Brahe proposed his model not as an improvement of the Copernican framework, but as an alternative to it. The modification consists of the 3 Keplerian laws of planetary motion. The orbits of the various planets and the moon no longer circular but elliptical. Kepler's laws, that is, explain why the bodies displayed to observers on this particular planet within the overall system look the way they do in the night sky, as recorded over time in the archives. The physical hypotheses that Newton brings to bear upon the Keplerian description are the famous 3 laws of motion plus the law of gravity.
Teleological explanation is of two sorts.
Now it happens that the period we are examining is one in which the very concept of what makes science science undergoes a profound change. Copernicus regarded the conformity of his hypothesis with received ideas of God's character and intentions as a major enhancement of its overall plausibility, over that of the Ptolemaic alternative. Go to the Home Page of the course . Suggestions, comments and questions are welcome. Contents copyright 1999 by Lyman A. Baker .