Authors:
- Contains over one hundred pictures to elucidate the text, many of which are originally drawn by the author
- Provides readers with a comprehensive treatment of archaic astronomical instruments and groundbreaking interpretations for how they might have been used
- Provides dozens of challenging new interpretations and historical perspectives on ancient Greek cosmology
- Includes supplementary material: sn.pub/extras
Part of the book series: Astrophysics and Space Science Library (ASSL, volume 374)
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Table of contents (19 chapters)
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Front Matter
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Archaic Astronomy and the World-Picture of a Flat Earth
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Front Matter
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Archaic astronomy and the world-picture of a flat earth
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Anaximander and the Discovery of Space
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Front Matter
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Anaximander and the discovery of space
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The Completion of the New World-Picture and the Debate on the Shape of the Earth
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Front Matter
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The completion of the new world-picture and the debate on the shape of the earth
About this book
In Miletus, about 550 B.C., together with our world-picture cosmology was born. This book tells the story. In Part One the reader is introduced in the archaic world-picture of a flat earth with the cupola of the celestial vault onto which the celestial bodies are attached. One of the subjects treated in that context is the riddle of the tilted celestial axis. This part also contains an extensive chapter on archaic astronomical instruments. Part Two shows how Anaximander (610-547 B.C.) blew up this archaic world-picture and replaced it by a new one that is essentially still ours. He taught that the celestial bodies orbit at different distances and that the earth floats unsupported in space. This makes him the founding father of cosmology. Part Three discusses topics that completed the new picture described by Anaximander. Special attention is paid to the confrontation between Anaxagoras and Aristotle on the question whether the earth is flat or spherical, and on the battle between Aristotle and Heraclides Ponticus on the question whether the universe is finite or infinite.
Keywords
Reviews
From the reviews:
“Independent researcher/philosopher Couprie has extended his doctoral dissertation work on Anaximander (610-547 BCE) to situate him within the context of Greek history and philosophy of astronomy. … Excellent illustrations assist the reader in visualizing the ancient viewpoints. The plethora of detail and the subject matter make this a book most likely to be appreciated by experts rather than general readers. Summing Up: Recommended. Researchers and professionals.” (M.-K. Hemenway, Choice, Vol. 49 (2), October, 2011)Authors and Affiliations
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Limburg, Netherlands
Dirk L. Couprie
Bibliographic Information
Book Title: Heaven and Earth in Ancient Greek Cosmology
Book Subtitle: From Thales to Heraclides Ponticus
Authors: Dirk L. Couprie
Series Title: Astrophysics and Space Science Library
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4419-8116-5
Publisher: Springer New York, NY
eBook Packages: Physics and Astronomy, Physics and Astronomy (R0)
Copyright Information: Springer Science+Business Media, LLC 2011
Hardcover ISBN: 978-1-4419-8115-8Published: 06 April 2011
Softcover ISBN: 978-1-4614-2840-4Published: 19 April 2013
eBook ISBN: 978-1-4419-8116-5Published: 23 March 2011
Series ISSN: 0067-0057
Series E-ISSN: 2214-7985
Edition Number: 1
Number of Pages: XXXIV, 262
Topics: History and Philosophical Foundations of Physics, Cosmology, Philosophy of Science