The Readings 1 assignment may seem longer than usual this week, but that is
because the two Reading assignments this week are best completed together. For
this reason, the Readings 1 assignment is not due until Thursday night, at the
same time as the Readings 2 assignment. You will see that both the study questions
and the content for the two assignments overlap significantly.
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T or F ? Greek scholars who
came to Italy because of the Turkish threat in the 15th century held to
a Sun-centered view of the cosmos.
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T or F? If the celestial spheres
were actual physical structures, we would expect to see the far side of
the Moon about half of the time.
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T or F? According to common conceptions
of the geocentric cosmos, the power, dignity and vigor of the spheres increases
as one moves up and away from the Earth.
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T or F? In geocentric systems,
eccentric models were used to explain retrograde motion.
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T or F? In an epicycle model,
planets retrograde when they lie at their greatest distances from the Earth.
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T or F? In an equant model, a
body will appear to move with uniform motion as seen from the center of
a deferent circle.
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T or F? Islamic astronomers rejected
equant systems because they are impossible to model with rigid spheres.
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T or F? Islamic astronomers rejected
eccentric systems because they are impossible to model with rigid spheres.
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T or F? Accurate predictions on
the basis of Earth-centered models were beyond the reach of Renaissance
astronomers such as Regiomontanus.
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T or F? A lunar occultation is
the same as a lunar eclipse.
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T or F? In Italian universities,
Copernicus studied law and medicine.
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T or F? Celio Calcagnini argued
that the Earth moves and the Sun stands still.
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T or F? Schoenberg, a Roman Catholic
Cardinal, invited Copernicus to publish his Sun-centered system at the Cardinal’s
expense.
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T or F? Rheticus summarized the
main points of Copernicus’ new system in his Narratio Prima, or
First Account, dedicated to the Lutheran Duke Albrecht of Prussia.
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T or F? Although Copernicus was
a Polish Roman Catholic, the De revolutionibus of Copernicus was
edited and printed by German Lutherans.
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T or F? Copernicus dedicated the
De revolutionibus to the Pope.
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T or F? Copernicus rejected geocentric,
Ptolemaic models of astronomy because they were contradicted by his observations.
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T or F? Copernicus rejected geocentric,
Ptolemaic models of astronomy because they were overly complex, containing
far too many circles.
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T or F? Copernicus relied on observations
to justify his theory (more so than to discover it).
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T or F? Copernicus eliminated
Ptolemy’s equant in order to reform astronomy on the principle of uniform
circular motion.
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T or F? The most important advantage
offered by Copernicus was a vision of the universe as a coherent and integrated
system, where all the planets move together in elegant harmony.
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T or F? Ptolemaic models for the
various planets were integrated together, sharing the same center (namely,
the Earth).
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T or F? The Ptolemaic system determined
specific values for the distances of the planets, and also specified their
order or sequence.
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T or F? The Copernican system
determined specific values for the distances of the planets, and also specified
their order or sequence.
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T or F? Because of the relativity
of motion, the models of Ptolemy and Copernicus produce equivalent observations.
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T or F? From antiquity, stellar
parallax was not observed, and most astronomers took this observation as
a decisive refutation of Sun-centered theories.
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T or F? Copernican models used
a total number of circles about the same as for Ptolemy.
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T or F? Osiander and other Lutherans
at Wittenberg admired Copernican models even though they thought that they
might not be physically true.
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T or F? The system of Tycho Brahe
preserved the elegance of the Copernican models in which all the planets
revolve around the Sun.
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T or F? Tycho’s system placed
the Sun at the center of the universe.
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T or F? Tycho’s system contradicted
belief in the solid celestial spheres.
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T or F? In 1596, Kepler “proved”
Copernicanism using the five regular Pythagorean solids.
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T or F? Kepler reaffirmed the
principle of uniform circular motion.
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T or F? In Catholic territories,
the De revolutionibus was like a “book nobody read,” and was neglected
until Galileo drew attention to it in the early 17th century.
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T or F? In the Starry Messenger
(Sidereus nuncius), Galileo refuted the objection to Copernicus
based upon stellar parallax.
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T or F? In 1616, Galileo was instructed
by the Inquisition to renounce Copernicanism.
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T or F? From 1616 until the 19th
century, Catholics were prohibited from reading or discussing Copernicus’
De Revolutionibus.
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T or F? Widespread acceptance
of the De revolutionibus required a revolution in physics.
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T or F? Copernicus rejected the
ancient idea of solid celestial spheres.
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T or F? Copernicus rejected the
ancient idea of a hierarchical cosmos, arguing instead that the Earth’s
vantage point is typical and unremarkable.
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T or F? Copernicus rejected the
ancient ideal of uniform circular motion.
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T or F? Copernicus rejected Earth-centered
ideas because he gave more weight to observations than to mathematics.
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T or F? Copernicus rejected Earth-centered
models because of telescopic observations.
