.jpg)
The earliest known
development of the geocentric model of the universe is traced back to Greek
philosopher Thales, who lived from 624 to 546 B.C. His prediction was that the universe fundamentally consists
of water and the Earth is a flat disk floating in an infinite ocean. While this was not widely supported in
his time, his idea addressed the question, “What is the universe made of?”
without making use of any supernatural explanations. This marks a noteworthy, in my opinion, transition in the
world of modern science.
Though Thales did not
provide testable predictions about his observations, he did maintain the first
and, in part, the second hallmarks of science. The first hallmark of science states that modern science
seeks explanations for observed phenomena that rely solely on natural causes,
in which Thales does through his observations, not through supernatural
phenomena. Second, Thales
formulates a prediction of a model of the universe described as simply as
possible.
Attached here is a
very easy demonstration of what Thales observed in the sky during his
time. I understand you do not want
to write on your umbrella but from these instructions you can get the gist of
it.
Thales
described the Earth with a single vast sphere that carried stars and revolved
daily around an axis through the Pole Star, the center of the umbrella in the
demonstration and the sphere of the heavens. Thales and his daring predictions are memorable to me, as he
inherently suggested the world is understandable, a concept unthinkable for
anyone to consider in his time.
The Cosmic Perspective: Stars, Galaxies, and Cosmology (pp.
59-71)
I really liked your post about the greek philosopher that we encountered in class and in the book. I too believe he was an extremely important philosopher to ancient Greece. I might argue that he was the most important because although he did not make testable predictions, like you said, he laid the groundwork for modern science by relying on observation rather than relying on mythology. I read somewhere that it could be said that he is the father of modern science, which is extremely important. I also read that he was quite the mathematician, which you can see on http://www.math.tamu.edu/~dallen/history/thales2/thales2.html
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed reading this blog post as well! I agree with the importance of Thales' ideas and major contributions to modern science. I did a bit more reading on Thales, just to find out a little more about him. His list of contributions is truly remarkable, especially when thinking about how innovative he was during his time, which then relied on supernatural explanations. His never ending quest for greater knowledge of the universe is incredibly impressive. (Here's the site I used to get more information: http://www.iep.utm.edu/thales/)
ReplyDeleteI agree that Thales was extremely important and revolutionary for science. Though he was wrong, his mistakes sparked inquiries never before imagined. This umbrella idea is very well explained and helpful in understanding his thinking. I also found it ironic that the use of an umbrella is so helpful in understanding one of his main concepts because Thales' main principle was that the nature of thing was water... and umbrellas are helpful when it comes to water. You can read more about Thales here http://www.iep.utm.edu/thales/#H5
ReplyDelete