2014-Space, Time & Cosmos L ecture 1

1. 2014-Space, Time & CosmosLecture 1 Prof. Ken Tsang

2. SCIT 4020: Space, Time and Cosmos • Instructor: Prof. Ken Tsang • Office: E-409-R9 • Phone: 3620606 • Email: kentsang@uic.edu.hk • TA: ??

3. Assessment • Continuous Assessment (60%) • Quizzes (10%) • Assignments (10%) • Mid-term test (10%) • Project (30%) • Final Examination (40%)

4. Web-page for this class • http://www.uic.edu.hk/~kentsang/cosmos14/SCIT4020cosmos2014.htm • Link from Ispace as well

6. Cosmos • originates from a Greek term κόσμος(kosmos) meaning "orderly or harmonious arrangement“, opposite to chaos. • In many Slavic languages such as Russian, Bulgarian, and Serbian, the word Космос (cosmos) also means "outer space". • In Mandarin Chinese, cosmos and universe (from Latin universum) are both translated as 宇宙 (yǔzhòu), which literally translated means space-time.

7. Cosmology • Pythagoras ( ~570 - 495 BC) is said to have been the first philosopher to apply the term cosmos to the Universe, reflecting his belief that the universe is an orderly arrangement that can be understood. • “Cosmology” is a recent word (first used in 1730 in Christian Wolff's CosmologiaGeneralis). But the study of Universe has a long history involving science, philosophy, esotericism, and religion.

12. Creation according to Christian & Jewish Bible

18. The size of the Moon • By comparing the size of the Earth’s shadow cast upon the Moon during a lunar eclipse, it was possible to estimate the size of the Moon compared with the Earth. Diameter of Moon ~3200 km • Eratosthenes estimated the distance to the Moon as well, ~100 times of its diameter, 320,000 km.

19. How did the Greek philosophers know the size of the Sun? In third century BC, Aristarchus argued that moonshine was reflected sunshine, and the half moon must occur when the Moon, Sun & Earth formed a right-angled triangle. He measured the other angle (~87°, the correct value is 89.85°) in this right-angled triangle and used trigonometry to work out the ratio between the Earth-Moon & Sun-Moon distances. This means the Sun is 400 times further away than the Moon. Finally, the size of the Sun is determined during a solar eclipse, by comparing the relative size of the Sun and the Moon to an observer on Earth.

20. Modern measurements Moon orbital radius: 363,295 - 405,503 km Radius: 1,737.10 km Earth’s orbital radius: 147,098,290 - 152,098,232 km Radius: 6,371.0 km Sun diameter: 1.392684×106 km

23. Geocentric cosmology Aristotle postulated a geocentric cosmology which was widely accepted up until the 1500s. This view was perfected by Ptolemy (~AD 90 – 168). From the 3rd century to the 1500s, the dominant view held that the Earth was the center of the universe.

25. Apparent retrograde motion of Mars in 2003 as seen from Earth

29. The Universe of Aristotle and Ptolemy The Ptolemaic order of spheres from Earth outward is: Moon Mercury Venus Sun Mars Jupiter Saturn Fixed Stars Sphere of Prime Mover

30. Figure of the heavenly bodies — An illustration of the Ptolemaic geocentric system by Portuguese cosmographer and cartographer Bartolomeu Velho, 1568 (BibliothèqueNationale, Paris)

32. A brief history of ancient Western Civilization 800 BC (Greek epic poem) Iliad & Odyssey Socrates 470? ~ 399 BC; Plato 424? ~ 348 BC Aristotle 384? ~ 322 BC Greek First Roman Emperor: Augustus 63 BC-14 AD Roman Empire Constantine I legalized Christianity in Roman Empire, 330 AD moved the capital to Constantinople 395 AD Christianity became official state religion Byzantine Empire 330-1453 AD 476 AD End of the western Roman Empire Germanic Roman general Odoacer deposed Emperor Romulus Augustulus

33. Homer's Iliad and the Odyssey: Trojan War The Trojan War was waged against the city of Troy by the Achaeans (Greeks) after Paris of Troy took Helen from her husband Menelaus, king of Sparta. The ancient Greeks thought that the Trojan War was a historical event that had taken place in the 13th or 12th century BC, and believed that Troy was located in modern-day Turkey.

34. Alexander the Great (356 –323 BC)

36. Shakespearean tragedy: Antony and Cleopatra The last pharaoh of Ancient Egypt, Cleopatra, consummated a liaison with Julius Caesar that solidified her power. After Caesar's assassination in 44 BC, she aligned with Mark Antony (Roman general and important supporter of Julius Caesar) in opposition to Caesar's legal heir, Gaius Julius Caesar Octavianus (Augustus). After losing the Battle of Actium to Octavian's forces, Antony & Cleopatra committed suicide.

37. The Printing Press • The world's first movable type printing technology was invented and developed in China by Bi Sheng (毕升？-1051) between the years 1041 and 1048. [沈括《梦溪笔谈》] • Re-invented and improved by a goldsmith from Mainz, Germany, Johannes Gutenberg, ~1450.

38. Wine Press Screw Carolingian Script Paper Moveable type

39. First book ever printed on a printing press using moveable type: The Gutenberg Bible ~1450 The Printing Press

40. Why Printing Press is so important to the Scientific Revolution • Books became more affordable to ordinary people (cost producing a book becomes 300 times cheaper). • No more transcription errors, making knowledge accumulation much easier. • “nothing new under the sun”, ancient discoveries soon became forgotten.

41. Books produced per Year

42. Economic Impact of the Printing Press

43. The Historical Revolt • Consequence of the invention of movable type printing press • In 1517, Martin Luther started the Protestant Reformation (宗教改革) • In science, the spread of Heliocentric cosmology and the inductive method of reasoning with experimental data

45. Pre-Copernicus heliocentric models Early traces of a heliocentric model are found in several anonymous Vedic Sanskrit texts composed in ancient India before the 7th century BCE. In the sixth century the Indian astronomer and mathematician Aryabhata anticipated elements of Copernicus's work. Aristarchus of Samos in the 3rd century BCE proposed what was the first scientific model of a heliocentric solar system: the Earth and all other planets revolving around the Sun, the Earth rotating around its axis daily, the Moon in turn revolving around the Earth once a month. His heliocentric work has not survived.

46. History of Copernicanism In 1514 Copernicus made available to friends a short hand-written manuscript describing his ideas about the heliocentric hypothesis. Thereafter he continued gathering data for a more detailed work. In 1533, Johann Albrecht Widmannstetter, secretary of the pope, delivered in Rome a series of lectures outlining Copernicus' theory. The lectures were heard with interest by Pope Clement VII and several Catholic cardinals. Copernicus' work was in its final form in 1536, and rumors about his theory had reached educated people all over Europe. Despite urgings from many, Copernicus delayed the publication of his book, perhaps from fear of criticism.

47. Roman Catholic Church's decree Copernicus died in Frombork on 24 May 1543. Legend has it that the first printed copy of De Revolutionibus was placed in his hands on the very day that he died. It has been much debated why it was not until six decades later that the Catholic Church took any official action against Copernicus's work. In March 1616, the Roman Catholic Church's Congregation of the Index issued a decree suspending De Revolutionibus until it could be "corrected“.

48. Main points of Copernicus' theory •There is no one center of all the celestial circles or spheres. •The center of the earth is not the center of the universe, but only of gravity and of the lunar sphere. •All the spheres revolve about the sun as their midpoint, and therefore the sun is the center of the universe.