out mainly in order to establish the beginning of the seasons, river flooding, sowing, and harvesting. The correct calendar close to ours, that is, the rules of reckoning and determining the seasons, was introduced for the first time in China as a result of careful observations of celestial phenomena.
During large caravan and sea crossings, people learned to determine the direction along the way by the stars. Such definitions were especially widely carried out in ancient Greece, located on the Balkan Peninsula. The natural conditions of this seaside country - many islands and bays, poor land roads - made its inhabitants good sailors. For trade with Egypt, as well as to capture rich colonies, the Greeks traveled through the Mediterranean, Marmara, Aegean and Black Seas. Long-distance sea voyages required sailors to be able to accurately determine their position on the sea by the stars and the sun. Therefore, astronomical knowledge ceased to be the property of the priests alone.
Greek thinkers for the first time made correct guesses about the infinity of the universe, about the movement of the Earth, that there are many worlds in the universe similar to the Earth, etc.
The ancient Greek philosopher Aristarchus of Samos (IV-III century BC), 18 centuries before Copernicus, suggested that the Earth moves around the Sun and around its axis. He also argued that the distance of the stars from the Earth is much greater than the diameter of the circle along which the Earth revolves around the Sun.
The statements of Aristarchus so struck contemporaries that they were considered absurd. Aristarchus was ridiculed, accused of godlessness and expelled from his native country.
The famous philosopher of ancient Greece Democritus (460-370 BC) correctly believed that the stars are distant suns, and the Milky Way is a cluster of a great many stars.
Ancient Greek scientists expressed the most important idea for the development of astronomy that the Earth is a ball freely hanging in space.
The Greek scientist Aristotle (384-322 B.C.) provided conclusive evidence for the sphericity of the Earth. One of these proofs was the well-known fact that a ship going to sea, as it moves away from the coast, seems to sink under the horizon: first the ship's hull is hidden, and then its masts.
Greek astronomers also saw proof of the sphericity of the Earth in lunar eclipses. They, like the astronomers of ancient China and Babylonia, believed that lunar eclipses occur when the Moon falls into the shadow of the Earth. The edges of this shadow always have round outlines. But only a ball can give such a shadow; This means that the Earth is a spherical body.
Considering that the Earth is a ball, the Greek scientist Eratosthenes (276–196 BC) determined the length of its circumference and diameter. How did he do it? Knowing that at all points on the same meridian noon occurs at the same time, Eratosthenes chose two cities - Alexandria, where he lived, and Syene, located approximately on the same meridian with Alexandria. In Siena on June 22, on the day of the summer solstice, the Sun at noon is directly overhead - at its zenith. In Alexandria, at this time, it is some angle away from the zenith. With the help of the device he invented, Eratosthenes measured this angle. It turned out to be equal to 7 1/5 degrees, i.e. 1/50 of a circle (360 degrees in a circle). Thus, the distance between Syene and Alexandria was 1/50 of the entire earth meridian. Knowing the distance between Syene and Alexandria and multiplying it by 50, Eratosthenes calculated the length of the entire circumference of the globe. He got results very close to the truth.
However, along with these correct conclusions, the incorrect geocentric system of the universe (geo - in Greek, Earth) became widespread in ancient Greece. The earth was considered immovable and located in the center of the world. All the celestial bodies circulate around it in spheres, balls or circles at a uniform speed.
Greek scientists considered "perfect" any uniform circular motion. Since everything in the sky was “perfect” for them, they believed that the heavenly bodies move uniformly in a circle. However, observations showed that the Sun and Moon move unevenly, and the planets even describe complex loops. To explain the complex apparent paths of the celestial bodies, mathematician Eudoxus of Cnidus (circa 408-355 BC) believed that the Sun was attached to a uniformly rotating sphere. In turn, this sphere is fastened to the second one, which also rotates uniformly, but with some other speed; the second sphere is connected with the third. The sun, according to the scheme of Eudoxus, made three uniform circular motions. To explain the movements of the planets, Eudoxus introduced 4 spheres connected with each other, etc. Eudoxus' model of the world contained 26 spheres, not counting the sphere of "fixed" stars.
Developing the views of Eudoxus, Aristotle taught that the Earth is surrounded by a series of spheres inserted one into the other. In order to achieve full correspondence between the model of the world of Eudoxus and the visible movements of the luminaries, Aristotle increased the number of spheres to 56. The fixed stars had one sphere, and the Sun, Moon and planets had systems of spheres. Behind the sphere of "fixed" stars, Aristotle placed the "first mover", which allegedly set all spheres in motion.
Spheres consisted, according to Aristotle, of a transparent solid substance.
This philosopher believed that the heavenly is eternal and perfect, while the earthly is perishable and imperfect.
In the future, the geocentric system of Eudoxus - Aristotle was improved by other scientists of ancient Greece. The spheres have been replaced with circles. This system was most fully developed by the astronomer Ptolemy, who lived in the 2nd century AD. e. Ptolemy built new, very complex schemes for the movement of the planets and compiled tables by which it was possible to determine the position of the planets in the sky for any moment in time.
The geocentric system of the world was fundamentally wrong, but it allowed the positions of the sun, magnifier, and planets to be calculated, which was necessary for navigation. It did not contradict religious teachings. Therefore, in the future, this system not only became widespread in many countries, but also found a zealous defender - the Christian religion.
What did they think about the sky in the first centuries of our era
The Christian religion originated in Europe at the beginning of the 1st century AD. By this time, the slave-owning Roman Empire, which had conquered Greece, Egypt and many other countries, was in deep decline. The devastation caused by incessant wars, the impoverishment of the working masses, numerous uprisings of slaves, and finally, their disinterest in working for the exploiters, led the country's economy to complete ruin.
Agriculture, crafts, trade were in deep decline. The position of the working masses was extremely difficult. That is why the Christian religion, which promised the coming of a liberator of the people from suffering and want, found wide circulation among the oppressed.
The exploiting classes of the Roman Empire, fearing the unification of the slaves, first led the fight against Christianity. However, very soon they declared Christianity the dominant religion. After all, Christianity called for patience and humility in the face of need and suffering, promising joy and happiness only after death.
The ministers of the Christian church waged a fierce struggle against the pagan religions of the ancient world. In this struggle, all the achievements of ancient Greek culture and science were destroyed.
Christian fanatics destroyed temples and statues - wonderful works of architects and sculptors of ancient Greece. They burned part of the famous library in Alexandria, where about a million manuscripts of ancient Greek scholars were collected. Half of the manuscripts perished in the fire.
“After Christ, we do not need science,” preached the “fathers” of the Christian church. The earthly life of a person, they said, is only a transition to the afterlife, to eternal bliss for the righteous and terrible torment for sinners. Earthly existence should be devoted to fasting and prayer.
The doctrine of the structure of the world ceased to develop. The Babylonian and Egyptian legends about the creation of the world, which were included in the "sacred" book of the Jews and Christians - the Bible, received wide recognition.
Only those works were recognized that fully corresponded to the "sacred" scripture. Such a pseudo-scientific work was the book of the monk Cosmas Indichopleustus "Christian topography of the universe, based on the testimony of the Holy Scriptures, which Christians are not allowed to doubt." This book, written in 535, said: “All the luminaries were created in order to control days and nights, months and years, and they move not due to the movement of the sky, but under the influence of divine forces and the light-bearer. God created angels to serve him: one commanded to move the air, another - the Sun, the third - the Moon, the fourth - the stars; He commanded some to gather up clouds and make it rain.
The universe, according to the description of Cosmas Indikopleust, is something like a huge oblong box: the bottom of the box is the Earth, and the lid is the sky. The motionless sky consists of the firmament, along it the angels move the heavenly bodies - the Sun, the Magnifier and the planets. Above the sky is the "kingdom of heaven" - God's dwelling. The heavenly bodies revolve around a large mountain, sometimes hiding behind it, sometimes reappearing.
The work of Cosmas Indikopleustus was in full accordance with the "sacred" scripture. It defended the idea of the divine origin of the world. Therefore, the "fathers" of the church used this book for several centuries to combat views that are contrary to religion.
Christianity, which spread widely in Europe, slowed down the development of the science of the structure and development of the universe for a long time, and fixed an incorrect, religious idea of the world for many centuries.
Astronomy among the Arabs and in Central Asia
In the 7th century, most of the Mediterranean coast was conquered by the Arabs, who brought their Mohammedan religion to the conquered regions. Alexandria was captured in 691. The leader of the Arabs Omar ordered to burn all the manuscripts of the Library of Alexandria. At the same time, according to legend, he exclaimed: “If these books contain what is written in the Koran, then they are superfluous; if they contradict the Qur'an, then they are harmful. Therefore, in both cases, they should be burned.
Many peoples conquered by the Arabs were carriers of a higher culture than their conquerors. This culture influenced the Arabs. They relatively quickly began to assimilate the achievements of ancient science. Arab scientists were especially interested in the works of ancient Greek astronomers.
Long-distance military campaigns, trade associated with crossing vast expanses on land and sea required the ability to navigate the heavenly bodies well. This greatly contributed to the development of astronomy, which became among the Arabs one of the most common sciences.
The capital of the Arabs, Baghdad, has become a center of scientific activity. Many scientists from conquered countries worked here; they had to write their compositions in Arabic.
In the VIII-IX centuries, the works of Archimedes, Aristotle, Ptolemy and other scientists of ancient Greece were translated into Arabic. At the end of the 9th century, Ptolemy's great work was translated, consisting of 13 volumes, which outlined all the most important achievements of ancient Greek astronomers. This work went down in history under the Arabic name "Almagest".
Astronomical observatories were built in many cities to observe the heavenly bodies. Arab astronomers refined the data of Greek scientists on the motion of the Sun, Moon and planets, more accurately determined the size of the globe, etc.
However, the flourishing of Arabic science did not last long. In the 11th century, the teaching of “Suffism” spread among the Arabs, completely denying science. The development of astronomy stopped. Philosophers and scientists were persecuted, scientific books were burned. This led to the fact that Arab science did not receive independent significance in the future. But through it, the European peoples were able to get acquainted with the achievements of ancient scientists.
In the 10th-15th centuries, astronomy became widespread in the countries of Central Asia. The activities of the great scientists of the Tajik and Uzbek peoples - Biruni Abu-Raykhan (972–1048) and Ulugbek (1394–1449) proceeded here. The scientist Nasir-Eddin (1201-1274) worked in Azerbaijan.
Biruni was one of the greatest scientists of the Middle Ages. He studied astronomy, mathematics, geography, mineralogy, history, philosophy. But his favorite science was astronomy. The method developed by Biruni for determining the size of the Earth, the original methods for determining geographic longitudes and latitudes, were a major contribution to the development of astronomy and geography of the medieval East. The scientist expressed many interesting thoughts about the movement of the Earth around the Sun, about the color of the earth's shadow observed during a lunar eclipse, about dawn and dusk, etc.
Biruni created a number of new astronomical instruments and visual aids. For several centuries, his works were used in the East as the main textbook on astronomy and geography.
Biruni waged an uncompromising struggle against superstitions. The scientist opposed the method of scientific study to religious explanations of natural phenomena.
No less remarkable astronomer was the Azerbaijani scientist Nasir-Eddin. In the vicinity of the city of Marage, he built an extensive observatory with instruments of great precision. The scientist did a great job: together with his students, he translated into the Azerbaijani language all the main astronomical and mathematical works of ancient Greek scientists. On the basis of observations of celestial bodies, he compiled new planetary tables, called "Ilkhan". These tables were used by the astronomers of the East for a long time.
The name of the outstanding Uzbek astronomer Ulugbek rightfully entered the history of world science. He compiled more accurate star tables, in which he determined the position of 1018 fixed stars. Ulugbek's observations were so accurate that later some scientists had doubts about the authenticity of the tables and the very existence of Ulugbek. But archaeologists discovered the remains of a grandiose astronomical observatory near Samarkand. The existence of the famous Ulugbek observatory in Samarkand in the first half of the 15th century was proved.
All over the world there were no astronomical instruments that could compete in size with the grandiose instruments of the Ulugbek observatory.
The work of Arab and Central Asian astronomers prepared further advances in the knowledge of the universe.
Astronomy in Europe in the Middle Ages
Years passed, and life made new, ever broader demands on the study of the universe. Man could no longer be satisfied with the picture of the structure of the world that religion taught. World trade grew, connected with huge land and sea crossings. However, in European countries during the 9th-10th centuries, a complete stagnation of thought reigned. Only a few monks, the most educated people of that time, were familiar with the works of Arab, and through them, ancient Greek scientists.
Western Europe received a more complete picture of the works of Aristotle and Ptolemy in the 11th century. This was facilitated by the so-called crusades of Western European knights, who rushed to the East to rob rich Arab cities under the pretext of liberating the “Holy Sepulcher”, which was allegedly located in Palestine. The culture of the Arab states of the Iberian Peninsula also had a great influence on the European peoples.
In the 12th and 13th centuries, astronomical works of the greatest Greek scientists translated into Latin appeared in Europe. Fearing that the ideas expressed by the ancient Greeks about the structure and development of the world would weaken faith, the Church, especially the Catholic Church, continued to fight fiercely against ancient Greek science. Those who ventured to study the books of Greek scholars were accused of heresy and expelled. Meanwhile, important events were brewing in Europe. In the depths of feudal society, capitalism was born, which demanded new markets and new sources of enrichment. A gradual division of labor took place between the city and the countryside, and trade exchanges both within the state and between different states of the Middle Ages intensified.
Italy ranks first among European countries. The favorable geographical position of the Italian states, a large merchant fleet allowed them to trade with the Arab states. The trading cities of Italy - Venice, Genoa, Florence and others - quickly grew and became rich. Italian merchants penetrated into distant eastern countries and established trade relations there. Therefore, interest in astronomy is growing: observations of celestial bodies are being made, astronomical instruments and sea charts are being created. Through the Arabs, Italian travelers also get acquainted with the worldview of the ancient Greeks.
Long-distance sea voyages, observations of the starry sky at various latitudes convinced the Italians of the validity of the Greek teachings about the sphericity of the Earth. Interest in the works of Greek scientists was growing.
Under these conditions, the Christian Church could no longer fight the Greek worldview in the old way.
A way out was found: the "fathers" of the church skillfully adapted the teachings of Aristotle to the "sacred" scripture, emasculating everything alive and valuable from it. Particularly zealously over the "processing" of the teachings of Aristotle "worked" one of the leaders of the Catholic Church, the monk Thomas Aquinas.
In the 13th and 14th centuries, a whole trend arose in science that tried to reconcile knowledge with Christian faith. Subsequently, this trend was called scholasticism (in Greek "schola" - school). Scholastics, studying the works of ancient Greek thinkers, tried to reconcile their teachings with the Christian religion. The picture of the world of Aristotle in the “processing” of the scholastics looked like this: the Earth is a ball and is located in the center of the universe, inside it is hell for sinners. Spheres set in motion by angels revolve around the Earth. The luminaries are attached to these spheres-heavens. Behind the sphere of planets is the sphere of fixed stars - the firmament, behind which, in turn, is the "prime mover". Even further away is the "dwelling of blissful souls" - the empyrean. This "kingdom of heaven" is the home of God and his servants.
Rice. 2. This is how the structure of the universe was represented in the Middle Ages.
At the insistence of the church and the scholastics, observations of nature were replaced by the study of the writings of Aristotle. Such a case is typical: one monk, having seen sunspots through a telescope, decided to show them to his spiritual leader. However, he refused to look, saying: “In vain, my son; I have read Aristotle's writings from beginning to end many times and I can assure you that I have not found anything like it anywhere. Go and calm down. Be sure that what you take for spots on the Sun is only a lack of your glasses, or your eyes.
So, in isolation from life, from nature, the study of the surrounding world went on in the Middle Ages. However, life made its demands on astronomy. The need to streamline the calendar, navigation over long distances required a revision of the Arabic tables of the movements of the heavenly bodies, their clarification.
The tables were updated on the basis of the latest astronomical observations. The "Alfonso Tables" of the movements of the heavenly bodies, compiled in 1252 by order of the Castilian king Alphonse, and especially the tables of the astronomers Regiomontanus and Purbach, were widely used. These tables gave navigators the opportunity to navigate well on the high seas, which led in the 15th century to the great geographical discoveries of Vasco da Gama, Columbus, Magellan.
The achievements of science in the 12th-14th centuries, and especially the practical knowledge acquired during this period, prepared the rapid development of science in the 15th-16th centuries, associated with the birth of capitalism.
The unbridled pursuit of profit led to the rapid development of navigation. It was unthinkable without new methods for studying the movements of heavenly bodies. The old, outdated theories about the structure of the universe, which the Christian religion still firmly held on to, could no longer satisfy the practical needs of the new society.
A powerful revolution in worldview was brewing. This revolution was being prepared by life itself.
The developing new mode of social production associated with the emergence of the bourgeoisie opened up broad opportunities for the development of astronomy. Engels, characterizing the state of science in this period, writes:
“... along with the flourishing of the bourgeoisie, a gigantic growth of science followed step by step. Renewed interest in astronomy, mechanics, physics, anatomy, physiology. For the development of its industry, the bourgeoisie needed a science that would investigate the properties of physical bodies and the forms of manifestation of the forces of nature. Until that time, science was the humble servant of the church and was not allowed to go beyond the limits set by faith: in short, it was anything but science. Now science has revolted against the church; the bourgeoisie needed science and took part in this uprising.”
The invention of printing made it possible to get acquainted with the works of scientists. The circle of people involved in the sciences, in particular astronomy, expanded more and more.
The astronomical tables used to determine the position at sea are outdated. It was impossible to use them without amendments. It has become very difficult to explain the movements of heavenly bodies using the Ptolemy system. There was an urgent need to revise this system.
Creation of a new, scientific system of the world
The results of increasingly accurate observations of the movements of the celestial bodies, the difficulty of calculating their position in the sky caused many scientists to doubt the correctness of the Ptolemy system of the world. So the great Italian scientist Leonardo da Vinci (1452–1519) refuted the existence of Aristotelian spheres. He argued that the Earth is not in the center of the world and has a rotational motion.
The remarkable scientist of the late Middle Ages, Nikolai Kuzansky, was distinguished by his boldness of views. He taught that the earth moves, that the universe cannot have a center, since it is infinite.
However, before the appearance of the book of Copernicus, in which he outlined the new system of the world, not a single decisive attempt had been made to scientifically refute the system of the world of Ptolemy.
The great Polish scientist Copernicus was the son of the Renaissance, the era that, according to Engels, “... broke the spiritual dictatorship of the pope, resurrected Greek antiquity and, together with it, brought to life the highest development of art in modern times, which broke the boundaries of the old world and for the first time, in fact, discovered the earth.
The great Polish astronomer Nicolaus Copernicus.
N. Copernicus was born in 1473 in the Polish city of Torun. He received an excellent education for that time. Copernicus studied the works of ancient Greek scientists and verified astronomical observations and calculations over many centuries. This led him to the following conclusions:
The apparent daily rotation of the firmament, as well as the change of day and night, occur as a result of the rotation of the Earth around its axis;
The apparent annual movement of the Sun relative to the stars is a consequence of the revolution of the Earth around the Sun;
All planets, including the Earth, revolve in circular orbits around the Sun; the loop-like movements of the planets observed from the Earth are the consequences of the movements of the Earth and the planets around the Sun.
The correct explanation of the loop-like movements of the planets made it possible for the scientist to greatly simplify the prediction of their positions. However, Copernicus was unable to abandon the misconception of the ancient scientists that all celestial bodies move only along the most “perfect” curves, i.e., circles.
As proof of his scientific conclusions, Copernicus cited not "holy" scripture, not religious fiction, but direct observations of celestial phenomena. The great scientist declared: “In order not to be thought that I offer only statements, let them compare my explanation with the facts: then they will be convinced that it agrees well with them.”
The brilliant scientist carefully developed various aspects of the new teaching. And even when the manuscript of his great work was completely finished in 1530, he did nothing for another ten years to distribute it. Finally, in 1540 Copernicus' students published a summary of his theory.
The new teaching of Copernicus aroused ridicule and mockery among the "fathers" of the church at first. The church reformer Luther, the founder of the Lutheran Church, spoke out against the teachings of Copernicus: “They are talking about some new astrologer who proves that the Earth moves, but the sky and the Sun are motionless. Well, now everyone who wants to be known as a clever man is trying to invent something special. So this fool is going to turn the whole of astronomy upside down.”
Such ridicule did not embarrass the scientist. At the insistence of friends, Copernicus decided to print his work, and in 1543 it was published under the title "On the Revolutions of the Celestial Spheres." At this time, the great astronomer was already at death. A few days after a copy of the book was delivered to him, Nicolaus Copernicus died.
In his work, Copernicus proved that the movements of the starry sky, the Sun, the Moon and the planets visible from the Earth can only be explained by the fact that the Earth itself - the same planet as the others - simultaneously moves around the Sun and rotates around its axis. Other planets also revolve around the sun. The Earth, together with its satellite Moon, revolves around the Sun between the paths of Venus and Mars.
Opponents of the Copernican theory raised many objections to the idea of the motion of the Earth. The most serious was this: if the Earth is moving, they said, then the apparent arrangement of the stars must change, but this is not visible, which means that the Earth is not moving either. To these objections, Copernicus replied that such displacements exist, but the stars are very far from the Earth, so their parallactic displacements are not visible.
The world system of Copernicus was called heliocentric (from the Greek word "helios" - the Sun). According to this system, the center of the world was the fixed Sun, and not the Earth.
Of course, the system of the world of Copernicus is far from modern ideas about the universe, since all celestial bodies, including one of the stars - the Sun, are in continuous motion. In the future, the researchers specified the shape and size of the planetary paths. It was also established that the universe is infinite, and not limited to the sphere of fixed stars, as Copernicus assumed. However, the historical merit of Copernicus as a revolutionary in science is that he not only correctly represented the movement of the Earth, but also deprived it of its exclusive, central position in the universe, as taught by religion. His conclusions created the prerequisites for the further development of the science of the sky, as well as other natural sciences.
The book of Copernicus "On the Revolutions of the Heavenly Spheres", containing the foundations of a new worldview, undermined the foundations of religion. However, it was not immediately persecuted by the church, as it was written in a complex mathematical language, understandable only to specialists. And only after the meaning of the new teaching became clear and it became widespread, the Catholic Church realized it and declared the teaching of Copernicus heretical. His book was banned, so that, as the enemies of the teachings of Copernicus themselves admitted, "the opinion about the movement of the Earth would no longer spread to the great detriment of Catholic truth."
However, nothing could stop the further development of the scientific study of the world. After Copernicus, the banner of struggle against the religious world view was raised high by Giordano Bruno and Galileo Galilei.
The outstanding Italian thinker Giordano Bruno (1548-1600) acted as an ardent defender of the Copernican heliocentric system of the world.
Bruno not only preached the new doctrine with inspiration, but also expressed correct bold ideas that were centuries ahead of modern science. He taught that the universe is infinite, that the stars are the same huge luminaries as our Sun, which is only one of the stars and is not the center of the universe. The stars are surrounded by planets inhabited, like the Earth, by intelligent beings.
Giordano Bruno fought against the church-biblical teaching about the world, angrily scourged the obscurantism of the "holy fathers" of the church. The churchmen understood that the views of Giordano Bruno were the greatest threat to religion. Bruno was captured and handed over to the Inquisition (judicial-political church organization). For eight years he was kept in prison, severely tortured, demanding a renunciation of "heretical" views. But the scientist courageously defended the correctness of his teaching. Having achieved nothing, the inquisitors sentenced the scientist to be burned at the stake. After hearing the verdict, Bruno said: "You are more afraid when you pronounce the verdict on me than I do when I hear it."
On February 17, 1600, in Rome, in the Square of Flowers, the scientist was burned alive at the stake. But the teaching to which he gave his life did not perish. A few years passed, and the great Galileo Galilei (1564-1642) - one of the founders of the science of motion - mechanics - gave mankind clear evidence of the validity of the teachings of Copernicus.
Even in his student years, Galileo showed exceptional abilities for mathematical sciences. He believed that the basis of the study of nature is experience, the observation that not a scholastic interpretation of the works of ancient philosophers and scripture, but a direct study of nature makes it possible to know its essence. After conducting numerous experiments, the scientist discovered the laws of free fall of bodies, the movement of bodies on an inclined plane, the law of pendulum swing, and many others.
In 1597, in one of his letters to the German astronomer Kepler, Galileo declared himself a supporter of the Copernican theory.
In 1609, Galileo built the first telescope - an astronomical tube that magnifies 30 times. Since that time, he began to observe the heavenly bodies. Observations led to remarkable discoveries.
Galileo summarized the results of his observations in a work published in 1610 in Venice. It was called "The Starry Herald, announcing great and amazing spectacles and bringing them to the attention of philosophers and astronomers, which spectacles were observed by Galileo Galilei with the help of a telescope recently invented by him on the face of the Moon, in countless fixed stars, in the Milky Way, in foggy stars, especially when observing the four planets revolving around Jupiter at different intervals with amazing speed, planets that until recently were not known to anyone and which the author recently discovered the first and decided to call the Medicean luminaries.
The great Italian scientist Galileo Galilei.
Observations of the moon showed that its surface is covered with mountains. This refuted Aristotle's teaching that celestial bodies differ from earthly ones in their "perfection" and, above all, in their ideal spherical shape. From the length of the shadow, Galileo calculated the height of the lunar mountains.
Continuing observations, the scientist found that the Milky Way consists of many individual stars, invisible to the naked eye. This indicated that in nature there are many such bodies that are inaccessible to observation with the naked eye, and religious ideas about the limitations of the world are far-fetched and false.
Observing the Sun, Galileo saw spots on its surface. By the movement of these spots, the scientist established that the Sun rotates around its axis.
But the most remarkable thing that Galileo was able to discover with the help of a telescope was the four satellites of Jupiter that revolved around him, as well as the phases of Venus, that is, successive changes in the appearance of the planet, similar to those that occur with the Moon. The phases of Venus proved that this planet, like the Earth, is a cold dark ball illuminated by the Sun, and the order of the phases proved that Venus revolves around the Sun, and not around the Earth.
Thus, the teachings of Copernicus were confirmed by direct observations.
Galileo's discoveries made a huge impression on his contemporaries. Numerous students of the famous astronomer appeared everywhere.
The dark forces of the Inquisition rose up against the scientist. At a special meeting of theologians in 1616, the teachings of Copernicus were declared incompatible with "holy" Scripture. Soon the books of Copernicus and his followers were banned by a special decree. Defenders of the teachings of Copernicus were declared heretics and they were threatened with the gloomy dungeons of the Inquisition.
However, Galileo did not stop fighting the church. In 1632, his book "Dialogue on the two main systems of the world - Ptolemaic and Copernican" was published. In it, the scientist defended the views of Copernicus.
But the great scientist did not change his attitude to the theory, which he himself confirmed with numerous evidence. Galileo said to his opponents: “It is you who breed heresies when you demand without reason that scientists renounce their feelings and irrefutable evidence.”
In the last years of his life, under the vigilant supervision of the Inquisition, the blind and exhausted scientist continued his remarkable research in physics.
So, neither the dungeons of the Inquisition, nor the threat of excommunication could force progressive people to abandon the teachings of Copernicus. The science of the universe was advancing irresistibly. Astronomical discoveries followed one after another.
The laws of planetary motion were discovered by the great astronomer and mathematician Johannes Kepler (1571–1630).
Famous German astronomer and mathematician Johannes Kepler.
Kepler was born in Weil, Germany. From his student days he became a follower of the teachings of Copernicus. The life of a scientist was full of severe hardships. For his views, he was repeatedly persecuted by the church, leading a half-starved beggarly existence with his family.
In 1600, Kepler moved to Prague, where he worked with the remarkable astronomer-observer Tycho Brahe, who built an excellent observatory in Denmark.
Kepler did not have long to work with Tycho Brahe: at the end of 1601 Brahe died. After his death, Kepler received at his disposal all the records of Brahe's astronomical observations, including the results of long-term observations of Mars. A careful study of Brahe's records led Kepler to the idea that Mars could not move around the Sun in a circular orbit: in this case, the discrepancies between the theoretical calculations of the position of the planet and those actually observed from Tycho Brahe's records were too large. To find the actual shape of the orbit of Mars, Kepler had to do a lot of work. This work led Kepler to discover the laws of planetary motion.
Kepler found that the orbit of Mars has the shape of an ellipse. In this case, the Sun is located not in the center of the ellipse, but in one of its foci - a point lying on the major axis of the ellipse (Fig. 3). Thus, the planet, revolving around the Sun, then approaches it, then somewhat moves away.
Rice. 3. The sun is at the focus of the elliptical orbit of planet P; RA is the major axis of the ellipse; O is the center of the ellipse.
Conducting further studies of the movement of Mars, the scientist found that the planet has a different speed in different parts of its path. Near the Sun, for example, it moves faster.
Both conclusions obtained as a result of studying the movement of Mars were later extended by scientists to all planets and were called Kepler's laws. These two laws established the shape of the planetary orbits and the dependence of the speed of the planets on their position in the orbit.
Since the time of Copernicus, it has been known that the more distant planets have a long period of revolution around the Sun. This prompted Kepler to think that there is a certain regularity here. Soon it was established, and Kepler's third law appeared, which determines the relationship between the distances of the planets from the Sun and the periods of their revolution around it.
Kepler's contribution to astronomy is extremely great. Having discovered the laws of planetary motion, he brought complete clarity to the system of the world of Copernicus.
However, what is the physical reason for the motion of the planets? Why do these celestial bodies move around the Sun along strictly defined paths, and do not fly away from it? To answer this question, which was the most serious objection of the church against the movement of the Earth, Kepler tried. At the same time, he correctly believed that the force that moves the planets comes from the Sun, but the scientist could not establish the magnitude and nature of the action of this force.
This problem was solved by the great English scientist Newton (1642–1727), the founder of celestial mechanics, that branch of astronomy that studies the motion of the planets under the influence of the attraction of the Sun and mutual gravitation.
The era in which Newton lived was characterized by the further development of capitalism. The growth of industry and trade required the development of technology and mechanics.
Even at Newton University, questions related to the movements of the planets were attracted. Here his intense scientific work began, which led the scientist to great discoveries in mechanics, physics and astronomy.
Reflecting on the causes that cause the planets to move, Newton came to the conclusion that all bodies experience a force of attraction, or, as he called it, attraction to each other. The gravitation of bodies, as Newton established, is one of the main, constantly manifesting properties of matter. This gravitational force does not allow the planets to fly away from the Sun, keeping them in their orbits. The greater the mass of bodies and the closer they are to each other, the greater the force they attract.
Newton established a law called the law of universal gravitation. According to this law, which has become one of the basic laws of modern natural science, the force of attraction of two bodies is directly proportional to their mass (i.e., how many times the mass of the body is, the force of attraction is as many times greater) and inversely proportional to the square of the distance between them (this means that if the distance between bodies is halved, then they will be attracted to each other 4 times stronger; if the distance is halved, then the attraction will become 9 times greater).
Since the force of attraction is the mutual action of bodies on each other, then both bodies will be attracted to each other with the same force. The result of this force depends on the mass of the attracting bodies: a body with a larger mass will move more slowly than another, less massive body.
On the surface of the Earth, the main force of attraction is the force of attraction of the Earth itself, since the mass of the Earth is incomparably greater than the mass of any body located on its surface. Therefore, all bodies on the Earth, under the influence of its attraction, fall towards its center.
The force of gravity keeps the Moon in its orbit and the Earth's satellite, forcing it to revolve around the Earth.
Newton was convinced of the correctness of his conclusions on the example of the movement of the moon. He then applied the law of gravity to the motion of all the planets around the sun and to the motion of the moons of Jupiter and Saturn.
The force of mutual attraction acts between the Sun and all the planets. But the mass of the Sun is 750 times greater than the mass of all the planets. Therefore, the massive Sun is almost not displaced by the force of attraction of the planets, while the light planets, under the influence of the force of attraction from the Sun, move around it.
Thus, the scientist confirmed that the laws of motion are the same both on Earth and outside it.
After the work of Newton, the teachings of Copernicus received complete harmony and regularity.
The great Russian scientist M. V. Lomonosov (1711–1765) was a staunch supporter of the heliocentric system of the world of Copernicus. Despite the opposition of ecclesiastical and secular authorities, Lomonosov defended and developed the teachings of Copernicus in a number of his writings. He wrote:
“The astronomer has been in fruitless labor all his life.
Tangled in cycles while Copernicus rose
A scorner of envy and a rival to barbarism.
In the midst of all the planets he placed the Sun,
The august Earth's movement has opened."
The scientist was firmly convinced that the universe is infinite and consists of a great many inhabited worlds:
“The lips of the wise say to us:
There are many different kinds of lights;
Countless suns burn there,
The peoples there and the circle of centuries.
In 1761, Lomonosov observed a relatively rare phenomenon (for example, this will not happen during the entire 20th century): Venus, moving around the Sun, passed exactly between it and the Earth. When the small black circle of Venus crossed the solar disk and approached its edge, a pinkish border appeared around Venus. Lomonosov correctly concluded that this is the atmosphere of Venus.
The scientist expressed his discovery as follows: "Venus is surrounded by a noble air atmosphere, such (if only not more) than it pours around our globe." This discovery pointed to the close similarity of the Earth and Venus, which also confirmed the validity of the teachings of Copernicus.
From mechanics to physics of the sky
After Newton discovered the law of universal gravitation, astronomy faced the task of finding out all the features of the motion of celestial bodies, establishing the distances between the Sun and the planets, and determining the dimensions of our entire planetary system.
Observations of Venus during its passage across the disk of the Sun, as well as observations of Mars during periods of its "oppositions" made it possible in the 18th century to establish that the average distance from the Earth to the Sun is about 150 million kilometers. Even earlier, the size and shape of the Earth itself were determined. It turned out that the Earth does not have the exact shape of a ball: it is flattened at the poles under the influence of rotation around its axis.
To find out all the features of the motion of the planets, it was necessary to know not only the shape of the Earth, from the surface of which observations are made, but also to be able to take into account the complex motion of the Earth itself, which affects the apparent positions of the planets. It took a long and difficult job. When it was possible to establish the features of the motion of the Earth, a theory of the motion of the planets was created.
The Russian Academy of Sciences played an important role in the development of celestial mechanics. At the end of the 18th century in St. Petersburg, the remarkable mathematician Leonard Euler developed a theory of the motion of the moon, which made it possible to calculate the position of the moon in the sky with great accuracy, and this, in turn, helped to establish the exact position of ships in the sea.
At the same time, an outstanding astronomer, Academician Leksel, worked in St. Petersburg. He was the first to study the motion of the new planet Uranus, discovered in 1781 by the English astronomer Herschel.
Leksel discovered a strange phenomenon: over time, the actual position of Uranus in the sky did not coincide with the theoretically calculated one. And although the deviations were small, they still exceeded those that could result from errors in observations and calculations. Leksel suggested that behind Uranus, even further from the Sun, there is a new planet, which, by its attraction, causes Uranus to deviate. Indeed, in 1846, independently of each other, two astronomers - Adams and Leverrier - determined the orbit of an unknown planet and indicated the place where it should be. In September 1846 - on the very first evening of observations - in the area of the sky indicated by Leverrier, a new planet was found. She was named Neptune.
The discovery of a new planet was a great victory for the materialistic science of the universe, a proof of the law of universal gravitation - one of the basic laws of nature.
The most prominent place in the development of celestial mechanics in the late 18th and early 19th centuries belongs to the French astronomers Joseph Lagrange and Pierre Laplace.
Laplace put forward an interesting hypothesis (i.e. scientific assumption) about the origin of the solar system. The first such hypothesis was expressed in 1754 by the German philosopher Immanuel Kant. He believed that the Sun and the planets could come from a chaotic accumulation of matter, which should gradually condense towards the center, forming condensations - future planets.
Laplace's (1796) hypothesis proceeded from the assumption that there was a slowly rotating gaseous nebula, which should gradually contract, rotating faster and faster. At a certain moment, the rotation speed should have become so high that rings of matter should have been separated from the equatorial region of a highly compacted nebula under the influence of centrifugal force. Laplace assumed that large planets were formed from the substance of the rings with further compression of the nebula.
This hypothesis has played a big role in natural science. The scientist for the first time from a scientific, materialistic position made an attempt to explain the process of development of the solar system, rejecting religious ideas about the origin of the world.
Astronomy achieved great success in the 18th and 19th centuries in the study of the stellar world. It was found that the stars are not fixed celestial bodies. As a result of their own movements, they slowly move in the sky.
As already mentioned, even Copernicus argued that if the Earth changes its position in space as a result of an annual revolution around the Sun, then annual parallactic displacements of stars should also be observed. However, astronomers for a long time could not detect these shifts.
Success was achieved only after new, more powerful telescopes and more accurate astronomical instruments appeared. The outstanding Russian astronomer V. Ya. Struve (1793–1864) in Russia, Bessel in Germany, and Henderson in England discovered the parallactic displacement of stars.
V. Ya. Struve at the beginning of the 19th century worked at the Dorpat Astronomical Observatory (now an observatory in the city of Tartu, Estonian SSR).
In 1835–1837 he made careful observations and measurements of the position of the bright star Vega, located in the constellation Lyra. He suggested that Vega appears brighter than other stars because it is closer to Earth. By measuring the positions of Vega, V. Ya. Struve succeeded in finding its parallax and thus the distance to the star. This distance is almost two million times the distance from the Earth to the Sun.
Successes in the study of the stellar world in the 19th century were only the first steps. It was necessary to determine the nature of the distribution and movement of stars, to establish the physical features of the stars, to find out the structure of the Milky Way, and much more.
In Russia, to study the exact positions of the stars, near St. Petersburg, on Pulkovo Hill, the Main Astronomical Observatory was built, the first director of which was V. Ya. Struve. The observatory was opened in 1839. In terms of equipment, it far surpassed all other astronomical observatories in the world. Powerful instruments made it possible to conduct massive observations of stars.
At the Pulkovo Observatory, V. Ya. Struve established many features of our stellar system - the Galaxy. He discovered that in the Galaxy, in addition to large celestial bodies - stars, there is a lot of cosmic dust and gas.
The remarkable results of the work of the Pulkovo Observatory already at that time made it famous as the "astronomical capital of the world."
Interesting studies of the Galaxy were carried out at Kazan University. Here the astronomer M. A. Kovalsky, who studied the general features of our stellar system, first expressed the idea of its rotation. In the twenties of our century, Kowalski's conclusions were fully confirmed, the rotation of the Galaxy was established.
Further development of knowledge about the universe was associated with the emergence in the middle of the 19th century of a new science - astrophysics. The discovery of variable stars that change their brightness, the tasks of studying the physical features of celestial bodies required the creation of new special methods and instruments. The achievements of physics in the 19th century led to the emergence of spectral analysis.
A beam of light passing through a trihedral glass prism is decomposed into its constituent parts, forming the so-called spectrum, the form of which depends on the state of the luminous body. If an incandescent solid body or a large thickness of gas glows (in this case, the density of the gas is significant), then the spectrum has the form of a multi-colored strip in which the colors continuously change into each other. Such a spectrum is called a continuous or continuous spectrum. If the light comes from hot gases and vapors under low pressure, then the spectrum has the form of individual bright lines and is called a line spectrum. Each chemical element, being in a hot vapor state, gives a strictly defined line spectrum; this type of spectrum can be used to judge the chemical composition of the light source.
Studies have shown that numerous dark lines are visible in the spectra of the Sun and stars. The reason for the appearance of these lines in 1858 was first explained by the German physicist Kirchhoff. He found that if light from a source that gives a continuous spectrum is passed through a layer of cold gas, then the gas will absorb those rays of the spectrum that it itself emits in a hot state. Kirchhoff concluded from this that the dark lines of the Sun's spectrum are due to the fact that the gases of the solar atmosphere absorb the rays coming from the deeper and more incandescent layers of the Sun. The same thing happens in the atmospheres of stars. This allows you to determine which chemical elements are on the Sun and stars.
Spectral analysis opened up new, richest possibilities for the study of celestial bodies. He made it possible, by the composition of the light coming from the luminaries, to determine not only the chemical composition of the Sun and stars, but also the physical conditions on their surface, determine the speed of movement, and study the features of planets and comets.
Many complex celestial phenomena have been studied only relatively recently. In the 1920s, as a result of the further development of physics, a new branch of astronomy arose - theoretical astrophysics. It made it possible to study not only the processes that occur on the surface of celestial bodies, but also those that take place in their depths.
Modern ideas about the universe are the result of centuries of development of knowledge. The achievements of philosophy, astronomy, mathematics, physics, chemistry and other sciences in the 19th and 20th centuries opened up wide opportunities for scientific knowledge of the world.
What do we know about the structure of the universe at the present time?
Notes:
The Quran is the holy book of the Mohammedans.
The apparent displacement of stars when the observer moves is called parallactic, and the angle at which these displacements are visible is called parallax (“parallax” is Greek for deviation).
When Mars is located in the sky at a point opposite the Sun, and closest to the Earth.
The ancient Greeks imagined the earth to be flat. They considered the earth to be a flat disk, surrounded by a sea inaccessible to man, from which the stars emerge every evening and into which the stars set every morning. From the eastern sea in a golden chariot, the sun god Helios rose every morning and makes his way across the sky.
The world in the view of the ancient Egyptians: below - the Earth, above it - the goddess of the sky; left and right - the ship of the sun god, showing the path of the sun across the sky from sunrise to sunset.
ancient indians represented the Earth in the form of a hemisphere held by four elephants. Elephants stand on a huge turtle, and the turtle is on a snake, which, curled up in a ring, closes the near-Earth space.
The inhabitants of Babylon The earth, in their opinion, is a mountain over which they did not dare to cross, which is surrounded on all sides by the sea. Above them in the form of an overturned bowl is the starry sky - the heavenly world, where, like on Earth, there is land, water and air. Under the Earth is an abyss - hell, where the souls of the dead descend. At night, the Sun passes through this dungeon from the western edge of the Earth to the eastern, in order to begin its daytime journey through the sky again in the morning. Watching the sunset over the sea horizon, people thought that it goes into the sea and also rises from the sea.
Technological map of the lesson.
Item: Geography
Class: 5
UMK “Geography. Initial course. 5th grade
- · Geography. Initial course. Grade 5 Textbook (authors I.I. Barinova, A.A. Pleshakov, N.I. Sonin).
- · Geography. Initial course. Grade 5 Methodological guide (author I.I. Barinova)
- · Geography. Initial course. Grade 5 Workbook (authors N.I. Sonin., S.V. Kurchina).
- · Geography. Initial course. Grade 5 Electronic Application.
Lesson type. The study and primary consolidation of new knowledge and methods of activity.
Lesson topic: How ancient people imagined the universe.
The purpose of the lesson: to organize the activities of students in the perception, comprehension and primary consolidation of the idea of geographical discoveries.
Lesson objectives:
a) educational: — formation of the concept of how ancient people imagined the Universe;
b) developing
Continue developing the ability to highlight the main thing when working with geography textbooks and additional literature;
Improving self-control skills;
Stimulation of curiosity.
c) educational
develop skills: — work in pairs, groups;
Ability to listen to the interlocutor;
Forms of organization of cognitive activity: collective, individual, group.
Teaching aids: textbook, atlas of geography Grade 5, diagrams of the universe according to Aristotle and Ptolemy, drawings. Illustrating ideas of ancient people about the Universe, presentation, reflection cards, didactic material, computer, projector.
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Since ancient times, knowing the environment and expanding the living space, a person thought about how the world works, where he lives. Trying to explain the Universe, he used categories that were close and understandable to him, first of all, drawing parallels with familiar nature and the area in which he himself lived. How people used to represent the Earth? What did they think about its shape and place in the universe? How have their views changed over time? All this allows you to find out historical sources that have come down to the present day.
How ancient people imagined the Earth
The first prototypes of geographical maps are known to us in the form of images left by our ancestors on the walls of caves, incisions on stones and animal bones. Researchers find such sketches in different parts of the world. Such drawings depict hunting grounds, places where game hunters set traps, and roads.
Schematically depicting rivers, caves, mountains, forests on improvised material, a person sought to pass on information about them to subsequent generations. In order to distinguish objects already familiar to them from new ones, just discovered, people gave them names. So, gradually mankind accumulated geographical experience. And even then our ancestors began to wonder what the Earth is.
The way ancient people imagined the Earth largely depended on the nature, topography and climate of the places where they lived. Therefore, the peoples of different parts of the planet saw the world around them in their own way, and these views differed significantly.
Babylon
Valuable historical information about how ancient people imagined the Earth was left to us by civilizations that lived on the lands between and the Euphrates, inhabited the Nile Delta and the shores of the Mediterranean Sea (modern territories of Asia Minor and southern Europe). This information is more than six thousand years old.
Thus, the ancient Babylonians considered the Earth a "world mountain", on the western slope of which was Babylonia - their country. This idea was facilitated by the fact that the eastern part of the lands they knew rested on high mountains, which no one dared to cross.
South of Babylonia was the sea. This allowed people to believe that the "world mountain" is actually round, and is washed by the sea from all sides. On the sea, like an inverted bowl, rests the solid heavenly world, which is in many ways similar to the earthly one. It also had its own "land", "air" and "water". The role of the land was played by the belt of the Zodiacal constellations, which blocked the celestial "sea" like a dam. It was believed that the Moon, the Sun and several planets move along this firmament. The sky for the Babylonians was the place of residence of the gods.
The souls of dead people, on the contrary, lived in the underground "abyss". At night, the Sun, plunging into the sea, had to pass through this dungeon from the western edge of the Earth to the eastern, and in the morning, rising from the sea to the firmament, again begin its daytime journey along it.
The way people represented the Earth in Babylon was based on observations of natural phenomena. However, the Babylonians could not correctly interpret them.
Palestine
As for the inhabitants of this country, other ideas reigned on these lands, different from those of Babylon. The ancient Jews lived in a flat area. Therefore, the Earth in their vision also looked like a plain, which in places was crossed by mountains.
Winds, bringing with them either drought or rain, occupied a special place in the beliefs of the Palestinians. Living in the "lower belt" of the sky, they separated the "heavenly waters" from the surface of the Earth. Water, in addition, was under the Earth, feeding from there all the seas and rivers on its surface.
India, Japan, China
Probably the most famous legend today, which tells how ancient people imagined the Earth, was composed by the ancient Indians. This people believed that the Earth was actually a hemisphere, which rests on the backs of four elephants. These elephants stood on the back of a giant tortoise swimming in an endless sea of milk. All these creatures were wrapped in many rings by the black cobra Shesha, which had several thousand heads. These heads, according to the beliefs of the Indians, propped up the universe.
The land in the view of the ancient Japanese was limited to the territory of the islands known to them. She was credited with a cubic shape, and the frequent earthquakes that occur in their homeland were explained by the rampage of the fire-breathing dragon that lives deep in its depths.
About five hundred years ago, the Polish astronomer Nicolaus Copernicus, observing the stars, established that the center of the Universe is the Sun, and not the Earth. Almost 40 years after the death of Copernicus, his ideas were developed by the Italian Galileo Galilei. This scientist was able to prove that all the planets of the solar system, including the Earth, actually revolve around the Sun. Galileo was accused of heresy and forced to renounce his teachings.
However, the Englishman Isaac Newton, who was born a year after the death of Galileo, subsequently managed to discover the law of universal gravitation. Based on it, he explained why the Moon revolves around the Earth, and the planets with satellites and numerous revolve around the Sun.
In ancient times, people did not have powerful telescopes and all ideas about the Universe and the Earth were based on their own observations of the course of the Sun, Moon and mythology. Thanks to the development of navigation and various studies, mankind nevertheless came to an understanding of the structure of the world that is known to us.
Representation of the Universe in Ancient Babylon
The Babylonians imagined the Universe as a boundless Ocean, on which an inverted bowl floats, holding the vault of heaven. This worldview was based on the fact that in the south the inhabitants of Babylon saw the expanse of the sea, and on the eastern side - high mountains, which they did not dare to cross.
The vault of heaven, like the Earth, had its own surface, water and atmosphere. The land consisted of 12 zodiac constellations - Pisces, Scorpio, Virgo, Taurus, Aries, Cancer, Gemini, Sagittarius, Leo, Libra and Capricorn. The sun was in each constellation for about one month. In addition to the Sun, 5 planets and the Moon moved along the celestial land.
Under the Mountain was an abyss - a place where human souls go after death. Every night the sun went down in the dungeon on the west side to appear in the east the next day.
The Babylonians saw the Sun disappear from one side each evening and reappear from the other in the morning. Their presentation was based on observations of natural phenomena and limited knowledge and the inability to correctly interpret them.
Ancient Indians and Egyptians
Everyone has heard the story that our Earth is actually a huge hemisphere, rushing on the backs of three huge elephants. They are carried on their shell along an endless snake, symbolizing the Universe, carried by a turtle. This myth was invented in ancient India.
The Egyptian world view of the universe was slightly different, but it was also expressed in a mythical form. The sky goddess Nut and the earth god Geb were in love with each other, and our world was one. Chickpeas made stars every evening and swallowed them in the morning when the sun rose. This process lasted for years, but Geb got tired of it and he called the sky goddess a pig that eats piglets.
The sun god Ra intervened in the conflict. He summoned the wind god Shu, who separated the earth and the sky. Nut ascended to heaven, Geb remained below, and Shu occupied the space between them. Sometimes his wife Tehnud flew to Shu, but it was hard for her to hold the heavenly goddess and she began to cry, watering the earth with a rain of tears.
Views of the ancient Slavs
The Slavs represented the Universe in the form of an egg, which was laid by a certain cosmic bird. The yolk of an egg is our Earth. Its upper shell is the world of people, and the core is the land of the dead. If the top of the yolk is day, then the bottom is night.
You can get to the lower part through the ocean that surrounded the Earth or by digging a through well. Nine more heavens were located on the egg shell:
- sun and stars;
- moon;
- clouds and wind;
- firmament;
- abyss;
- iriy, etc.
In the opinion of the Slavs, one could climb into the sky along the World Tree, which passed through the core, the upper shell of the egg and 9 heavens. The tree was a huge oak on whose branches all existing herbs and trees ripen.
The concept of the universe in ancient Greece
The Greeks made a huge contribution to the modern view of the universe. Even the philosopher Thales described the Universe as a liquid mass, into which a huge bubble in the form of a hemisphere is immersed. The convex part of it represented the celestial one, and the flat surface - the Earth, floating like a cork below.
This fact, of course, was based on the fact that Greece is an island nation. The first to suggest that the Earth is not flat, but has a shape similar to a sphere, was Pythagoras. This hypothesis was developed in the writings of Aristotle. He created a model of the Universe in which the Earth was its fixed center, and the other 8 celestial bodies revolved around it.
Not everyone shared Aristotle's point of view. Aristarchus of Samos, for example, represented the Universe, the central element of which was the Sun, not the Earth. He could not provide evidence for his point of view, and his model was forgotten for a long time.
Aristotle, on the contrary, was supported by many scholars. Claudius Ptolemy also believed that the Earth is motionless, and Mercury, Saturn, Mars, Jupiter and Venus revolve around it. The universe, in his opinion, was limited by fixed stars. His works were set forth in the book Mathematical Construction in Astronomy, which was popular with astronomers right up to the 13th century.
Evidence that the Earth and the rest of the planets of the solar system revolve around the sun appeared 1700 years later thanks to the research of the Polish-born scientist Nicolaus Copernicus. The heliocentric model of the Universe proposed by him is also used in modern science.
You have probably heard the word "universe" more than once. What it is? The Universe is usually understood as outer space and everything that fills it: cosmic, or celestial, bodies, gas, dust. In other words, it's the whole world. Our planet is part of the vast universe, one of the countless celestial bodies.
Representations of ancient peoples about the Universe
For thousands of years, people have admired the starry sky, watched the movement of the Sun, Moon and planets. And they always asked themselves an exciting question: how does the Universe work?
Modern ideas about the structure of the universe evolved gradually. In ancient times, they were not at all what they are now. For a long time, the Earth was considered the center of the universe. The ancient Indians believed that the Earth was flat and rested on the backs of giant elephants, which, in turn, rest on a turtle. A huge turtle stands on a snake, which personifies the sky and, as it were, closes the earthly space.
The Universe was seen differently by the peoples living on the banks of the Tigris and Euphrates rivers. The earth, in their opinion, is a mountain, which is surrounded on all sides by the sea and which rests on twelve columns.
The ideas of ancient Greek scientists about the universe
Ancient Greek scientists did a lot for the development of views on the structure of the Universe. One of them - the great mathematician Pythagoras (c. 580-500 BC) - was the first to suggest that the Earth is not flat at all, but has the shape of a ball.
The correctness of this assumption was proved by another great Greek - Aristotle (384-322 BC).
Aristotle proposed his model of the structure of the Universe, or the system of the world. In the center of the Universe, according to the scientist, there is a motionless Earth, around which eight celestial spheres, solid and transparent, revolve (translated from the Greek "sphere" - a ball). Celestial bodies are motionlessly fixed on them: planets, the Moon, the Sun, stars. The ninth sphere ensures the movement of all other spheres, it is the engine of the Universe.
Aristotle's views were firmly established in science, although even some of his contemporaries did not agree with him. The ancient Greek scientist Aristarchus of Samos (320-250 BC) believed that the center of the universe is not the Earth, but the Sun; The earth and other planets move around it. Unfortunately, these brilliant guesses were rejected and forgotten at that time.
Ptolemy's system of the world
The ideas of Aristotle and many other scientists were developed by the greatest ancient Greek astronomer Claudius Ptolemy (c. 90-160 AD). He developed his own system of the world, in the center of which, like Aristotle, placed the Earth. Around the motionless spherical Earth, according to Ptolemy, the Moon, the Sun, five (known at that time) planets, as well as the "sphere of fixed stars" move. This sphere limits the space of the Universe. Ptolemy outlined his views in detail in the grandiose work "The Great Mathematical Construction of Astronomy" in 13 books.
The Ptolemaic system explained well the apparent movement of celestial bodies. It made it possible to determine and predict their location at one time or another. This system dominated science for thirteen centuries, and Ptolemy's book was the desktop for many generations of astronomers.
Two great Greeks
Aristotle- the greatest scientist of Ancient Greece, originally from the city of Stagira. He devoted his whole life to collecting and comprehending information known to scientists of his time. He was interested in everything: the behavior and structure of animals, the laws of motion of bodies, the structure of the universe, poetry, politics. He was the teacher of the outstanding commander Alexander the Great, who, having achieved fame, did not forget the great scientist. From his military campaigns, he sent him samples of plants and animals unknown to the Greeks. After himself, Aristotle left numerous works, for example, "Physics" in 8 books, "On Parts of Animals" in 10 books. The authority of Aristotle for many centuries was indisputable in science.
Claudius Ptolemy was born in Egypt, in the town of Pto le Mai-dy, and then studied and worked in Alexandria, the capital of the Egyptian kingdom. In his libraries were collected scientific works from the countries of the East and Greece. More than 700 thousand manuscripts were kept in the famous museum of Alexandria alone. Ptolemy was a comprehensively educated person: he studied astronomy, geography, and mathematics. Summarizing the work of ancient Greek astronomers, he created his own system of the world.
- What is the Universe?
- How did the ancient peoples imagine the universe?
- What is interesting about the views of Aristarchus of Samos?
The Universe is outer space and everything that fills it: celestial bodies, gas, dust. Modern ideas about the structure of the universe evolved gradually. For a long time, the Earth was considered its center. It was this point of view that the ancient Greek scientists Aristotle and Ptolemy adhered to.
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