HUMAN 1C Lecture 3: Lecture 3
Document Summary
Second example of application by galileo of his own method concerns objections to the. Copernican system: if the earth moved from west to east, supporters of ptolemy argued, we should be observing all sorts of strange phenomena. Example a stone dropped from a tower should not fall along the vertical grazing the tower, but should rather be left behind the tower as the latter heads east following the earth. The case of the earth is the same as the case of a ship. Drop a stone from the mast of the ship. Whether the ship is moving or not the stone is moving vertically to the ground. This is an argument by analogy, which is weak. Absence of a strong wind; the atmosphere closest to the earth rotates with the earth as well. This is why you don"t feel the wind. The tower, the stone, and yourself are traveling at the speed of the earth.
