Abstract
In this chapter I look at astronomy in the premodern Western world. I discuss some of the views and assumptions that have informed its astronomy and continue to inform our understanding of the cosmos today, even though they are often unrecognized. I describe the ways in which early Western views developed into what we know today as astronomy. Comparing the ancient views with those of our modern understanding reveals hidden assumptions and philosophical commitments.
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Notes
- 1.
This position was argued for by Owen Gingerich (1975), and recent discoveries seem to lend further support to the position.
- 2.
Chippindale (2004, 10-19).
- 3.
There is a similar phenomenon in New York City people refer to as Manhattanhenge, but this seems to me more contrived, as the sunrise and sunset alignments in Manhattan don’t closely correspond to any particularly significant solar placement, such as the solstices or equinoxes. This is the case because the streets of Manhattan are aligned with the angle of the island, rather than cardinal directions or solstice sunrise/sunset directions.
- 4.
Pearson (2012).
- 5.
Bertemes et al., (2004).
- 6.
Murphy and Moore (2006, 136-159).
- 7.
All of which are Indo-European languages, related to languages such as Sanskrit and its derivates and Persian (Farsi).
- 8.
Aristotle mentions this in part of an argument to show the eternality of the cosmos in Book I of De Caelo. Kukkonen (2002, 155-158) discusses commentarial reactions to this position.
- 9.
The Chinese knew of precession at least as early as 330 CE, and likely before. The shift in the solstice position against the background of the stars due to precession was noticed at least early as the 2nd century BCE, but Yu Xi’s work clearly indicates knowledge of precession. Sun and Kistemaker write: “Yu Xi discovered a constant called shui cha, which is the difference between the lengths of the sidereal and tropical year. This he explains with the annual westward shift of the winter solstice along the ecliptic (Sun and Kistemaker.: 112). In the Han shu, there is a documented account of the effect of precession, but it is attributed to carelessness by court astronomers (Pankenier 2013: 249).
- 10.
Eudoxus is said to have studied under Plato for some time (from the account of Diogenes Laertius), as well as the sophists, when he came to Athens in his 20s, before moving on to learn from astronomers in Egypt, but it is unclear to what extent he could be considered Plato’s “student”. Eudoxus returned to Athens later in his career (Dicks 1970, 151-152).
- 11.
A detailed account of Eudoxus’ astronomical work can be found in Dicks (1970, 151-189).
- 12.
Heidarzadeh (2008 41-43). This section discusses both Tycho’s work on the 1572 supernova and the 1577 comet.
- 13.
“To the problem of accounting mathematically for the relationship between the planets’ distances and their periods, Kepler now added the question of accounting for the number of planets and their particular distances from the sun. He promptly hit upon an explanation for the latter problems. In his “polyhedral hypothesis,” he reasoned that God had used the five perfect Platonic solids as archetypes when constructing the solar system.” (Voelkel 2001, 4).
- 14.
“Kepler’s view of the relationship between appearance and reality is predicated on the idea that material substance is obedient to a divine rational plan and, indeed, was created to instantiate the archetypes. So while there is a distinction between appearance and reality, there is also a systematic relationship between them that can be explored and exploited by observing appearances in tandem with considering the causes a priori.” (Martens 2000, 68).
References
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McLeod, A. (2016). Europe and the West. In: Astronomy in the Ancient World. Historical & Cultural Astronomy. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-23600-1_8
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