Physical Sciences and Mathematics Commons^™

1. Greek And Medieval Science, Robert L. Bloom, Basil L. Crapster, Harold A. Dunkelberger, Charles H. Glatfelter, Richard T. Mara, Norman E. Richardson, W. Richard Schubart

Section VIII: The Development of Modern Science

What kind of questions did the Greeks ask themselves about the physical universe? We can paraphrase Plato: the stars move about the earth in circles, the perfect paths, and they move with uniform motion as befits divine and eternal beings. But five of these stars are planets (Greek for wanderers) which appear to have irregular motion, first moving forward, then actually stopping, and then moving backward for awhile. Since the heavens are incorruptible, the planets too must really be moving in uniform motion in circular paths. How then can we account for the apparently irregular motions? What uniform motions must …