Kepler’s New Astronomy: Ptolemy’s System
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Claudius Ptolemy thought the Earth stood still, and the Sun, Moon and planets went around it. He should have known better, as an investigation of his hypothesis makes clear. Part of the Animated New Astronomy: http://science.larouchepac.com/kepler/astronomianova/
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"As an indication of exactly how good the Ptolemaic model is, modern planetariums are built using gears and motors that essentially reproduce the Ptolemaic model for the appearance of the sky as viewed from a stationary Earth. In the planetarium projector, motors and gears provide uniform motion of the heavenly bodies. One motor moves the planet projector around in a big circle, which in this case is the deferent, and another gear or motor takes the place of the epicycle."
http://www.polaris.iastate.edu/EveningStar/Unit2/unit2_sub1.htm
"After 400 Years, a Challenge to Kepler:He Fabricated His Data, Scholar Says
By WILLIAM J. BROAD
Published: January 23, 1990
JOHANNES KEPLER, the father of modern astronomy, fabricated data in presenting his theory of how the planets move around the Sun, apparently to bolster acceptance of the insight by skeptics, a scholar has found.
The scholar, William H. Donahue, said the evidence of Kepler's scientific fakery is contained in an elaborate chart he presented to support his theory.
Kepler showed that the planets move in elliptical orbits rather than in circles as Copernicus suggested. In his book describing the insight, he said it was confirmed by independent calculations of the planets' positions. In fact, Dr. Donahue says, Kepler derived the data by calculations based on the theory itself."
http://www.nytimes.com/1990/01/23/science/after-400-years-a-challenge-to-kepler-he-fabricated-his-data-scholar-says.html?pagewanted=all
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