NATS 1745 Lecture Notes - Lecture 4: Ancient Greek Astronomy, Leap Year, Anaximander
14 May 2016
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Before: people observed heavens (sun, moon, planets, stars) and watched for patterns and could make predictions, reasoning for events: gods, no attempt at rational explanation. This changed with ancient greeks: they constructed their world view based on sense perceptions". There was a change in modes of thinking and also motivation: a need for more accurate calendar. Also positions of planets are problematic (they follow ecliptic pattern in sky but sometimes reverse their path-go backward) There was a movement away from straight observations of nature + predictions based on patterns. Forwards artificial construct of the model that represents nature. Attempted to explain natural phenomena without reference to mythology, using rational explanations. Material unity underlying world, that our sense can register. There wasn"t an infinite set of possibilities for events (view of miletus) He thought there was a cyclical universe- worlds came into being from the infinite, and they got re-absorbed into the infinite.
