Chapter 4
The Greek philosopher who proposed that Earth rotates on its axis and revolves around the Sun was _________.
Aristarchus
When Tycho saw no parallax in the position of a new star, he published his evidence against which model of the Universe?
Aristotelian
Galileo's book Dialogo strongly defended the work of which astronomer?
Copernicus
In 1632, which book did the Inquisition order sales to be stopped?
Dialogo
Spheres are an essential part of Kepler's three fundamental rules of planetary motion.
False
The Inquisition condemned Galileo for heresy in 1616.
False
The 99 years that revolutionized Astronomy ended with whose death?
Galileo
Who is often considered the founder of trigonometry?
Hipparchus
Which model did Galileo disprove by discovering the transit of Venus?
Ptolemaic
What field of science focuses most on the connections between ancient celestial observations and such structures as the one seen in the accompanying figure (Figure 4-2)?
archeoastronomy
Which is not a feature of Ptolemy's mathematical model of the Aristotelian universe?
ellipse
Kepler's first law of planetary motion states "The orbits of the planets are _____ with the Sun at one focus."
ellipses
Kepler's laws of planetary motion were _____ because he could not provide an explanation for his conclusions.
empirical
Ptolemy tried to describe the motion of the planets by devising a small circle, called a(n) ____, which rotated around the edge of a larger circle.
epicycle
Claudius Ptolemy was a contemporary of Aristotle.
false
Greek philosophers used religion and astrology to understand the mysteries of the Universe.
false
Eudoxus of Cnidus (408-355 BCE), a student of Plato's, applied the principle of heliocentric motion to produce a mathematical description of the motions of the Universe.
false
Galileo's discovery of Saturn's moons proved that Earth, too, could move and still keep its satellite.
false
In the Copernican system, Earth moves slower along its orbit than the planets that lie farther from the Sun.
false
Though their contributions to astronomy were different, Galileo and Copernicus were astronomers during the same time period.
false
In the Copernican system, Earth moves _______________ along its orbit than the planets that lie farther from the Sun.
faster
A(n) _______________is something that is held to be obviously true and needs no further examination.
first principle
Pythagoras proposed that all nature was underlain by musical principles, by which he meant _______________.
mathematics
Early astronomers believed that Earth did not move because they saw no ____, the apparent motion of an object because of the motion of the observer.
parallax
The accompanying illustration (Figure 4-1) demonstrates Copernicus's theory of _______________. rm
retrograde motion
The most important idea in Copernicus' De Revolutionibus was placing the _______________ at the center of the Universe.
sun
What tool did Galileo use to prove that the Moon was not perfect?
telescope
Kepler's second law of planetary motion states "A line from a planet to the Sun sweeps over equal areas in equal intervals of ____."
time
Kepler discovered that planets do not move at uniform speeds along their elliptical orbits.
true
Most Greek philosophers believed in a geocentric Universe.
true
Pythagoras believed that the underlying rules to understanding the Universe were mathematical.
true
The most important idea in De Revolutionibus was placing the Sun at the center of the Universe.
true
Which planet did Galileo observe go through a complete set of phases, thus proving the Ptolemaic model wrong?
venus
A circle is an ellipse with an eccentricity of ____.
zero
Which statement best describes a theory?
A group of ideas about how something should be done, made, or thought about
Which book was authored by Copernicus that explained the Sun as the center of a planetary system?
De Revolutionibus
What did the Greek philosopher Philolaus believe about the Universe?
Earth moved around a central fire.
What did most Greek philosophers accept as a first principle?
Earth was the unmoving center of the Universe.
What was Eratosthenes's mathematical contribution to the history of astronomy, even though it was incorrect?
He attempted to calculate Earth's radius by utilizing the position of sunlight.
What was Tycho Brahe's contribution to astronomy?
He proved that Earth rotates on its own axis and revolves around the Sun.
Which publication was Kepler's masterpiece, providing strong evidence to planetary motion and a heliocentric Universe?
Rudolphine Tables
What was the most controversial issue surrounding the nature of the Universe during the Renaissance?
The position of Earth in the Universe
Why did Copernicus hesitate to consider alternatives to the Ptolemaic Universe?
There was no way to prove uniform circular motion.
In Kepler's model of the Universe, what was the purpose of the five regular solids?
To be spacers for the orbits of the six planets
Kepler's third law of planetary motion states, "A planet's _____ squared is proportional to its average distance from the Sun cubed."
orbital period
Ancient astronomers often had difficulty explaining _____, the occasional westward motion of the planets.
retrograde motion
Kepler's first law of planetary motion defied what long-held belief with ancient astronomers?
uniform circular motion
What principle was Copernicus unable to provide evidence against?
uniform circular motion
According to Kepler's third law, calculate the orbital period of a planet approximately 6.0 AU away from the Sun.
∼15 years
