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| Copernicus' main dissatisfaction with the Ptolemaic system was with... |
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Definition
| the non-uniform motion of the epicycle that was associated with the equant |
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Term
| the real significance of Copernicus' book On the Revolutions was that it |
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Definition
| reintroduced the idea of a heliocentric universe and presented argument for it |
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| The person who persuaded Copernicus to publish On the Revolution was |
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| One of the innovations introduces into observational astronomy by Tycho Brahe involved the use of the sextant. What was it? |
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Definition
| reversing the direction in which it was used so that two observers could take reading simultaneously. |
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| Copernicus was able to establish the sizes of the infeior planets' orbits from his measurements of their |
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Definition
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Term
| Tycho Brahe used observations of what to disprove for the first time Aristotle's doctrine that nothing ever changes in the heavens? |
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Definition
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Term
| One of the reasons that Tycho Brahe was ale to obtain more accurate positions of planets and stars than the Greeks was |
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Definition
| his application of a correction for atmospheric refraction from tables he compiled |
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Term
| The Tychonic system of planets had Mars' orbit crossing the Sun's. Tycho wasn't bothered bt this because |
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Definition
| his observations of the comet of 1577 showed that there aren't any crystal spheres in interplaneratary space |
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Term
| Kepler's book which presented the first two of his laws of planetary motion for the first time was |
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Definition
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Term
| Kepler's First Law of Planetary Motion states that |
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Definition
| the orbit of a planet is an ellipse with the Sun at one focus |
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Term
| The size of a planet's elliptical orbit is given by its |
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Definition
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Term
| The first planetary tables that were bases on a reasonably correct description of the planet's orbits were the |
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Definition
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Term
| Galileo's work in which he attacked the Aristotelian system (not Ptolemy mainly) and argued for the Copernican model of the Universe was |
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Definition
| Dialogue on the Two Great World Systems |
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Term
| Bacon's "experimental philosophy" was largely based upon the |
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Definition
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Term
| What discovery made by Galileo with the telescope was NOT highly controversial? |
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Definition
| there are many stars too faint to be seen with the naked eye |
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Term
| Which were other two discoveries made by Galileo with the telescope? |
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Definition
1. The Moon's surface isn't smooth but rough, with mountains and craters
2. Jupiter has four moons that orbit around it |
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Term
| What points were they used by Galileo to argue that sunspots really are on the Sun's surface and not simply passing in front of it? |
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Definition
1. the spots appear to move faster at the center of the Sun's disk than at the edge or limb
2. the spots appear thin or foreshortened when at the edge or limb |
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Term
| Philosophical transactions is... |
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Definition
| the research journal of the Royal Society |
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Term
| The "aerial" telescope (without a tube or frame) was invented by |
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Term
| Four medium-sized moons of Saturn were discovered by |
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Definition
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Term
| The correct formula for centripetal force was first published by |
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Definition
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Term
| The speed of light was first measured successfully by Roemer using |
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Definition
| the time delay of eclipses of Jupiter's moons across the Earth's orbit |
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Term
| The methodology employed by Newton in his Principia was |
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Definition
| a combination of the inductive and deductive meathods |
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Term
| Newton showed that the dispersion of white light into colours, as with sunlight passing through a glass prism, was responsible for |
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Definition
| chromatic aberration in telescope |
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Term
| According to Newton's Laws of Motion, an object is being acted on by a net external force so long as |
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Definition
| its velocity isn't changing |
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Term
| Which would be accelerated more, the Sun or Jupiter, if they're both acted on by the same amount of force? |
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Definition
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Term
| If two planets have the same mass but different radio, which will have the greater surface gravity? |
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Definition
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Term
| What kind of orbit is, in the two-body problem, a bound orbit |
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Definition
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Term
| What are two quantities that appear in Newton's version of Kepler's Third Law? |
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Definition
1. semimajor axis
2. period |
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Term
| The Earth's precession (of equinoxes) is caused by |
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Definition
| tidal forces of the Sun and the Moon trying to pull its equatorial bulge into alignment with the ecliptic plane |
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Term
| The refracting telescope having a convex objective lens and a convex eyepiece lens is known as the |
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Definition
| Keplerian or astronomical refractor |
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Term
| The first measurements to show (not very accurately) that the Earth is oblate rather than prolate were made by an expedition to |
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Definition
| Lapland led by Maupertuis |
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Term
| The reflecting telescope having a concave primart mirror and a convex secondary mirror is the |
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Definition
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Term
| The accurate prediction of the return of Halley's Comet in 1759 by Clairaut and Mme Lepaute accomplished what two things? |
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Definition
1. To confirm that Descartes' theory of comets as one-time visitors was wrong and Halley was right
2. To support Newton's theory of universal gravitation and the inverse-square law |
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Term
| What was the main result of Kepler's book Cosmographic Mystery? |
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Definition
| the Planets' distances from the Sun could be explained geometrically |
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Term
| Kepler's Second Law states that |
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Definition
| an imaginary line from the Sun to a given planet sweeps out equal areas in equal time intervals |
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Term
| How did Galileo's discovery of Jupiter's four large moons support the Copernican theory? |
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Definition
| They showed the Earth's wouldn't leave the Moon behind if it revolved around the Sun |
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Term
| The Copernican Theory was officially declared to be heretical by the Church and Copernicus' book banned (not just amended) at the time of |
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Definition
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Term
| The concept of inertia was first put forward (in a slightly incorrect form) by |
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Definition
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Term
| The EXPERIMENTAL PHILOSOPHY advocated to Francis Bacon involved |
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Definition
| deriving general principle from specific experiments and/or observations |
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Term
| Journal des Savants was the research jounal of which scientific society? |
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Definition
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Term
| The first accurate pendulum clock was invented by |
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Definition
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Term
| Who published Selenographia, a map of the moon? |
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