Please provide answers to the questions below: The Copernican “Revolution” 1.The

Question

Please provide answers to the questions below:

The Copernican “Revolution”

1.The historical events that led to our understanding of planetary motion and the current model of our universe are detailed in the “Infinitely Reasonable” excerpt from Burke’s The Day the Universe Changed. The following questions explore key problem solving concepts that are exemplified in this historical case study, particularly with respect to the factors that impacted the progression of change for this specific scientific paradigm (astronomy).

a.Describe some of the precipitating events that led Copernicus to develop his heliocentric model of the universe. Were these events anticipated or bombshells? Repeat this exercise for Galileo.

b.Explain how the highly adaptive techniques used by Brahe and Kepler led to an innovative solution that more accurately explained planetary motion. How does this example illustrate the catalytic nature of change in terms of style?

c.Within this historical case study, when would you characterize the progression as ‘normal science’? At which point(s) did the scientific community reach ‘science in crisis’? How did the transition between these ‘states’ occur?

d.Based on this historical case study, provide examples of scientists who you believe were more adaptive problem solvers, as well as those that you would consider more innovative. Justify your views in each case.

Explanation / Answer

a)

- Copernicus was studying the movement of planets as well as movement of Sun.

- Initially he followed the age old Ptolemic system , where erath was considered the center of the system of planets.

- However,during his studies he noticed that all planets other than Sun have the same annual movement, which he could explain only by placing Sun at center of the planetary system

- With this model he could also explain why planets Mercury and Venus ( which he placed betweeen Earth and Sun)appear smaller and fuller when they are on the far side of Sun relative to earth. When these planets are on the same side as Earth with reference to sun they appear larger and honed.

- He could explain the retrogade motion of planets like Mars and Jupiter with reference to Earth, by assuming that Earth reference frame in motion rather than being static.

- It also explained why Mars and Jupiter apear much larger some times ,because they are significantly closer when they are in Oppposition than when in conjunction.

For non-scientific reasons this theory was a bomb shell and Copernicus desisted from publishing it till death. In his own time it was not considered a scientific bomb shell since Ptolemic theory was also able to predict planetary movement.

Galileo's observations with his telescope went on to confirm Copernicus theories and also went on to remove shortfalls in Copernican model.He discovered phases of Venus, moons of Jupiter, and found the shapes and form of the Moon and Sun.

b) Tycho Brahe was an experimental astronomer who made large number of observations and systematically plotted and charted heavenly body movements in the sky. Kepler,his student, on the other hand was a theoritical physicist who tried to fit all data collected by Brahe into a mathematical framework. Using these observations kepler came to the conclusion that planets moved around the Sun in Elliptical paths and that their path swept equal areas in equal measures of time in their motion around Sun. Thus if a planet is nearer to Sun ,then it would move faster in its orbit to increase the area swept in a given period of time.He also concluded that square of time period of a planet around Sun is proportional to cube of the semi-major axis of its elliptical path. The efforts of Kepler over the data collected by Brahe can be considered as one of the first cases of experimental astronomy being backed by theoritical frame work and vice versa. In later days scientists like Einstein made theoritical prediction which were to be backed by experimental data much later in time.

c) The work of Brahe-Kepler would constitute the progression of normal science - with experimental data backing theoritical framework.The works of Copernicus can be as studies in period of crisis since Ptolemic theory could not explain many phenomena and hence had reached a dead end. The transition between these phases was lead by discovery of the world of measurement in astronomy.

d) Innovation is definitely the work of Copernicus because he turned the world upside down. In contrast Kepler can be considered to be an adaptive problem solver, who adapted his theory to available experimental data.

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