History of the inductive sciences, from the earliest to the present timeWhewell, William
History
History of the inductive sciences, from the earliest to the present time
Whewell, William
Science -- History
[Note 114\3: Ptolemy determined the Radius and the Periodic Time of
his two circles for each Planet in the following manner: For the
_inferior_ Planets, that is, Mercury and Venus, he took the Radius of
the Deferent equal to the Radius of the Earth's orbit, and the Radius
of the Epicycle equal to that of the Planet's orbit. For these
Planets, according to his assumption, the Periodic Time of the Planet
in its Epicycle was to the Periodic Time of the Epicyclical Centre on
the Deferent, as the _synodical_ Revolution of the Planet to the
_tropical_ Revolution of the Earth above the Sun. For the three
_superior_ Planets, Mars, Jupiter, and Saturn, the Radius of the
Deferent was equal to the Radius of the Planet's orbit, and the Radius
of the Epicycle was equal to the Radius of the Earth's orbit; the
Periodic Time on the Planet in its Epicycle was to the Periodic Time
of the Epicyclical Centre on the Deferent, as the _synodical_
Revolution of the Planet to the _tropical_ Revolution of the same
Planet.
Ptolemy might obviously have made the geometrical motions of all the
Planets correspond with the observations by one of these two modes
of construction; but he appears to have adopted this double form of
the theory, in order that in the inferior, as well as in the
superior Planets, he might give the smaller of the two Radii to the
Epicycle: that is, in order that he might make the smaller circle
move round the larger, not _vice versâ_.--_Littrow's Notes._]
I shall here close my account of the astronomical progress of the
Greek School. My purpose is only to illustrate the principles on
which the progress of science depends, and therefore I have not at
all pretended to touch upon every part of the subject. Some portion
of the ancient theories, as, for instance, the mode of accounting
for the motions of the moon and planets in latitude, are
sufficiently analogous to what has been explained, not to require
any more especial notice. Other parts of Greek astronomical
knowledge, as, for instance, their acquaintance with refraction, did
not assume any clear or definite form, and can only be considered as
the prelude to modern discoveries on the same subject. And before we
can with propriety pass on to these, there is a long and remarkable,
though unproductive interval, of which some account must be given.
_Sect._ 8.--_Arabian Astronomy._
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