3 Ancient astronomers and philosophers looked up at the sky and saw patterns and regularities.

The Babylonians divided the sky into the constellations of the Zodiac and recorded how the planets moved against this background. They invented myths to explain what they saw and used skilful mathematical techniques to predict how the patterns change with time. The ancient Greeks invented philosophical systems to describe the same observations, and one of these survived for 2000 years. Aristotle's universe One of Plato's pupils, Eudoxus (about 408-355 BC), proposed that the Earth is at the centre of the universe and is surrounded by a set of concentric spheres which rotate about it. The outermost sphere carries the stars, while the inner spheres carry planets and move about various inclined axes. This model was developed further by Aristotle. The Aristotelian universe was: finite in size; geocentric (having Earth at the centre); based on perfect mathematical forms (circles). The Ptolemaic system One particular problem bothered the Greek astronomers. Planets do not always move in the same direction (as they would be expected to do if they were fixed on rotating spheres). Sometimes a planet changes direction for a short time before continuing its motion. This is called retrograde motion. Claudius Ptolemy, an astronomer of the 2nd century AD, adapted the Aristotelian universe to take into account the retrograde motions. He did this by using several clever geometric constructions. He displaced the centres of the spheres slightly from the centre of the Earth; this meant the circular orbits (deferents) were eccentric (off-centre). He allowed the planets to move around circles whose centres ride on the rotating sphere. These small circles are called epicycles. He introduced another off-centre point, called an equant, about which the centre of the epicycle moved at a constant angular rate. This had the effect of varying the speed of motion around the deferent. By adjusting the positions, sizes, and rate of motion of deferents, epicycles, and equants, Ptolemy was able to fit the observed motions vegr accurately. The Copernican revolution Nicolaus Copernicus (1473-1543) was a canon of the Catholic ChurchHe was aware that a Greek philosopher, Aristarchus in the 3rd century BC, had proposed a Sun-centred (hellocentric) model of the universe that had been ignored by Ptolemy. Copernicus was unhappy with Ptolemy's model because of its awkwardness and complexity. He thought that a heliocentric system would provide a simpler explanation of planetary motions and could return cosmology to the perfection of circular motions, getting rid of deferents, epicycles, and equants. In Copernicus' universe the Sun is at the centre, the Moon moves in a circular orbit around the Earth, and the planets, including the Earth, move in large circular orbits around the Sun. The stars remain on a sphere at great distance. Copernicus's universe was: finite in size; heliocentric (Sun at centre); _ based on perfect mathematical forms (circles). In his attempt to get the motion right, Copernicus ended up with a system almost as complex as that of Ptolemy. Brahe and Kepler Tycho Brahe (1546-1601) was a Danish astronomer who made incredibly careful and accurate observations of planetary positions using the best apparatus available (prior to the use of telescopes). He also speculated on the structure of the universe, but it was his successor as Imperial Mathematician of the Holy Roman Empire, Johannes Kepler (1571-1630), who inherited and used his data and constructed one of the most important models of all. Kepler accepted Copernicus's basic heliocentric sytem but realised that it could only be used if the planets moved in elliptical rather than circular orbits. He proposed three laws of planetary motion that would later be explained by Newton's theory of gravitation. 1 Planets move in elliptical orbits with the Sun as one focus. 2 A straight line from the Sun to the planet sweeps out equal areas in equal times. 3 The cube of the planet's mean distance from the Sun divided by the square of the orbital period is the same for all planets (r3/T2 = constant). Galileo

Galileo did not invent the telescope, but he was probably the first to use it for systematic astronomical observations. His early discoveries included mountains and craters on the Moon, and moons orbiting Jupiter. The first confirmed that astronomical bodies are not all perfect spheres (as had been suggested), and the second that the Earth is not the only centre for rotation (as in the geocentric theories). He promoted the Copernican heliocentric theory but was attacked by the Catholic Church and placed under threat of torture. In the end he was forced to recant, although it is quite clear he in no way changed his opinion on the matter. Newton Isaac Newton built on the work of Galileo and developed his laws of mechanics. When he tried to explain the motions of the planets he did so by asking what forces would be needed to give them their observed motions. This led to the idea of gravity, an attractive force exerted by all masses on all other masses. The Moon, for example, would move in a straight line at constant velocity if no resultant force acted on it. In fact it moves in a near-circular path. Gravitational attraction toward the Earth acts as a centripetal force for this circular motion. More detailed analysis showed that the attraction depends on the product of masses and the inverse square of their separation. F= Gmlm2 12 He used this equation to derive Kepler's laws and predict planetary motions in great detail. Newton's law allowed detailed calculations to be made, and led to many discoveries. For example, slight irregularities in the orbit of Uranus suggested the existence of an undiscovered planet. Calculations told astronomers where to point their telescopes and Neptune was, discovered (1845). Pluto was discovered in a similar way. Nowadays periodic variations in the motions of distant stars are used to search for other planetary systems. Newtonian gravity is a purely attractive force. He realized that the Sun must be the centre of the Solar System but saw no reason to place it at the centre of the universe; in fact, in an infinite universe there is no centre. So Newton's universe was: centreless infinite based on mathematical laws of motion and gravitation.