节听科学级一部分讲座passage2 lecture 1vassage2.pdfVIP

Lecture1

Listentopartofalectureinahistoryofscienceclass.

Professor:OK,wehavebeentalkingabouthowthroughouthistory,itwasoftendifficultfor

peopletogiveupideaswhichhavelongbeentakenforgrantedasscientifictruth,evenifthose

ideaswerefalse.InAstronomy,forexample,thedistinctionweenthesolarsystemandthe

universewasn’tclearuntilmoderntimes.TheancientGreeksbelievedthatwhatwecalledthe

solarsystemwasinfacttheentireuniverse,andthattheuniversewasgeocentric.Geocentric

meansEarth-centered,sothegeocentricviewholdsthattheSun,theplanets,andthestars,all

revolvearoundtheEarth,whichisstationary.Ofcourse,wenowknowthattheplanets,including

Earth,revolvearoundtheSun,andthatthesolarsystemisonlyatinypartoftheuniverse.

So,whydidtheancientGreeksbelievethattheEarthwasthecenteroftheuniverse?Well,it

madesensetothem.ObservationsoftheskymakeitappearasiftheSun,themoon,andthe

starsallrevolvearoundtheEartheveryday,whiletheEarthitselfstayedinoneplace.Andthis

viewisalsosupportedbytheirphilosophicalandreligiousbeliefsabouttheoriginandstructure

oftheuniverse.Itwaspresentedintheworksofwell-knownGreekphilosophersasearlyasthe

fourthcenturyB.C.E.,andthegeocentrictheorycontinuetoprevailinWesternthoughtfor

almost2,000years,untilthe17thcentury.

Now,what’stheespeciallyinterestingisthatwhenastronomicalobservationsweremadethat

seemedtobeinconsistentwiththegeocentricview,theancientGreeksdidnotreallyconsider

alternativetheories.Itwassointuitive,sosensiblethattheEarthwasthecenteroftheuniverse

thatastronomersfoundwaystoexplainthoseseeminglyi