Heliocentric theories

Science has changed greatly from ancient observations of the stars to modern neuroscience about the human brain. Humankind has learned some great things from science. The human quest for knowledge has led our species on a long, hard, and sometimes dangerous path. But the quest for knowledge has made us one of the smartest animals ever to live. I am going to tell you how science got from forming a number system, to the theories to cure deadly illnesses in a hospital.

One period in time in the 17th century, some great scientific discoveries were made. The scientific revolution is called so because it was a revolution in human understanding about the  physical universe. Some of these discoveries include the scientific method and a heliocentric model of the solar system. Algebraic expressions such as x,y,z,a,b,c were invented. The scientific revolution was one of the most unique revolutions of human history.

Copernican drawing of the solar system

A diagram showing Kepler's first law

A diagram showing Kepler's second law

A diagram showing Kepler's third law

One of the greatest debates of the time was whether the solar system was geocentric (Earth centered) or heliocentric (sun centered). It was long thought that the Earth was the center of the of the solar system. It was not until 1514 when the Polish scientist Nicholas Copernicus wrote Commentariolus, a book containing his theories on heliocentrics. Copernicus faced torture by the church for his radical ideas. So he delayed publishing Commentariolus until his death in 1543.

Another scientist who believed in heliocentrics was Johannes Kepler. He was a student of Tycho Brahe who is credited with some of the greatest scientific discoveries of his time. Kepler however, did not believe in Brahe’s geocentric theories of the solar system. Kepler believed in the theory of Nicholas Copernicus. However Copernicus incorrectly assumed that the orbits of the planets were circular. Kepler came up with three laws of planetary motion.

Kepler’s first law: The orbit of every planet is an ellipse with the Sun at one of the two foci.

Kepler’s second law: A line joining a planet and the Sun sweeps out equal areas during equal intervals of time.

Kepler’s third law: The square of the orbital period of a planet is directly proportional to the cube of the semi-major axis of its orbit.

         One of the last scientists of this revolution to believe in heliocentrics was Galileo Galilei. He was the first to produce scientific evidence for the heliocentric theory of Copernicus. Galileo placed the sun at the center of the solar system with the planets including earth orbiting around it. The Catholic Church condemned heliocentric theories of the universe. Believing that mankind and Earth should be the center of all things. Galileo was put on trial for his theories and was put under house arrest.

Today, many of these theories are still used in modern science. Kepler’s laws are often consulted by modern scientists when debating theories. I am truly amazed by the discoveries of these scientists. They thought of great things without any modern technology. They had only basic, tabletop telescopes and no robots or probes roaming in space. Their minds were their only calculators and their telescopes were their only eyes into the world beyond our own.

In conclusion, heliocentrics evolved over several years and several scientists. We now understand and have mapped the solar system according to these observation. If these scientists were able to forward themselves in time a couple hundred years, they would be amazed at modern technology. But they would notice that their basic principals are still used in modern science. These very principles are taught to kids like me today. The debate about heliocentrics in our solar system may be complete, but who knows? Maybe there is another solar system out there, waiting to be discovered. So grab your telescopes, and get ready to examine the sky for whatever is out there in the vast blackness that is, our universe. 
Sources
 "Kepler's Laws of Planetary Motion." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, n.d. Web. 10 Feb. 2013. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kepler's_laws_of_planetary_motion>. 
Fortey, Jacqueline. Great Scientists. London: DK, 2007. Print.
http://www.hps.cam.ac.uk/starry/copernicuslrg.jpg
http://www.astronomynotes.com/solarsys/planmass.gif
http://www.gravitywarpdrive.com/NGFT_Images/Kepler_2nd_Law.gif
http://m.teachastronomy.com/astropediaimages/2000px-Kepler-first-law.svg.png

The Terrifying Reign of Terror

The Terrifying Reign of Terror
     There’s a big difference between what happened after the American Revolution and what happened after the French Revolution. After the French Revolution there was a reign of terror with a lot of bloodshed, but this didn’t happen after the American Revolution. The reign of terror happened after the French revolution and was a time when many enemies of the revolution were killed. Starting in June of 1793, the Terror lasted for ten months and thousands of suspected enemies of the revolution were executed by guillotine. They got so carried away that calling someone Madame or Monsieur instead of Citizen was enough to get your head chopped off by a guillotine.
The leader of the reign of terror was Maximilian Robespierre. On February 5, 1794, Robespierre stated that, "Terror is nothing else than justice, prompt, severe, inflexible."
     Famous author, Charles Dickens, wrote about the French Revolution and the Reign of Terror in his book, A Tale of Two Cities. He described the condemned prisoners rolling through the crowds of people on a "death cart" to get beheaded by a guillotine: “Along the Paris streets, the death carts rumble hollow and harsh. Six tumbrils carry the day’s wine to La Guillotine." People got their wine and food for a picnic to watch and celebrate an enemy of the revolution get beheaded by a guillotine. People that came to watch had activities to do. The women knitted, the men sat and drank wine, and the children played: "For all are following to the guillotine. In front of it, seated in chairs as in a garden of diversion, are a number of women busily knitting." This shows how casual an everyday event like a public execution was.
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     The Reign of Terror ended on July 28, 1794 when Maximilian Robespierre the leader of the reign was executed himself.

Slavery

Thirteenth Amendment

What if the 13th amendment never abolished slavery? What would we do without it? If we still had slavery then imagine how different the world would be. The Thirteenth Amendment to the United States outlaws slavery and involuntary servitude, unless for a punishment for crime. For those who don’t know what involuntary servitude it refers to one person being forced to work for another. This was passed by the senate on April 8,1864 by the house. The Thirteenth amendment was the first of the three “reconstruction amendments” after the American Civil War. When the Thirteenth Amendment was proposed there wasn’t a new amendment in around 60 years. Before the Amendment the constitution, that the delegates proposed, included several provisions that protected slavery. The constitution states that all men were equal but was that really true, think slaves were men to. Typically men who were forced to be slaves more than any other ethnicity.  White men were considered people who were whole because of the color of their skin. Look at the picture at the two pictures of the slaves and look to see how many men there are working in the fields to.
What if slavery was still in our world today? What would we do? Before the thirteenth amendment slaves were considered only 3/5ths of a person. Slaves were treated as if they were property, they were traded and bought by white wealthy men. If slavery wasn’t abolished I think that there would be no exploration because people were like property. Imagine if we still had slavery and you were a slave. You wouldn’t have an education or a life of your own. If slavery wasn’t abolished our world as we know it would be changed gone.

Galileo
Carolyn Seeley

Galileo was born in Pisa, Italy on February 15, 1564. His father, Vincenzo Galilei, was a musician. Galileo's mother was Giulia degli Ammannati. Galileo was the first of six (though some people believe seven) children. His family belonged to the nobility but was not rich. In the early 1570's, he and his family moved to Florence. Is it possible for a man from such a poor family to become someone great?

In 1581, Galileo began studying at the University of Pisa, where his father hoped he would study medicine. While at the University of Pisa, Galileo began his study of the pendulum while, according to legend, he watched a suspended lamp swing back and forth in the cathedral of Pisa. However, it was not until 1602 that Galileo made his most notable discovery about the pendulum - the period (the time in which a pendulum swings back and forth) does not depend on the arc of the swing (the isochronism). Eventually, this discovery would lead to Galileo's further study of time intervals and the development of his idea for a pendulum clock.

At the University of Pisa, Galileo learned the physics of the Ancient Greek scientist, Aristotle. However, Galileo questioned the Aristotelian approach to physics. Aristotelians believed that heavier objects fall faster through a medium than lighter ones. Galileo eventually disproved this idea by asserting that all objects, regardless of their density, fall at the same rate in a vacuum. To determine this, Galileo performed various experiments in which he dropped objects from a certain height. In one of his early experiments, he rolled balls down gently sloping inclined plane and then determined their positions after equal time intervals. He wrote down his discoveries about motion in his book, De Motu, which means "On Motion."

In 1592, Galileo was appointed professor of mathematics at the University of Padua. While teaching there, he frequently visited a place called the Arsenal, where Venetian ships were docked and loaded. Galileo had always been interested in mechanical devices. Naturally, during his visits to the Arsenal, he became fascinated by nautical technologies, such as the sector and shipbuilding. In 1593, he was presented with the problem involving the placement of oars in galleys. He treated the oar as a lever and correctly made the water the fulcrum. A year later, he patented a model for a pump. His pump was a device that raised water by using only one horse.

Galileo was never married. However, he did have a brief relationship with Marina Gamba, a woman he met on one of his many trips to Venice. Marina lived in Galileo's house in Padua where she bore him three children. His two daughters, Virginia and Livia, were both put in convents where they became, respectively, Sister Maria Celeste and Sister Arcangela. In 1610, Galileo moved from Padua to Florence where he took a position at the Court of the Medici family. He left his son, Vincenzio, with Marina Gamba in Padua. In 1613, Marina married Giovanni Bartoluzzi, and Vincenzio joined his father in Florence.Galileo invented many mechanical devices other than the pump, such as the hydrostatic balance. But perhaps his most famous invention was the telescope. Galileo made his first telescope in 1609, modeled after telescopes produced in other parts of Europe that could magnify objects three times. He created a telescope later that same year that could magnify objects twenty times. With this telescope, he was able to look at the moon, discover the four satellites of Jupiter, observe a supernova, verify the phases of Venus, and discover sunspots. His discoveries proved the Copernican system which states that the earth and other planets revolve around the sun. Prior to the Copernican system, it was held that the universe was geocentric, meaning the sun revolved around the earth.
Galileo's belief in the Copernican System eventually got him into trouble with the Catholic Church. The Inquisition was a permanent institution in the Catholic Church charged with the eradication of heresies. A committee of consultants declared to the Inquisition that the Copernican proposition that the Sun is the center of the universe was a heresy. Because Galileo supported the Copernican system, he was warned by Cardinal Bellarmine, under order of Pope Paul V, that he should not discuss or defend Copernican theories. In 1624, Galileo was assured by Pope Urban VIII that he could write about Copernican theory as long as he treated it as a mathematical proposition. However, with the printing of Galileo's book, Dialogue Concerning the Two Chief World Systems, Galileo was called to Rome in 1633 to face the Inquisition again. Galileo was found guilty of heresy for his Dialogue, and was sent to his home near Florence where he was to be under house arrest for the remainder of his life. In 1638, the Inquisition allowed Galileo to move to his home in Florence, so that he could be closer to his doctors. By that time he was totally blind. In 1642, Galileo died at his home outside Florence.

A man as great as he, did not deserve to locked in his own home for the rest of his life. He should have been out in the world making more great discoveries. A man who was raised as anybody else, became one of the most incredible scientists we know today, and I hope he took that message to his grave.

Sites:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Galilean_moonshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Galilean_moons
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Galileo
http://galileo.rice.edu/bio/narrative_6.html
http://solar-center.stanford.edu/galileo/

Galileo, The Father of Modern Science

Galileo, the father of modern observational astronomy, opened up revolutionary frontiers in what would become modern day astronomical study and research.  Our knowledge and understanding of science and astronomy would be unimaginably different

if Galileo had not developed the heliocentric

model of the solar system and validated, through telescopic viewing Venus, many constellations and several moons.  Galileo was a pioneer in the field of astronomy, and while many of his theories were considered controversial in his time, the impact which they have made in modern astronomy cannot be argued.

The heliocentric theory is one of the greatest discoveries Galileo has ever made.  The heliocentric model is a model showing that the Earth and the other planets revolve around a relatively stationary Sun at the center of the Solar System.  The word comes from the Greek words helios "sun" and kentron "center.”  Historically, heliocentrism was opposed to geocentrism, which placed the Earth at the center.  Although Galileo was not the first to support the heliocentric model of the solar system, he was entirely responsible for the idea that the

sun is the center of the universe.  Galileo was responsible for this discovery, but he had nothing but a telescope to validate his findings and it was Galileo’s findings through the telescope which supported heliocentrism stronger than at any other time in history .  Without Galileo’s research, measurement, validation and theory of heliocentric model, our beliefs and philosophies of space and time would be completely different from what they are today.   This is why I believe that Galileo could well possibly be one of the greatest scientists/astronomers the world has ever seen.


Galileo is also responsible for the discovery of Lo, Callisto, Europa and Ganymede, four of Jupiter’s moons.  The four moons were discovered sometime between 1609 and 1610 when Galileo made improvements to his telescope. Galileo’s innovative improvements to the telescope, enabled

him to observe celestial bodies more distinctly than had ever before. Galileo's discovery of Jupiter’s moons showed the importance of the telescope as a tool for astronomers by proving that there were objects in space that could not be seen by the naked eye.   More importantly, the incontrovertible discovery of celestial bodies orbiting something other than the Earth dealt a serious blow to the geocentric theory in which everything orbits around the Earth.  These were incredible discoveries at the time, and more proof of Galileo’s leadership in the research, and science of astronomy.


Part of Galileo’s contribution to astronomy were his many improvements to the mechanical devices utilized in astronomy.  The most important and impactful improvements  developed by Galileo were to the telescope.  Galileo made his first telescope in 1609, modeled after telescopes

produced in other parts of Europe at could magnify objects three times. He created a telescope later that could magnify objects twenty times.  With this telescope, he was able to look at the moon, discover the four satellites of Jupiter, observe a supernova, verify the phases of Venus, and discover sunspots.  These observations and discoveries could never have been made if it weren’t for Galileo’s amazing scientific research and beliefs.

In a time where opposing philosophies created tension in the scientific community, Galileo brought innovation, validation and discovery to his beloved astronomy.  It was his passion which enabled Galileo to persevere, despite the Spanish Inquisition, and bring never before seen technologies and discoveries to support his beliefs.  Galileo, the Father of Modern Observational Astronomy, was a scientist who supported his beliefs by creating new ways to make new discoveries, and, in the end, these discoveries supported all which Galileo believed.

Works Cited

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Galilean_moonshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Galilean_moons
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Galileo
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heliocentrism
http://galileo.rice.edu/bio/narrative_6.html
http://solar-center.stanford.edu/galileo/
http://starchild.gsfc.nasa.gov/docs/StarChild/whos_who_level2/galileo.html

Scientific Revolution

The Scientific Revolution was a time era where people started to advance their knowledge when it came to science. They started doing sciences that weren't just alchemy and the literal bare basics, they started mathematics, thinking of the earth's shape, and doing chemistry. The brilliant minds this this revolution had come up with were just outstanding. They came up with inventions that changed our perspective on us, the earth, and beyond. Machines of knowledge came to stand, teaching us about the stars and sky and the things below our feet. The Scientific Revolution was a time when people saw themselves, the world, and much more in a new way.

The world was advancing; sciences that we use today dawned. People like Kepler, Galileo, and Newton built the sciences and theories that we follow and study today! The list of sciences, that came to be, during the revolution, is very long. Their sciences advancing and growing left and right, like alchemy, astronomy, chemistry, mathematics, ecology, and alchemy had advanced largely during the revolution. Without the revolution we wouldn't have had any of these sciences.

The brains it took to make these inventions, sciences, and theories were people that had dedicated their lives to find the answers to significant questions. When the set of words major scientists, are said, a few people come to mind like Kepler, Galileo, Aristotle, Newton, and tons more. These people all lived some time in scientific revolution, and they came up with things like Newton’s three laws, Copernicus’s heliocentric universe model, Galileo’s flying machine, and many more. The Scientific Revolution was chalk full of amazing ideas, geniuses, and revolutionary theories.

The Scientific Revolution was a time for inventions for scientific advancement. Today looking through a telescope is a fun little activity, but in the Scientific Revolution looking through a telescope was like a revolutionary thing, it was new, it was like the ipad, but more important. Copernicus made a model of our solar system that said that earth was not the middle of the solar system.  What if Copernicus did not make that model of the solar system, then we would still think that we were the middle of the solar system. Isaac Newton telescope created a type of telescope that we still use today! All through the revolution machines that we still use today were made and without them we would not have very important science information.

Without the people, the sciences, and the inventions in the Scientific Revolution we would not have very basic information on all the things around. The sciences that were discovered in the revolution are a vital part to our everyday lives. The names that built or theorized the things from the Scientific Revolution are people that developed things that stayed with mankind for over hundreds of years and it’s outstanding what they've done. The machines made in the revolution are not people nor whole sciences there just machines that we use everyday, but there uses were once new and without them we would not be able to do many things. The Scientific Revolution was a time when people saw themselves, the world, and much more in a new way.

A Tale of Two Cities Review

The Original First Print

'A Tale of Two Cities' Review

By Tara K. Zic

‘A Tale of Two Cities’ by Charles Dickens. That’s a title that made an everlasting impact on the literary world. I decided to write about this extraordinary novel, not only because of my extreme fascination with the French Revolution and love for literature, but also because I feel everyone should take away some knowledge about such an amazing and famous novel. Everyone should be knowledgeable about the French Revolution, an important era in human history.

‘A Tale of Two Cities’ by Charles Dickens is a historically fictional tale of several people and their happenings before and during the French Revolution, their actions and the ensuing consequences. The book starts with the evolution of the characters that play a role in the revolution. The book continues to follow those same characters and how the revolution affected and changed their former lives forever. These changes resulted in bitter sacrifice, hate, love, and violent death.

Execution by Guillotine, a very common death
during the French Revolution, well described by
Charles Dickens

One book - how much impact could it possibly have? I pondered that question for a very long time before coming to the conclusion that the book being published isn’t the impact. It is the awareness of our history as a human race. This book spread awareness of how independent these characters are and how much they go through to just play such a minor role in such a big revolution. Think about approaching near death, just to be a minor figure in such a catastrophic revolution of over a million citizens. This book teaches the reader to be independent and that it can take over a million committed people to make a united stand.

After reading the summary of ‘A Tale of Two Cities’, I came up with a few questions for Charles Dickens. So, I decided to write a letter to Sir Charles himself.

July of 1863

Dear Sir Charles,

After learning about your miraculous novel ‘A Tale of Two Cities’, I have a few questions. First, I would like to ask what inspired you to write this fantastic novel? Clearly, from the knowledge I have gained about the French Revolution, it is an amazing era. However, I know that you lived after the French Revolution. So, what inspired you to go back in time and dig deeper and research it? What caused you to talk about resurrection? Are you religious? Do you believe this could really happen? In your book, there are so many amazing locations, several of which are places in France, a place I dream of going. Did you travel to these places to dig into exquisite detail? Wow. In the novel you talk a lot about Darry, the narrator for most of the story. Would you say you centered ‘Darry’ off of yourself or an acquaintance? I know when I read a book, I think of the main character as someone I know based on the characteristics the author gives him or her. If there is an protagonist, I often imagine them as myself or a good friend and the antagonist as someone who fits the evil description. What about his true love Lucy? Is she like someone you admire in your life? I simply love your work and am eager for your response!

Well Charles, I hope to hear from you soon!
Madame Tara

Sources:

"A Tale of Two Cities." SparkNotes. SparkNotes, n.d. Web. 08 Feb. 2013.

"A Tale of Two Cities." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, 02 June 2013. Web. 08 Feb. 2013.

"French Revolution." - Simple English Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia. N.p., n.d. Web. 08 Feb. 2013.

Galileo and the Leaning Tower of Pisa

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 Galileo and the Leaning Tower of Pisa

by Nicolette Paradis

If I were to drop two books from my roof at the same time, one that was only a 5 page very light weight book and the other being a thick and heavy dictionary, which do you think would hit the ground 1^st? Well 425 years ago everyone would have said that the heavy thing would hit the ground 1^st, but they were wrong. In 1589 a man named Galileo proved them wrong.

There where two theories about gravity, one theory was Aristotle’s theory and the other was Galileo’s. Aristotle’s theory was that the speed an object falls is completely dependent on their masses. If you think about it that makes a lot of sense, the heavier the object the faster it falls. Galileo had a different idea. His theory was that the time it took for any object to descend was not dependant on their masses.

Galileo once said, “All truths are easy to understand once they are discovered; the point is to discover them.” He also said, “We cannot teach people anything; we can only help them discover it within themselves.” I think these two quotes mean that you cannot just be told something you need to prove it. Galileo was not satisfied with just being told that the speed an object falls depends on its weight he had to prove that it was wrong. He created an experiment to prove that his theory was right.

His experiment was pretty simple. What he was going to do was drop two balls that were made of the same material, but had different masses. He would drop the two balls at the same time and if he was right they would hit the ground at the same time, but there was just a bit more to the experiment. If he just dropped the two balls from the height that he could reach when standing on the floor the heavier ball might not have time to speed up and make a difference, so he decided to drop the two balls from the Leaning Tower of Pisa.

In 1589 he did the experiment. He went to the top of the Leaning Tower of Pisa and dropped the two balls of the edge. They fell and then they hit the ground at the same time proving Galileo right. He successfully did the experiment, and probably looked a little crazy doing it. 




Sources for Pictures:  http://www.bibliotecapleyades.net/ciencia/ciencia_matrix32.htm 
http://www.planetseed.com/node/18380