2001/07/05 by Dino Boccaletti, Boccaletti, Dino · 1 citation
Mathematics · Physics and Astronomy · Social Sciences · #FOS: Physical sciences #Historical Astronomy and Related Studies #Historical Geography and Cartography #History and Philosophy of Physics (physics.hist-ph) #History and Theory of Mathematics #physics.hist-ph
paper · pdf · doi:10.48550/arxiv.physics/0107009
14 pages, 9 figures, Presented at "Cosmology Through Time - Ancient and Modern Cosmology in the Mediterranean Area", Monte Porzio Catone (Rome), Italy, June 18-20, 2001
openalex publication_date 2001/07/05 · arxiv created 2001/07/16 · arxiv updated 2009/12/01 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/28
The principle that celestial bodies must move on circular orbits or on paths resulting from the composition of circular orbits has been assumed as a constant guide in the astronomical thougth of the peoples facing the Mediterranean sea as from the second century B.C. until the beginning of the XVII century. The mathematical model based on such an assumption, the theory of epicycles in all its versions and modifications, has been taken as a scheme for all astronomical calculations during at least eighteen centuries, from Hipparcus to Kepler. As it is known, in Astronomia Nova (1609), Kepler succeded to establish the two laws which after him were named the first and the second Kepler's laws. The revolution he performed by giving up the circle paradigm is of fundamental importance and represents the indispensable premise to Newtonian theory. This revolution, the result of what Kepler called his "war" against Mars, is usually underestimated if one considers the break carried out with respect to the pre-Kepler celestial kinematics. In "Astronomia Nova" we assist to the attempt of Kepler to get for Mars an orbit consistent with the results of Tycho Brahe's observations. Passing through several phases and step by step discarding the hypoteses wich gave results in contrast with observations, Kepler arrived at establishing that the orbit of Mars around the Sun is an ellipse. Here an esposition is given of this work of analysis by Kepler wich is, in the history of science, one of the early examples of rigorous setting up of a model which correctly explains the experimental results.