ECLIPSE*

[RonPrice]

The rare conjunction of orbital mechanics, the transit of Venus, was perhaps the most anticipated scientific event of the 18th century. Expeditions set off for the far corners of the Earth, including one by Capt. James Cook who sailed to Tahiti to observe the transit. He went on to discover the continent of Australia where I have lived for the last four decades. Explorers like Cook went in hopes of answering one of the most vexing scientific questions of the day: How far away is the Sun?

 

“This was the big unknown for astronomy 250 years ago,” said Owen Gingerich, an emeritus professor of astronomy and history of science at Harvard. Without that number, much else about the solar system was also uncertain: the size of the Sun, the distance between planets, inter alia. The answer that came out of the worldwide 1769 observations was pretty close at 95 million miles. “Historically speaking, it was the beginning of big international science,” said Dr. Gingerich.

 

It was only in 1627 that anyone realized Venus transits occurred at all. That year, Johannes Kepler, the mathematician and astronomer, published data about the planetary orbits that predicted that Venus would pass directly between Earth and the Sun in 1631.-Ron Price with thanks to: http://www.nytimes.com/2012/05/29/sc...l?ref=eclipses

 

What a set of revolutions we’ve

seen since Captain Cook was in

Tahiti and we finally learned the

distance to the Sun among other

bodies in our solar system! What

a story it has been in the last 250

years! We each follow these many

revolutions as suits our tastes and

interests. My particular interest is

in the revolutions that have taken

place in history, science, politics,

the many social sciences, applied

and physical sciences, indeed, in

more areas than can be listed here:

revolutions that have eclipsed so

many things that have gone before.

 

* The term eclipse is derived from an ancient Greek noun, a noun which means "the abandonment", "the downfall", or "the darkening of a heavenly body." This noun is derived from a verb which means "to abandon", "to darken", or "to cease to exist." The prefix of the word eclipse, e, comes from a preposition meaning "out," and from a verb meaning "to be absent".

 

Ron Price

8 June 2012

 

PS for my writing in many areas of these revolutionary changes go to my website at: url deleted

[swansont]

!

Moderator Note

Ron, per rule 2.7 advertising links are not permitted in posts, though links to noncommercial sites can be put in your signature.

[RonPrice]

Belated thanks for that notice, Swansont.-Ron