The ballet of the planets
Subtitle: a mathematician's musings on the elegance of planetary motion
By: Donald C. Benson
Publisher: Oxford University Press
Published: 2012
Place of publication: New York
Language: eng
Number of pages: 178
ISBN-13: 9780199891009
Subjects: Planetary theory; History
Description: "Benson shows that ancient theories of planetary motion were based on the assumptions that the Earth was the center of the universe and the planets moved in a uniform circular motion. Since ancient astronomers noted that occasionally a planet would exhibit retrograde motion--would seem to reverse its direction and move briefly westward--they concluded that the planets moved in epicyclic curves, circles with smaller interior loops, similar to the patterns of a child's Spirograph. With the coming of the Copernican revolution, the retrograde motion was seen to be apparent rather than real, leading to the idea that the planets moved in ellipses. This laid the ground for Newton's great achievement--integrating the concepts of astronomy and mechanics--which revealed not only how the planets moved, but also why. Throughout, Benson focuses on a science based on naked-eye observation--the science of a simpler time when the planets were mere points of light and five in number--which makes it easy for the modern novice to grasp the work of these pioneers of astronomy."--Jacket.
Notes: Includes bibliographical references and index.