Historical Astronomers in Context

Posted on February 6, 2024 by The Cosmic Traveler

by me

Galileo Galilei: Born on February 15, 1564, Died on January 8, 1642

Two major historical events during Galileo’s lifetime:

  1. On Jan 1, 1597, Shakespeare published his play “Romeo and Juliet”. This is one of his most famous plays that is still read/watched to this day.
  2. On Jan 1, 1577, Sir Francis Drake embarked on his famous voyage around the world. He was the first Englishman to go around the world and increase our knowledge of the world’s geography.

A famous historical figure during Galileo’s lifetime:

 Queen Elizabeth I: Born on September 7, 1533, Died on March 24, 1603. Queen Elizabeth I established a secure Church of England and laid out a compromise between Roman Catholicism and Protestantism after narrowly escaping an execution after a failed rebellion against Queen Mary.

Brief Reflection:

I sometimes forget that all these different famous people actually all overlap. I always think that oh Shakespeare is this old and Galileo was during this time, but all these people actually lived pretty close to each other. While Galileo was looking at Stars, Shakepeare was making plays, English pilgrims landed at Plymouth rock, and Ottomans were on conquests. All these people are so different from each other, but they all existed very close to each other. Makes me think about the beauty of history. Maybe something similar is happening to us right now, we just have to wait and see.

Posted in Class, Historical, Science | Tagged , , , , , , | Comments Off on Historical Astronomers in Context

Historical Astronomers in Context

Posted on February 5, 2024 by Justin Kim

I chose to learn more about Isaac Newton! He was born on December 25th, 1642 and died on March 31st, 1727.

Isaac Newton discovered the law of universal gravitation that helped explain the force that determines the motion of celestial bodies. Newton established the three laws of motion, the law of inertia, the law of acceleration, and the law of action and reaction, which are fundamental principles used in astronomy. Isaac Newton also invented calculus which is a powerful mathematical tool that can be used to analyze the motion of celestial bodies.

What was happening during Isaace Newton’s lifetime?

In 1666, The Great Fire of London took place during which a significant portion of the city of London was burned down, leading to improvements in urban planning.

The Salem Witch Trials occurred in 1692 until 1693 in colonial Massachusetts and it saw the execution of nineteen women accused of witchcraft and the death of six other innocent people during interrogation.

Antonio Vivaldi was born on March 4th, 1678 and died on July 28th, 1741. He was one of the most influential composers that composed in the classical Baroque style, writing masterpieces such as “The Four Seasons” and “Gloria in D major” that fundamentally influenced the trajectory of classical Baroque music.

Here are some of my thoughts:

While Isaac Newton was establishing calculus and the fundamental laws of physics that still are foundational to almost every denomination of contemporary science and mathematics, women were being hanged for witchcraft in Massachusetts and the city of London was recovering from a devastating fire that today would have been stopped within minutes. These events in relation to the discoveries of Isaac Newton seem disjointed but I believe that this will always be the case when observing the past. We will never have a clear idea of what it must have been like to live as someone from the late 17th and early 18th centuries just as future generations will not be able to understand our current one as well as we do. It may also seem disjointed in our current world to have high speed internet and reusable rockets but still have the whole world shut down due to a virus. There will always be disparities between what we believe to be “current’ or “of the past” or “of the future”.

Posted in Class, Historical | Tagged , , | Comments Off on Historical Astronomers in Context

Historical Astronomers in Context

Posted on February 5, 2024 by Jack Abrams

Isaac Newton (January 4, 1643 – March 31, 1727): Isaac Newton was a pivotal figure in astronomy and physics due to his concepts of the laws of motion and universal gravitation. Newton’s laws of universal gravitation, which were formed from his three laws of motion, state that every particle attracts every other particle with a force that is proportional to the product of their masses and inversely proportional to the square of the distance between their centers. Newton’s work, known as the “Philosophiae Naturalis Principia Mathematica ” is known as one of the most important works in science and combines the concepts of planetary motion and gravitational theory. Newton also built the first practical reflecting telescope, which today is known as the Newtonian telescope and is still a very popular design.

Painting of Isaac Newton
Painting of Isaac Newton

Events during Newton’s lifetime:

  1. The English Civil War (August 22, 1642 – September 3, 1651): The English Civil War took place between supporters of Charles I and opposing groups of Charles’s kingdoms in the British Isles over Englannd’s governance and issues of religious freedoms. The war ended with the execution of Charles I, leading to the coronation of Oliver Cromwell.
  2. The Great Plague of London (1665 – 1666): The Great Plague of London was the last major outbreak of the bubonic plague to occur in England and killed an estimated 100,0000 people, almost a quarter of London’s population. 

People alive during Newton’s lifetime:

  1. Johann Sebastian Bach (March 31, 1685 – July 28, 1750): Bach was a German composer and musician and is known today as one of the greatest composers in music history. He is known for his orchestral music from cello suites and sonatas, to keyboard and organ works. 

Reflecton

It was very interesting to explore the historical context and events that unfolded during the lives of these famous astronomers. It gave me a totally new perspective and glimpse into this transformative period where so much scientific discovery was taking place. It’s also interesting that thanks to Einstein’s work, we now know that some of Newton’s views of gravity were a bit underdeveloped and didn’t reflect the true dynamics going on for every scenario, like Mecurry’s peculiar orbit around the Sun. 

Posted in Historical | Tagged , , | Comments Off on Historical Astronomers in Context

Historical Astronomers in Context

Posted on February 5, 2024 by Owen Purcell

Historical Figures

Nicolaus Copernicus was born on February 19, 1473, and died on May 24, 1543.  Johannes Kepler was born on December 27, 1571, and died on November 15, 1630.  Tycho Brahe was born on December 14, 1546, and died on October 24, 1601.  Galileo Galilei was born on February 15, 1564, and died on January 8, 1642.  Isaac Newton was born on December 25, 1642, and died on March 20, 1727.

I made a timeline which shows how Brahe, Galileo, and Kepler were all contemporaries, but Copernicus came before, and Newton came after.

Kepler was vital to the development of astronomy because he developed a number of mathematical laws that are vital to our understanding of orbiting objects in space.  In his time, these new laws were able to help confirm the heliocentric theory of the solar system, as well as track and predict astronomical events.  Even today, his laws are taught and used in astronomy to make predictions about everything from orbiting debris from spacecraft to colliding galaxies. (https://www.britannica.com/biography/Johannes-Kepler)

When Johannes Kepler was 29 years old, Jacopo Peri debuted an innovative show that mixed a full orchestral score with a plot and singing characters at a grand theater in Venice.  Today, we consider this, Euridice, to be the first opera ever written and performed.  It sparked centuries of tradition that expanded all around Europe, and made a massive impact on what people imagined secular music could be.  When he was 49 years old, the Mayflower would land in Cape Cod.  This is considered to be one of the founding moments of the American identity, as it was one of the earliest successful British colonies in North America, and many Americans can trace their heritage back to people on the ship. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Euridice_(Peri))

At the beginning of Kepler’s life, the Protestant reformation had largely concluded, but the Catholic church was still in the midst of its counter-reformation.  This largely culminated in one of the most important events in the history of the church, the Council of Trent, headed by Pope Pius V.  Pius V is known, naturally, as one of the great reformers of the church, greatly changing the way the pope acted in his role as spiritual leader, especially in his rebukes of corrupt church practices. (https://www.franciscanmedia.org/saint-of-the-day/saint-pius-v/)

I find it fascinating that what we consider to be one of the oldest traditions of European music is so recent in its development.  It is also fascinating to see how little we actually know about music before this time period.  Unlike in astronomy, which tends to build on any existing knowledge, music is a continually rich and evolving cultural expression which can be lost with time. It also greatly informs how I imagine the lives of people like Copernicus.  His musical tastes would have been so foreign to ours.

Posted in Science | Tagged , , , , | Comments Off on Historical Astronomers in Context

Historical Astronomers In Context

Posted on February 5, 2024 by Ethan Jones

Galileo Galilei (2/15/1564-1/8/1642) began his important contributions to astronomy with his further development of the telescope. According to Wikipedia, he has many important contributions. One of his notable contributions is the progress he made in observing the moon. He focused on the moon’s craters, valleys, and mountains. He discovered Jupiter’s four largest moons through observing them and taking notes on how sometimes they disappear behind Jupiter. He observed and documented the phases of Venus. He observed sunspots. He was also an advocate for the heliocentric theory as opposed to the geocentric view.

Galileo lived during several historical events. In September 1620, the Mayflower set sail from England on its way to America. And in 1636, Harvard University was founded. Harvard is the oldest University in America. William Shakespeare (born 4/23/1564 died 4/23/1616) was an important historical figure that lived at the same time as Galileo. I’m sure everyone knows who Shakespeare is, he wrote many great pieces of literature throughout his life and his influence is still felt today.

What really interested me in doing this is how much these historical events overlapped. I always assumed that there was a gap between the events, but it comes to find out they are all very close to each other. It seems crazy that Galileo and Shakespeare were born in the same year, 1564, and that Harvard was founded 16 years after the Mayflower set sail. I think my presupposition that they didn’t overlap comes from the fact that American history and European history were taught in two separate classes in high school.

Posted in Historical | Tagged , , | Comments Off on Historical Astronomers In Context

Historical Astronomers in Context

Posted on February 4, 2024 by Andres Becerra

Nicolaus Copernicus

Born: February 19th, 1472

Died: May 24th, 1543

Image by: Britannica

Nicholas Copernicus was important in astronomy because he opposed the idea that everything revolves around the Earth. He argued that we and all other planets revolved around the sun, not the Earth. He also believed that the orbits of each of the planets were not perfect circles as they had been previously assumed to be. 

Historical events that occurred in the lifetime of Copernicus

  • The “Age of Discovery” was a time period where European countries were colonizing other nations across the world. In 1500, Portuguese explorers set out for southern Africa but severely missed their destination and landed in Brazil. After landing there the Portuguese explorers decided they could benefit from the resources and people there, so they colonized Brazil under their control. 
  • In 1517 the Ottoman empire conquered Egypt by vanquishing the Mamluk army. 

Historical Figure alive at the same time as Copernicus

Henry VIII was the former king of England. The roman empire had broken ties with England at this time so in fear of England’s safety, he increased the power of England’s navy tremendously. He also created the church of England, transforming England from a catholic believing country into a protestant believing country.

Overall

It was interesting to put into perspective how long ago these things happened. Copernicus was alive and made some discoveries before the discovery of the America’s. I had never really thought of it like that. I didn’t realize it was that old. It puts into perspective that these astronomical ideas have been changing for hundreds of years and they continue to be altered and disproven today. I think that is so cool. Copernicus thought he was right with the technology that was available with him. But now we know that he had some right ideas but his calculations were off because he didn’t have the tools to properly

Posted in Historical, Science | Tagged , , , | Comments Off on Historical Astronomers in Context

Historical Astronomers in Context

Posted on February 4, 2024 by Thomas Shelton

Brittanica

Johannes Kepler: December 27, 1571 – November 15, 1630
– Kepler was originally hired by Tycho Brahe to do many calculations because brahe was not a profound mathematician. After Tycho’s death, Kepler was able to secure some of his formerly privatized data and observations to develop what would become known as Kepler’s Laws of Planetary Motion. The first law is that planetary orbits are elliptical with the Sun as the focus. The second law is that in an orbit, equal areas are swept out in equal times.Finally the third law is that there is a mathematical relationship between distance from the Sun and time taken to orbit: P2 = a3.

Timeline Context:
Events
– In 1602 the Dutch East India Company was established. This was a response to the English East India Company and granted it a monopoly on the Dutch spice trade.
– 1618 marks the beginning of the 30 Years War between Catholics and Protestants, a major religious and political struggle.
People
– William Shakespeare! Born April 26, 1564 and died April 23, 1616 (Kepler was born in 1571 and died in 1630, so they had 45 years of overlap). Commonly referred to as The Bard, William Shakespeare is believed to be the greatest playwright in human history.

Reflection
Learning in this context made me realize how wrong I was about the astrological timeline. Guys like Galileo and Newton always seemed incredibly ancient to me, but Shakespeare not so much. I certainly knew that he was old but something about him always felt contemporary. Learning that Shakespeare overlapped with many of these figures puts things into perspective.

Posted in Historical, Science | Tagged , , , | Comments Off on Historical Astronomers in Context

Copernicus in Context

Posted on February 4, 2024 by liamoneill95

Nicolaus Copernicus was born on February 19, 1473 and died on May 24, 1543. Throughout Copernicus’ life, many key historical events took place that altered the state of knowledge and culture at the time. In 1517, Martin Luther posted his 95 Theses on the door of the Castle Church in Germany. His writing criticized the Catholic Church especially due to its use of indulgences, sparking the Protestant Reformation in Europe. Two years later, Ferdinand Magellan (almost) completed his circumnavigation of the globe. This was the first time a complete circumnavigation had been complete, and it proved that the Earth was round. While Magellan didn’t do it all himself, a crew mate completed the journey following his death. Copernicus lived at the same time as Leonardo Da Vinci, who was a polymath, most known for his paintings The Last Supper and Mona Lisa. He was a key figure in the development of the Italian Renaissance, a major artistic movement at this time in Europe. It’s fascinating to me to think about just how little we used to know just 500 years ago. Putting into context the likes of Copernicus, Magellan, Martin Luther, and Da Vinci gives me an idea of just how much the world was changing during this time period. Artistically, ideologically, and scientifically, the world was moving from explaining everything with the supernatural to learning concrete facts about how the world works. Old ideas and methods were being challenged, opening the door for new discoveries and innovations across all aspects of society.

Posted in Historical | Tagged , , | Comments Off on Copernicus in Context

Historical Astronomers in Context

Posted on February 4, 2024 by sabrinaalperin

Nicholas Copernicus was an essential figure to the astronomy world because he suggested the concept of the heliocentric model of the solar system. Unlike previous astronomers who believed that planets revolve around Earth, Copernicus postulated that the Sun is at the center of the Solar System and that all the planets, including Earth, revolved about the Sun. Additionally, Copernicus suggested an order of the planets and devised a way to calculate their relative distances from the Sun. Further, Copernicus discovered that Earth spins once daily on its axis.

Copernicus lived through two crucial events to world history: The Spanish Conquest (1519-1521) and the Apparition of the Virgin de Guadalupe (1531). Between 1519 and 1521, initially in search of gold on the American mainland, Hernán Cortés, a Spanish conquistador, lead a group of conquistadors to Mexico. The group eventually reached Tenochtitlan, the Aztec capital, where they killed the Aztec emperor, Montecuzoma II, and dismantled the Aztec empire. Later, in 1531, Mexico had another powerful event happen. The Virgin of Guadalupe, the mother of Jesus, appeared to a man named Juan Diego and asked him to construct a shrine for her on the spot where she appeared. She appeared on Tepeyac Hill in the suburbs of present-day Mexico City.

Copernicus also lived during the same time period as the famous artist, Michelangelo di Lodovico Buonarroti Simoni. Italian Renaissance painter, sculptor, and architect, Michelangelo is best known for his paintings on the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel. When he was alive from March 6, 1475 to February 18, 1564, Michelangelo also sculpted the large statue of Bacchus and David. His works lead him to become a prominent figure in the development of Western art.

Learning more about the Spanish Conquest and the Apparition of the Virgin de Guadalupe, I realize how crucial Mexico was to world history during Copernicus’ lifetime. In my Latinx class, one of the topics discussed is the concept of Latinx versus Hispanic culture and how they are impacted by colonization. Reading about Cortés’ conquest of Tenochtitlan and the Aztec empire, I am appalled by his audacity to overthrow the empire. The Spanish Conquest is yet another example of how Europeans believed that they had the power to colonize the Americas. I am also beginning to realize the importance of religion to the development of Mexico and its culture. The Virgin de Guadalupe was so crucial to Mexico’s culture that she has become the national symbol of the country. Further, it is interesting to see how the Renaissance artistic movement, Spanish Conquest, and development of the heliocentric model all occurred around the same time in history.

Posted in Historical | Tagged , , | Comments Off on Historical Astronomers in Context

Historical astronomers in context

Posted on February 4, 2024 by Adriana Santos

Johannes Kepler: December 27, 1571- November 15, 1630.

Kepler was important to astronomy because he developed three laws of planetary motion. He determined that 1) planets orbit the sun on an ellipse, 2) in an orbit equal areas are swept out in equal times with planets moving faster the closer they get to a gravitational source, and 3) that p2=a3 relating to the speed in which planets orbit the sun depending on their distance. These are so important to astronomy because they changed the understanding of a heliocentric model; planets orbit the sun and that cannot be done in a perfect circular orbit. Additionally, his discovery of the orbital period2=average distance3 allowed for another equation to be made by Newton regarding mass, and now the mass can be found for anything in the universe that we can orbit.

Historical COntext

Kepler lived throughout the Enlightenment period that swept the world, but especially Europe. During this time, new political, social, and religious ideals were explored and understood in a more philosophical way. People turned away from blind belief and focused more on rationality and tangible understandings of the world around them. Led by famous philosophers, these new understandings led to major social revolutions to come.

In 1606, the Jamestown colony in Virginia was established. This became one of the most influential English colonies in the world due to trade and expanding colonization. England’s control on both sides of the Atlantic became a huge part of the empire and changed global relations.

An influential person who lived during at least part of the time that Kepler was alive was William Shakespeare (1564-1616). Shakespeare still remains one of the most prominent people in world history as he changed and created what it meant to write and perform theater. He invented many of the words we use today as well as styles of plays and writings.

Reflection

I found this assignment to be really interesting because it shows how the climate of a particular time shapes what people focus on and discover. The Enlightenment was such an important part of history, and although Kepler died before the conclusion of it, the changing mindsets and cultures of those around him allowed his ideas to come to fruition and be taken seriously. Without a movement away from total religious control, Kepler’s ideas would probably not have had as much stake and influence in society as they did. It is interesting to see how all facets of society were changing during this time as seen by the influence of Shakespeare in the arts and all of the scientific discoveries by Kepler and others. The overall expansion of the world through colonization also shows how this was a transformative time as ideas expanded in both theories and geography. 

Posted in Historical | Tagged , , | Comments Off on Historical astronomers in context