Revolution in Science How Galileo and Darwin Changed Our World
This is the compelling story of the two biggest events in the evolution of ideas: the revolutions of Galileo and Darwin. Mark Brake captures the adventure and excitement of these two scientists in this is a timely examination of the ways in which faith an
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Revolution in Science H ow G a l il eo a nd Da rw i n Ch a n ged Our Wo r l d
Mark L. Brake
REVOLUTION IN SCIENCE
Copyright © Mark L. Brake, 2009.
All rights reserved. First published in 2009 by PALGRAVE MACMILLAN® in the United States – a division of St. Martin’s Press LLC, 175 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY 10010. Where this book is distributed in the UK, Europe and the rest of the world, this is by Palgrave Macmillan, a division of Macmillan Publishers Limited, registered in England, company number 785998, of Houndmills, Basingstoke, Hampshire RG21 6XS. PALGRAVE MACMILLAN is the global academic imprint of the above companies and has companies and representatives throughout the world. Palgrave® and Macmillan® are registered trademarks in the United States, the United Kingdom, Europe and other countries. ISBN 978-0-230-20268-9 ISBN 978-0-230-10210-1 (eBook) DOI 10.1007/978-0-230-10210-1 Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data is available from the Library of Congress. A catalogue record of the book is available from the British Library. Design by Macmillan Publishing Solutions. First edition: December 2009
For Been and Rosi, who did not compel me to write this dedication
Contents
List of Figures and Tables
viii
Introduction
1
Part I
5
Wisdom of the Ancients
1
Greek Sky: The World Before the Telescope
2
Heaven and Earth
29
3
The Darkness Rising
45
Part II
The Gathering Storm
7
69
4
Medieval Sky
71
5
The Great Chain of Being
89
Part III The Revolutions: The Weapons of Discovery
103
6
The Telescope and Galileo
105
7
Evolution and Darwin
131
Part IV
The Aftermath: Worlds Turned Upside Down
145
8
The “Galileo” Aftermath
147
9
The “Darwin” Aftermath
177
Part V 10
The Prestige
The Kudos
191 193
Notes
207
Index
217
Figures
1.1 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 3.5 3.6
4.1 5.1 8.1
The classical geocentric system of the Pythagoreans Schema 1: Central Fire cosmology, showing the Earth and Sun at noon Schema 2: Central Fire cosmology, showing the Earth and Sun at midnight Schema 3: The classical geocentric system (with soaring Greek gods!) Schema 4: The classical heliocentric system Schema 5: The system of Heraclides Aristotle’s geocentric universe, complete with the four elements, celestial spheres and the Primum Mobile, the ninth sphere driven by divinity Schema 6: The Epicycle System of Ptolemy Der Doktor Schnabel von Rom, Doctor Beak of Rome, an engraving by Paul Fürst, 1656 The Tychonic system
17 48 49 52 53 55
65 80 97 158
Table
Greek chart: Philosophy and science in the ancient Greek world
27
Introduction
T
his is a tale of two revolutions. It is a story of history and adventure, science and invention, sex and absurdity, slavery and lunacy, murder and alchemy. A chronicle that sweeps continents and centuries, upending kings and cosmologies, religious dogma and the dark age of faith. Bringing remarkable ages to vivid life, the narrative traces momentous events that twice turned the world upside down. A medieval revolution that shifted the Throne of God to th
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