Astronomy Essay Example: Geocentrism

Galileo Was Wrong is a website that shows the scientific evidence that supports Geocentrism. It entails the apparent academic belief that the earth is actually immobile in the center of the universe. Geocentrism, which is also referred to as the geocentric model or rate the Ptolemain system is the universes description which is superseded, with the Earth being at the center. Under Geocentrism, the planets, the sun, the stars and even the moon all circle the earth. This particular mode did serve as the description that was predominant of the cosmos in most of the ancient civilization, like those of Ptolemy and Aristotle (Sungenis, Robert .A, & Robert. J., 26). Lastly, a geocentrist is a person who strongly supports the claim that the earth is the center, as in the former systems of astronomy.

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I think it is reasonable about the claims that have been mentioned above that the Earth is actually at the center. I support that because; the sun always revolves around the Earth, on a daily basis. While on the other hand, the planets and the moon do have their motions, as they also revolve around the Earth, once a day (Sungenis et al, 53). The stars are claimed by geocentrists to be on a sphere that is celestial, and rotate once in a day along the south and north Earths geographic poles, along an axis. I think that this claim might be unreasonable. Pseudoscience is the term that is used in the description of a belief or claim which is presented as scientific, but doesnt adhere to scientific method. The red flags that I see which indicate that this claim might be pseudoscience is that they were nothing but invented theories. The geocentrists also added further ideas to their claims, so that they could predict the motion of planets.

A main supporter of Geocentrism was Plato. Plato claimed that the Earth was spherical and at the same time, stationary at the universes center. The planets and the stars were being carried around the Earth on circles or spheres and they were arranged in an outward order.

However, in Ancient Greek, not all the Greeks agreed with the claims that Plato made. According to the Pythagoreans, who were the greatest critiques of Plato believed that the Earth to be one of the many planets that were going around a fire that was at the center. Ecphantus and Hicetas did believe that the Earth rotated on its own axis even though it remained at the universes center (Plait, 51). I would also critique the claims made by Plato as they were literal interpretations that are in the Bible. Not that the Bible is wrong though. The claims do not have any scientific methods or research that proves them to be true. Unlike their opponents, the modern philosophers (scientists), who oppose their claims with scientific evidence.

It is true that the world is spherical in shape, because at the extreme end it appears to be round. Nevertheless, this does not mean that the world is at the center of the universe. Physicists, on the other hand, invented the General Theory of Relativity so as to make explanations about embarrassing results that prove the universes geocentric. The physicist does acknowledge that theory to be one of the models but do not believe that there is any other heaven, a third one, beyond the firmament. The secular physicists are supporters of the geocentric model and would most definitely defend it if it was presented to them in a more Zen or secular way (Plait, 78).

Discussion

It is basic knowledge that the world revolves around the sun and rotates around its own axis. The reason as to why the Earth rotates is due to the angular momentum of the particles which came together to create it. However, even before that, the Sun, the solar system and the Earth were a part of a giant molecular cloud which contained helium, hydrogen and other elements which were very heavy. In the ancient times, the astronomers did believe that the Earth was actually fixed and that the planets, the stars the sun and the moon rotated around it. However, the theory was questioned. A point that was made was the fact that the Earth did not rotate and neither is it unfixed (Kordig, 41).

Conclusion

It is an arguable debate among the geocentrists and those that do not support the claims. However, both the claims have their own evidence and some scientific sense in them. The claims made by the geocentrists were apparently incorrect and did not contain scientific methods. Even though their claims were not true, they were accepted for a number of years until the modern scientists did their research. The scientist completely critiqued their claims and this was supported by research through scientific methods and evidence too. On that note, the Earth is not at the center of the universe, but revolves around the sun and rotates on its own axis.

Works Cited

Kordig, Carl R. The Justification of Scientific Change. Dordrecht: Springer Netherlands, 1975. Internet resource.

Plait, Philip C. Bad Astronomy: Misconceptions and Misuses Revealed, from Astrology to the Moon Landing 'hoax'. New York: Wiley, 2002. Internet resource.

Sungenis, Robert A, and Robert J. Bennett. Galileo Was Wrong: The Church Was Right. State Line, Pa: Catholic Apologetics International Pub, 2007. Print.