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Copernicus realized that a few of the complexities would be removed if the earth and planets moved around the sun. This idea was a huge leap philosophically, since he treated the earth as one of the planets rather than as a unique body - previous scientific doctrine had held the earth to be unique.
above is Copernicus' model for the motions of Mars. At a fixed position from a point on this epicycle is the center of a larger circle. An epicycle circulates around this circle at constant speed, and Mars circulates on this epicycle at constant speed. The "simplicity" achieved over the Ptolemaic system has been lost in complexities required to achieve a reasonably accurate match to the motions of the planet. Although the new model may have preserved some sort of constant motion, the resulting improvement in symmetry or purity is of a sort that would be apparent only to its inventor, with his specific mind-set for what was monstrous about the earlier system. (G. Rieke, after T. Kuhn, "The Copernican Revolution")
Galileo Galilei (15 Feb 1564 – 8 January 1642), Galileo's championing of Copernicanism was controversial within his lifetime, when a large majority of philosophers and astronomers still subscribed to the geocentric view that the Earth is at the centre of the universe. A biography by Galileo's pupil Vincenzo Viviani stated that Galileo had dropped balls of the same material, but different masses, from the Leaning Tower of Pisa to demonstrate that their time of descent was independent of their mass. This was contrary to what Aristotle had taught: that heavy objects fall faster than lighter ones, in direct proportion to weight. While this story has been retold in popular accounts, there is no account by Galileo himself of such an experiment, and it is generally accepted by historians that it was at most a thought experiment which did not actually take place.[
After 1610, when he began publicly supporting the heliocentric view, which placed the Sun at the centre of the universe, he met with bitter opposition from some philosophers and clerics, and two of the latter eventually denounced him to the Roman Inquisition early in 1615. In February 1616, although he had been cleared of any offence, the Catholic Church nevertheless condemned heliocentrism as "false and contrary to Scripture", and Galileo was warned to abandon his support for it—which he promised to do. When he later defended his views in his most famous work, Dialogue Concerning the Two Chief World Systems, published in 1632, he was tried by the Inquisition, found "vehemently suspect of heresy", forced to recant, and spent the rest of his life under house arrest.
Scientific enquiry led to the ultimate downfall of divine and holy knowledge. Galileo's and Newton's became the twin fathers of Enlightenment!! I like to relate this whole line of scientific greats who put in last five centuries the social and strategic thinking profile of mankind on a fast track.
It was Galileo's and Newton's conception of the Universe based upon Natural and rationally understandable laws that became one of the seeds for Enlightenment ideology. Locke and Voltaire applied concepts of Natural Law to political systems advocating intrinsic rights; the physiocrats and Adam Smith applied Natural conceptions of psychology and self-interest to economic systems.
Philosophers and several Enlightenment figures whose works and ideas influenced important thinkers of both the American and French Revolutions. The 'academic origins' of the French revolution was provided by likes of : John Locke, Montesquieu, Jean-Jacques Rousseau, Voltaire, François-Marie Arouet. They in turn were inspired by Galileo's and Newton's conception of the Universe based upon Natural and rationally understandable laws that became one of the seeds for Enlightenment ideology. Locke and Voltaire applied concepts of Natural Law to political systems advocating intrinsic rights; the physiocrats and Adam Smith applied Natural conceptions of psychology and self-interest to economic systems.
Revolutions are inspired by the prophets of 'Enlightenment.' Until Iranian/Arab enlightened philosophers are brought ahead of the sacred writings no 'revolt' is possible, revolution is freedom of mind from dogma, you cannot have 'dogma and freedom' together.
Exodus:Scriptures genre of fiction featuring imaginary worlds and magical or supernatural events are shockingly banal.
God hardens Pharaoh's heart after each plague, which begs the question, how much punishment would he have stomached otherwise? Not until his own firstborn son dies does Pharaoh let the Israelites go.
God Himself leads them through the desert by day as a cloud, and by night as a pillar of fire for light. They reach Yam Suph, or Sea of Reeds, a marshy place where the water is not particularly deep, but where their livestock and carts cannot enter. God blocks the pursuing Egyptians from the Israelites by means of a cloud on the Egyptian side, and a pillar of fire on the Israelite side. Then he blows the water back all night and into the morning with a strong east wind, until the ground is dry dirt. The Israelites flee, "And I will harden Pharaoh's heart, that he shall follow after them. And I will be honored upon Pharaoh, and upon all his host; that the Egyptians may know that I am the Lord." This is a difficult place to pinpoint in the modern world. Most say it was somewhere along the modern-day Suez Canal. Others say it was at modern Nuweiba, on the Gulf of Aqaba. Wherever it was, Moses is clear on the water being deep enough to drown Pharaoh's entire army, all the men and horses.
Genesis:Scriptures genre of fiction featuring imaginary worlds and magical or supernatural events are shockingly banal.
The Bible states quite frankly that God is sorry he has made man. "And it repented the Lord that he had made man on the earth, and it grieved him at his heart." He loves Noah, who is blameless, and so he spares him and his family, and 7 pairs of every clean animal and bird, 1 pair of every unclean animal, and every creeping thing. Noah is 600 years old when the Great Flood begins. The common idea that they were all in the ark for 40 days and 40 nights is not true. That's just how long it rains. He actually stays in the ark with his family and all the animals for 1 year, 1 month and 27 days. That's how long the water lasted above every thing. Absolutely every single living thing on the planet is drowned, except for the fishes, and those few who save themselves and other animals and plants in boats around the world.
From the womb of 'classical myths' our present holy scriptures are born; strange similarities of plot and character defy logical questions as to why Hesiod's Greek epic poet in Theogony (lines 507–616) in the late 8th-century BC wrote about 'The Prometheus myth.' The later holy scriptures follow the identical plot and present to mankind characters of 'Adam & Eve in The Old Testament as creation of God.' Unfortunately the story of Adam and Eve and its creation is a plagiarised version of Hesiod's Theogony. Later prophets naturally dwelled on The old testament and further embroidered and inflated the plot with own fables, half heard legends and poorly narrated myths from travellers.
In one of the classic myths of the Creation, one of the gods, furious at the fact that Prometheus stole fire and in doing so gave men their independence, sends Pandora to marry her brother Epimetheus. Pandora brings along a box, which she is forbidden to open. However, just as happens to Eve in the Christian myth, her curiosity gets the better of her: she raises the lid to see what is inside, and at this moment all the troubles of the world spill out and spread all over the Earth. Only one thing remains inside: Hope, the only arm to combat the misfortune that has scattered throughout the world. Prometheus was one of the Titans, a gigantic race, who inhabited the earth before the creation of man. To him and his brother Epimetheus was committed the office of making man, and providing him and all other animals with the faculties necessary for their preservation.
The plot was written by Hesiod and hence it can be safely assumed that later transgression of holy scriptures by the prophets is embellishment of the Hesiod classical myths. The design and creation of the world is a dilemma obviously integral to stimulate the awareness of man. The primeval pagans were the original authors of the present holy scriptures, the prophets of the later ages derived from the pages of Theogony and some two dozen other Greek and Roman authors retold and further embellished the Prometheus myth into the 4th century AD. The most significant detail added to the myth found in, e.g., Sappho, Plato, Aesop and Ovid — was the central role of Prometheus in the creation of the human race. According to these sources, Prometheus fashioned humans out of clay. In the dialogue Protagoras, Protagoras asserts that the gods created humans and all the other animals, but it was left to Prometheus and his brother Epimetheus to give defining attributes to each. As no physical traits were left when the pair came to humans, Prometheus decided to give them fire and other civilizing arts.
In the Theogony, Hesiod introduces Prometheus as a lowly challenger to Zeus' omniscience and omnipotence. In the trick at Mecone, a sacrificial meal marking the "settling of accounts" between mortals and immortals, Prometheus played a trick against Zeus (545–557). He placed two sacrificial offerings before the Olympian: a selection of beef hidden inside an ox's stomach (nourishment hidden inside a displeasing exterior), and the bull's bones wrapped completely in "glistening fat" (something inedible hidden inside a pleasing exterior). Zeus chose the latter, setting a precedent for future sacrifices; henceforth, humans would keep the meat for themselves and burn the bones wrapped in fat as an offering to the gods. This angered Zeus, who hid fire from humans in retribution. Prometheus in turn stole fire in a giant fennel-stalk and gave it back to mankind. This further enraged Zeus, who sent Pandora, the first woman, to live with men.
Woman was not yet made. The story is that Jupiter made her, and sent her to Prometheus and his brother, to punish them for their presumption in stealing fire from heaven; and man, for accepting the gift. The first woman was named Pandora. She was made in heaven, every god contributing something to perfect her. Venus gave her beauty, Mercury persuasion, Apollo music, etc. Thus equipped, she was conveyed to earth, and presented to Epimetheus, who gladly accepted her, though cautioned by his brother to beware of Jupiter and his gifts. Epimetheus had in his house a jar, in which were kept certain noxious articles for which, in fitting man for his new abode, he had had no occasion. Pandora was seized with an eager curiosity to know what this jar contained; and one day she slipped off the cover and looked in. Forthwith there escaped a multitude of plagues for hapless man,- such as gout, rheumatism, and colic for his body, and envy, spite, and revenge for his mind,- and scattered themselves far and wide.
Pandora hastened to replace the lid! but, alas! the whole contents of the jar had escaped, one thing only excepted, which lay at the bottom, and that was hope. So we see at this day, whatever evils are abroad, hope never entirely leaves us; and while we have that, no amount of other ills can make us completely wretched.
In Greek mythology the goddess Nyx stood at or near the beginning of creation
What Bible teaches us!
The scriptures follow the same plot and present to us Adam & Eve in The Old Testament
After God created Adam, He gave to him dominion over all His creation and the garden of Eden as a home to tend it and keep it. But He gave one restriction:
Gen 2:16-17 And the LORD God commanded the man, saying, "Of every tree of the garden you may freely eat; "but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die."
Adam would know what it meant to participate in evil, and the result would be banishment and death. Death is separation from God.
Then God created the woman:
Gen 2:18-24 And the LORD God said, "It is not good that man should be alone; I will make him a helper comparable to him." Out of the ground the LORD God formed every beast of the field and every bird of the air, and brought them to Adam to see what he would call them. And whatever Adam called each living creature, that was its name. So Adam gave names to all cattle, to the birds of the air, and to every beast of the field.
But for Adam there was not found a helper comparable to him. And the LORD God caused a deep sleep to fall on Adam, and he slept; and He took one of his ribs, and closed up the flesh in its place. Then the rib which the LORD God had taken from man He made into a woman, and He brought her to the man. And Adam said: "This is now bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh; she shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of Man." Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and they shall become one flesh.
Adam loved Eve, but she was later seduced by the serpent, who was actually Satan, the one who rebelled against the Most High God and the one who leads the evil spirits in their rebellion against the Kingdom of Heaven and God's purposes. Eve was deceived and she ate of the forbidden fruit (the Bible doesn't say what kind of fruit it was). Then Adam, who was with her, chose to eat of the fruit also and they sinned. When they sinned, spiritual and physical death came into the world and fellowship with God was broken. Like a rose being plucked off the vine, they were immediately disconnected from their source of life.
But all was not lost. As God was revealing the consequences of their actions He also gave a glorious promise. God promised Adam and Eve that He would send a Redeemer (Messiah), who would destroy Satan and restore them to a right relationship with Him (Gen 3). In the meantime they could only approach God with a blood sacrifice. This animal acted as a substitute for the penalty of sin until "the lamb of God" who is Jesus Christ would come and pay the full debt.
Genesis 3:21 "Unto Adam also and to his wife
What is the result of scientific enquiry by Hubble!
It has become one of the most famous images of modern times. This image, taken with the Hubble Space Telescope in 1995, shows evaporating gaseous globules (EGGs) emerging from pillars of molecular hydrogen gas and dust. The giant pillars are light years in length and are so dense that interior gas contracts gravitationally to form stars. At each pillars' end, the intense radiation of bright young stars causes low density material to boil away, leaving stellar nurseries of dense EGGs exposed. The Eagle Nebula, associated with the open star cluster M16, lies about 7000 light years away. The pillars of creation were imaged recently by the orbiting Chandra X-ray Observatory, and it was found that most EGGS are not strong emitters of X-rays.
Some more 'Bibilical' myths:
About 3,000 years ago, according to the Book of Exodus, Moses "stretched out his hand over the sea; and the Lord caused the sea to go back by a strong east wind all that night, and made the sea dry land, and the waters were divided." And then, according to the Bible, the Israelites were free from Pharaoh's rule.
Fifty-five years ago, Charlton Heston stood in front of a Hollywood mock-up of the Red Sea and commanded the waters to part in Cecil B. DeMille's The Ten Commandments.
'It is not an accident that the time since humankind agreed we are not at the centre of the universe, our bondages with medievalism ignorance broke.'
In 1543 the geocentric system met its first serious challenge with the publication of Copernicus's De revolutionibus orbium coelestium, which posited that the Earth and the other planets instead revolved around the Sun. On This Day In History: Nicolaus Copernicus was born 19 Feb 1473;died 24 May 1543. Polish astronomer who proposed that the planets have the Sun as the fixed point to which their motions are to be referred; that the Earth is a planet which, besides orbiting the Sun annually, also turns once daily on its own axis; and that slow, long-term changes in the direction of this axis account for the precession of the equinoxes.
Nicolaus Copernicus took the first steps. He was a well-educated Polish churchman who lived from 1473 until 1543. He was disturbed at the complexities that had been introduced into the Ptolemaic system to improve its fitting of the planetary motions. As if God wanted to break this veil of ignorance favoured by the sacred. As Copernicus left the scene Galileo was born 15 Feb 1564 – 8 January 1642, Galileo's championed Copernicanism (also genuinely pious Roman Catholic)that led to his trial by the Inquisition, was found "vehemently suspect of heresy", forced to recant, and spent the rest of his life under house arrest.
Intelligence is about full awareness of the depth of one's own ignorance; the principal force one can plead for is his capacity to recognize his weaknesses. Scientific enquiry led to the ultimate downfall of divine and holy knowledge. Galileo's and Newton's became the twin fathers of Enlightenment!! I like to relate this whole line of scientific greats who put in last five centuries the social and strategic thinking profile of mankind on a fast track. There is a reason why Religion and scriptures lag sciences by eons?
Look at this whole line of progressive process from Copernicus, Galileo's and Newton's and likes of John Locke, Montesquieu, Jean-Jacques Rousseau, Voltaire, François-Marie Arouet they ushered the level of thinking of man to a new plane unlike retrograde and splitting up caused by people sent by God like Adam, Noah, Abraham, Isssac, Jesus and Moses. Scriptures genre of fiction featuring imaginary worlds and magical or supernatural events are shockingly banal.
From the womb of 'classical myths' our present holy scriptures are born; strange similarities of plot and character defy logical questions as to why Hesiod's Greek epic poet in Theogony (lines 507–616) in the late 8th-century BC wrote about 'The Prometheus myth.' The later holy scriptures follow the identical plot and present to mankind characters of 'Adam & Eve in The Old Testament as creation of God.' Unfortunately the story of Adam and Eve and its creation is a plagiarised version of Hesiod's Theogony. Later prophets naturally dwelled on The old testament and further embroidered and inflated the plot with own fables, half heard legends and poorly narrated myths from travellers.
It was Galileo's and Newton's conception of the Universe based upon Natural and rationally understandable laws that became one of the seeds for Enlightenment ideology. Locke and Voltaire applied concepts of Natural Law to political systems advocating intrinsic rights; the physiocrats and Adam Smith applied Natural conceptions of psychology and self-interest to economic systems.
Philosophers and several Enlightenment figures whose works and ideas influenced important thinkers of both the American and French Revolutions. The 'academic origins' of the French revolution was provided by likes of : John Locke, Montesquieu, Jean-Jacques Rousseau, Voltaire, François-Marie Arouet. They in turn were inspired by Galileo's and Newton's conception of the Universe based upon Natural and rationally understandable laws that became one of the seeds for Enlightenment ideology. Locke and Voltaire applied concepts of Natural Law to political systems advocating intrinsic rights; the physiocrats and Adam Smith applied Natural conceptions of psychology and self-interest to economic systems.
Revolutions are inspired by the prophets of 'Enlightenment.' Until Iranian/Arab enlightened philosophers are brought ahead of the sacred writings no 'revolt' is possible, revolution is freedom of mind from dogma, you cannot have 'dogma and freedom' together.
Copernicus realized that a few of the complexities would be removed if the earth and planets moved around the sun. This idea was a huge leap philosophically, since he treated the earth as one of the planets rather than as a unique body - previous scientific doctrine had held the earth to be unique.
Was the Copernican theory able to make any new predictions?
No! Copernicus’ theory was a philosophical shift from the Ptolemaic one, in dethroning the earth as the center of the system to achieve a modest improvement in simplicity. Unlike scriptures where one needs to believe in word of God or excommunicated; in science, logic and reason the more extraordinary the claim, the more extraordinary the evidence required.
Nothing is a final in scientific enquiry, we as a whole are in a perpetual journey of unknown. We unfold truths as our minds grow to learn hidden realities. Max Planck said "Science progresses one funeral at a time." Copernicus was refined by Kepler. (It was Michael Maestlin, professor of astronomy at the University of Tubingen. There, who taught the Copernican system to an eccentric but very intelligent student - Johannes Kepler. Kepler refined Copernicus's calculations.)
Astronomers adopted the Copernicus system slowly, the attitude of many is summarized by a quotation from Thomas Blundeville in 1594: "Copernicus affirmeth that the earth turneth about and that the sun standeth still in the midst of the heavens, by help of which false supposition he hath made truer demonstrations of the motions and revolutions of the celestial spheres than ever were made before." - Kuhn, The Copernican Revolution, p. 186
Intelligence is about full awareness of the depth of one's own ignorance; the principal force one can plead for is his capacity to recognize his weaknesses.
The more one endeavours to 'know' the unknown, the more one discovers that what a 'well' one is breathing in, and what an 'ocean' is left out there to be discovered. The portion of sky that we see from 'our particular well' is limited and misleading; it is only by employing our stare to the boundless expanse of universe that we understand the basics and can appreciate the 'pillars of creation.' Mankind has discovered just the 'alpha' of knowledge and regrettably we know very little of that alpha individually. Only the Lord can say "I am the Alpha and the Omega." ("I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end" xxi. 6)
Our narcissistic feeling that we are at the centre makes us unintentionally 'the masters of universe.' We fall into the fallacy of heavenly life and rewards in the next world; we consider righteousness and morality as a basic tool to judge others. The moment we understand our minuscule subsistence, the concept of heavenly rewards goes out of the window and we start respecting life and humans here in this world without judging them for what they believe in. The Homeric Hymns created Gods and religious myths. This was the era where we 'humans' considered ourselves at the centre of the universe. Greek mythology has had extensive influence on the culture, the arts and the literature of Western civilization and remains a part of the Western heritage and language. Gods, myths and legends about after-life finds their roots in ancient Greek philosophy.
Ironically Aristotle and Ptolemy, and most Greek philosophers assumed that the Sun, Moon, stars, and naked eye planets circle the Earth. Is it not strange that geocentric model of the universe, the Earth, is the centre of the universe and other objects go around it is part of Greek myths and legends. The Greek myths are known today primarily from Greek literature. The oldest known Greek literary sources, the epic poems Iliad and Odyssey, focus on events surrounding the Trojan War. Two poems by Homer's near contemporary Hesiod, the Theogony and the Works and Days, contain accounts of the genesis of the world, the succession of divine rulers, the succession of human ages, the origin of human woes, and the origin of sacrificial practices.
Only Aristarchus of Samos was one radical that disagreed but his work on heliocentrism, saying that the Sun was at the centre of the universe, while the Earth and other planets revolved around it never survived. He had only one known follower, Seleucus of Seleucia.
It was for a reason that religion has always disapproved of heliocentrism. Pope Urban VIII and the vast majority of Church officials did not believe in heliocentrism, "The proposition that the sun is in the centre of the world and immovable from its place is absurd, philosophically false, and formally heretical; because it is expressly contrary to Holy Scriptures", and converse to the Sun not revolving around the Earth.
Religion encourages ignorance by injecting them message of blissful knowledge that is far advanced, but a knowledge that is totally made of myths and fables. A prophet is elevated to a station of infallibility and human beings are asked to bow before the Prophet for deliverance in all the worlds, this blocks the minds of people who want to question the reason of our existence on this lonely plant. Knowledge from A to Z of the scriptures leaves 'God' as the centre figure who warranted 'Papal wisdom' to create inquisitors and conquistadors. Humility and humbleness of human mind can only be motivated if the vast ocean of knowledge is laid open before his eyes.
It is not an accident that the time since humankind agreed we are not at the centre of the universe, our bondages with medieval ignorance broke. In 1543 the geocentric system met its first serious challenge with the publication of Copernicus's De revolutionibus orbium coelestium, which posited that the Earth and the other planets instead revolved around the Sun. The geocentric system was still held for many years afterwards, as at the time the Copernican system did not offer better predictions than the geocentric system, and it posed problems for both natural philosophy and scripture, as gradually replaced by the heliocentric model of Copernicus, Galileo and Kepler. With the invention of the telescope in 1609, observations made primarily by Galileo Galilei (such as that Jupiter has moons) called into question some of the tenets of geocentrism but did not seriously threaten it.
He was forced by the church and the pope to recant his findings but still after recanting his theory that the Earth moved around the Sun, Galileo allegedly muttered the rebellious phrase, “And yet it moves.” The moment man decided he was not at the centre of helm he was mercilessly persecuted by the church. Why? Once man is free from the bondages of dogma, he understands his status as human and loves others as such; this human bond weakens authority of the religious scriptures who want salvation through their unique doors only.
It was not until 1939 that Pope Pius XII, in his first speech to the Pontifical Academy of Sciences, within a few months of his election to the papacy, described Galileo as being among the "most audacious heroes of research ... not afraid of the stumbling blocks and the risks on the way, nor fearful of the funereal monuments."
All prophets that are revered today have derived inspirations from Greek mythology and have discovered contemporary significance and relevance in classical mythological themes like the epic poems Iliad and Odyssey and Hesiod's epics like Theogony and the Works and Days. The reason I consider Homer the' father prophet' is that much of the knowledge of modern prophets of mankind is gleaned from Greek classics. The myths and legends of the age of geocentric mentality have survived until today and have become the holy scriptures of today. It is no coincidence that in today's scriptures close similarities exist between events about the genesis of the world, the succession of divine rulers, the succession of human ages, the origin of human woes, and the origin of sacrificial practices.
This passion of knowing so little in such a limitless universe of ours consumes me to the hilt. This very comprehension keeps me totally restrained with humbleness and humility. Of course sometimes one can definitely get carried away in the vileness of narcissism; however, those fleeting moments of pomposity and vanity are subdued by the realisation of knowing so little where so much is around to learn.
The basic challenge for all of us is to transform from 'frogs of the well' to intelligent beings who may understand very well that we are not at the centre of this universe. Once this truth is recognized, most of the ideological fixations will evaporate; we will understand our roles far better about heavens and Gods. A larger 'brain to body ratio' does not guarantee that God only created this whole universe for us to watch our drinking, eating and libidos.
* A tribute to the Hesiod! A debate on : http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=265511&id=609732560
