KNOWING THE UNIVERSE

History and Philosophy of Astronomy

Chris Impey, Distinguished Professor

University of Arizona
History and Philosophy of Astronomy

Module 5 : Gravity
Gravity
 The Copernican Revolution

The history of astronomy displaces us from cosmic importance

 Newton
Views on his place in the history of science:

“I do not know what I may appear to the world, but to myself I

seem to have been only like a boy playing on the sea-shore, and
diverting myself in now and then finding a smoother pebble or
a prettier shell than ordinary, whilst the great ocean of truth
lay all undiscovered before me.”

Memoirs of the Life of Sir Isaac Newton, by David Brewster (1855)

“If I have seen further, it is by standing on the shoulders of giants.”

Letter to Robert Hooke (1676)
 René Descartes (1596 – 1650)
Major figure in the history of ideas between
the eras of Copernicus and Newton

Pivotal figure in philosophy

• Radical doubt
• Mind-body duality

Co-founder (with Fermat) of

• Coordinate geometry
• Analytic geometry

Pivotal figure in Physics and Astronomy

• Clockwork universe
• Infinite universe Portrait of Descartes
By Frans Hals (Dutch)
1582 - 1666
 Early Life
Peripatetic early adulthood Independent thinker from an early age:
1616: law degree at University of Poiteirs “I entirely abandoned the study of letters.
1618: joins Dutch army as engineer Resolving to seek no knowledge other than
1619: joins Bavarian army in Thirty Years War that of which could be found in myself or else
in the great book of the world, I spent the rest
1622–1628: lives in Paris of my youth traveling, visiting courts and
armies, mixing with people of diverse
On 10 November, 1619, Descartes has a series of dreams temperaments and ranks, gathering various
experiences, testing myself in the situations
Revealed that mathematical approach was the only
which fortune offered me, and at all times
certain way to truth ➔ Idea of analytic geometry reflecting upon whatever came my way so as
to derive some profit from it.”
Discours de la Méthode (1637)
Basic premise:
Find one “certain truth” and proceed, applying logic, to deduce the rest of science
He was determined to extend this method to philosophy more broadly

Profound influence on science and philosophy

Root of the Hilbert Program in mathematics: ground mathematics on an axiomatic basis
 Netherlands
Descartes decides to leave Paris and return to the Netherlands in 1628
Enrolls in University of Franekur and then Leiden to study mathematics and astronomy
Remained in Netherlands 20 years, almost to the end of his life in 1650
Wrote almost all of his works in the Netherlands

Netherlands is a newly-independent, vibrant nation

Independence from Spain 1581
Dutch Golden Age
• Naval superpower
• Trading empire
• Economic powerhouse
• First stock exchange

The Night Watch, Rembrandt (1642)

 Discours de la Méthode, 1637
Discourse on the Method of Rightly Conducting One's
Reason and of Seeking Truth in the Sciences

Foundational work in philosophy and in science

Epistemological problem of skepticism:

How do we know things are true?

• Start by destroying previous certainties

• I cannot be sure what my senses are telling me
• After all, I could be dreaming
• I can’t doubt one thing: that I doubt (think)!
• Thus, my thinking proves my existence!

“I think, therefore I am”

 God and External Reality
• I am not perfect. but I have the idea of perfect reality in my head
• This perfect being cannot be the same as me, as I am surely imperfect
• This perfect being would not be perfect if it did not also exist
The perfect being (God) exists

• I clearly conceive of an external reality – things in the “outside world” (not me)
• God, being perfect, would not deceive me
The external world exists

• But that external world is different from my mind

• There are two kinds of entities in the world
• Minds think, have free thought, and free will
• Bodies have size and shape and behave according to laws of physics (determinism)
These two realms of reality and independent and different
 Cartesian Dualism
The dualism is mind and body was hugely influential, but it raises many questions…
• The human body is a machine
• But the brain then is part of the machine
• So how does the mind interact with the brain?

A modern version is Cartesian materialism (not a view

held by Descartes), the idea that there’s a place in our
brain with information that directly corresponds to our
Drawing by
conscious experience (watching a film of what we see).
Descartes
 Cartesian Science
Principia Philosophiae (Philosophical Principles, 1644)

Set out Descartes’ theory of matter, space, and motion

A clockwork universe, infinite in extent
The “space” of geometry (volume) is indistinguishable from
matter which fills that space
There can be no vacuum, since even “empty” space has
extension, and that is matter

Space is densely packed with material particles – the world

is a plenum
Particles encountering nothing will continue to move in a
straight line
They will always encounter something since space is
never empty Principia Philosophiae, title page, first edition.
Collisions between particles will change their motion Added to the Index of Prohibited Books in 1663.
 Cosmology
Extension has no edge and no center, so the Universe is
infinite and has no center
Collisions will tend to make the paths of particles close to
make approximate circles
Leads to a vortex structure
Infinity of vortices leads to infinity of Suns and solar
systems
This cosmology was not correct or influential

Descartes profoundly influenced the course of science:

Mathematical approach to physics which
• Exists independently
• Is described by the laws under which the (mindless)
things move
• Uses math to describe what is really there, it’s not
just a description
Wavy line is path of comet
 Isaac Newton (1642—1727)
Scientific work of Isaac Newton is a watershed:
• Separating science by description and science by mathematical reasoning
• Not the first, but the most central figure in the history of physics
• Much of his work not rigorous by modern standards, but seminal nonetheless

“Nature and nature's laws lay hid in night;

God said: "Let Newton be" and all was light.”
Alexander Pope, for Newton’s
monument in Westminster Abbey

Brilliant, acerbic, cranky, reluctant to publish

Polymath, the master of many subjects
Deeply, if unconventionally, religious
Portrait of Newton by
Godfrey Kneller (1689)
 Early Life
Born in Woolsthorpe, Lincolnshire, into a farming family
Father died before he was born
Mother re-married and left Newton with his grandmother
Attended a nearby boy’s grammar school
Mother tried to make him a farmer after 2nd husband died
Absent-minded and diffident as a child

Enrolled at Trinity College, Cambridge, 1661 as a subsizar (valet)

• By 1664, he had won a scholarship
• Studied mathematics and Descarte’s mechanics
• Graduated in 1665 as Cambridge closed: the Great Plague
• Nothing notable to distinguish him as a student
 English Civil War: 1642-1649
Bitter political struggle between Parliament…
With the ability to raise taxes & growing power from wealthy constituency

…and the monarchy, represented by Charles I

Married a catholic
Engaged in disastrous military adventures
Fought with Parliament for a decade (without convening parliament)

Eventually, Parliament impeaches Charles I, and executes him in 1649

Leads to the establishment of the “Commonwealth” and the ascendency

of Oliver Cromwell as the Lord Protector

Anarchy after Cromwell’s death

Army recalls Charles II, but forms a “parliamentary monarchy”

Preserves Britain from the violent revolutions experienced around Europe
 Restoration: 1660
Charles (Stuart) II is restored to the monarchy
Flowering of the “coffee-house culture”
• New, more egalitarian venue for intellectual discussion
• Became centers of commerce
Gresham College founded in 1645
• Different sort of intellectual, outward-looking, civic-minded
• Men of more practical , commercial bent
• Opposed to the Church rule of Universities
• Concerned mainly with experimentation
Lead to the formation of the Royal Society of London in 1660
• Given a royal charter by Charles II
• UK’s “National Academy of Sciences”
• Initially, primarily composed of non-scientists
 Royal Society
Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society
• First published in 1667
• First scientific journal
• Public record of new scientific ideas

Major force in the professionalizing of science

The first volume of Philosophical

Transactions of the Royal Society
 Plague and Fire
1665: Last outbreak in England of the bubonic plague pandemic
In 18 months, killed more than 100,000 people in London
alone (a quarter of the population)

Newton returns home to Lincolnshire from Cambridge for safety

1666: Great Fire of London
Destroys homes of 70,000 of London’s 80,000
inhabitants of the City proper
Most losses are wooden homes of the poor

These years are known as the annus mirabilis for

Newton’s three discoveries:
• Calculus
• The Nature of Light
• Universal Gravitation
 Calculus
Newton thought of calculus initially to deal with time-varying quantities
• “fluent”: function of time
• “fluxions”: instantaneous rate at which a fluent is changing
• Used infinitesimal, ignored in the result but not in the derivation!
Cumbersome notation, but major breakthrough in dealing with dynamics
Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz (1646-1716) independently the same calculus
• Two different approaches to integration
• Newton: antiderivative
• Leibniz: summation of infinite series
Despite collaborating early, engaged in bitter dispute (by proxy on Newton’s part) lasting decades
In a sense, Leibniz won, in that we all use his notation today (d/dx…)
The notion of an infinitesimal was problematic for many
George Bishop Berkeley ridiculed both Newton and Leibniz for expounding mathematical “nonsense”
since division by zero is undefined!
Modern notions of calculus as based on limiting principles did not come about for another 150 years:
• Augustin-Louis Cauchy (1789-1857): first rigorous proofs, complex analysis
• Karl Theodor Wilhelm Weierstrass (1815-1897): formalized continuity of functions
Lack of rigorous underpinnings didn’t deter physicists from quickly adopting Newton’s and Leibniz’ methods!
 Optics and Light
Color is an intrinsic property of light
Dispersion by one prism could be undone by lens and second prism
Dispersion varies by color, largest for blue light
Perceived color of an object due to the object’s reflection differing for different colors
Corpuscular theory of light – composed of particles
Introduction of aether hypothesis, invisible medium that light travels through

White light is dispersed into colors by a prism. The colors can be

recombined to make white light, so colors are not being created
by the prism itself. If any single color is passed through a prism it
does not change color, so the colors are fundamental to the light
In 1669, Newton returns to Cambridge as the Lucasian Professor for Mathematics
• Develops his design for a reflecting telescope
• Develops interference fringe method for testing (“Newton’s Rings”)
This earns him membership as a Fellow of the Royal Society (“FRS”)
Newton is very reluctant to publish his results
• Doesn’t like the back and forth of scientific dispute, prefers life as a hermit
• He is a perfectionist – but much of his work hadn’t yet been “perfected”
 Universal Gravity
Much dispute at the time (Robert Hooke, Christopher Wren, Edmund Halley) about how
the influence of gravity fell off with distance – the n in 1/𝑟 𝑛
• 1/𝑟 2 or inverse square law is “intuitive” since light falls off similarly

Newton knew about Huygen’s centrifugal force

• Argued that if a planet is held in its orbit by gravitational acceleration, then n = 2
which gives Kepler’s 3rd law

Would the same attractive force affect terrestrial objects?

• Needed to sum up the force from Earth on (for example!) an apple
• Geometrical proof that force acts as if from a point at the center of mass
• Also proved that spherical shells outside cancel, only interior mass counts

Using recent determination of size of Earth, Newton compares force on apple vs. Moon
 Gravity

Note: Newton’s theory is exact only in the artificial case of two bodies;
in all realistic cases it requires a suitable computational approximation.
Tides
Gravity Potentials
= √2 Orbital velocity
 Thought Experiment

Imagine firing a cannonball from the

top of a high mountain. At some speed
Gravity means the Moon is constantly the Earth would fall away at the same
falling toward the Earth. As is the apple! rate as the cannonball is falling. Orbit!
Walking and Falling
 Theory Confirmed
The bard of gravity united
the motions of terrestrial
and celestial objects with
a single, simple equation

His theory was stunningly confirmed by

a successful prediction of the return of
Halley’s comet. Asked about action at a
distance he said “I frame no hypothesis”
 Christopher Wren (1632—1723)
Two prominent London intellectuals played a pivotal role in encouraging Newton’s science
Mathematician, astronomer, and physicist
Savillian Professor in Oxford, member of Gresham College
Noted architect:
In charge of rebuilding 52 churches in London
St. Pauls: “If you seek a monument, look around.”
 Edmund Halley (1656—1742)
Remarkable polymath:
• Observed in St. Helena to catalog the southern sky
• Observed transit of Mercury
• Explanation for trade winds and monsoons
• Met Newton while exploring nature of elliptical orbits
• Invented diving bell
• Invented liquid-damped compass
• Captained his own ship while exploring use of magnetic
declination for finding latitude
• Pioneered the use of statistics in actuarial tables
• Enabled the accurate pricing of annuities
• Astronomer Royal
• Comet enthusiast, realized “Halley’s Comet” as periodic

Convinced Newton to publish his results (he paid for the publication)!
 The Principia (1687)
Philosophiæ Naturalis Principia Mathematica
(Mathematical Principles of Natural Philosophy)

Encyclopedic compendium of his work in physics

Book 1: Basic Laws
Book 2: Demolition of Cartesian System
Book 3: System of the World: Applications of the laws

The foundational text of modern physics and astronomy

Title page of first edition, 1687

 Newton’s Laws
Absolute space and time:
“Absolute space...without relation to anything external, remains always similar and
immovable”
“Absolute, true, and mathematical time, of itself, ... flows equably without relation
to anything external”
Passive context for all motion
Space and time are independent and absolute; motion is not entirely relative

Relative motion and rest:

Bucket Experiment
 Newton’s Laws
Famous Three Laws:
1: Inertia (Galileo, Descartes):
States of rest and of uniform motion are equivalent
(Galilean relativity)
2: Force = mass x acceleration
Same force on larger mass induces smaller acceleration
3: For every force there is an equal and opposite counter-force

Universal Gravitation:
Force due to mass (gravitas) is universal and follows the same law everywhere
→ gravitational mass and inertial mass are the same, numerically, but accidentally so!
• Conducted many experiments to verify this (e.g. using pendulum)
• Not obviously the same: inertial mass reflects resistance to a change in motion,
whereas gravitational mass reflects the way something moves under gravity force
• This “coincidence” was not explained until Einstein and General Realtivity
 System of the World
Kepler’s 3 laws are a result of Newton’s 3 laws and law of gravity
• Orbital motions are conic sections (generalizing Kepler’s ellipses)
• Focus of conic section not “central” body but center of mass
Comets move in highly eccentric (elliptical) orbits around the Sun
Earth’s rotation causes it to be oblate
• Cause of the tides
• Departure from “point mass” explains precession of equinoxes
• Variation in orbit of moon the effect of a 3-body system
Thomas Digges (1576)
The world of the stoics – infinite space, finite matter – is unstable
• Gravity is attractive, so everything would fall to the center

Need Epicurean universe – infinite space and matter – homogenous

• Only then does net force cancel

The theological implications of this were not lost on Newton

• In 1693, Newton corresponds with theologian Richard Bentley
• They discuss how God’s perfection required an infinite universe
• There’s the need for a Creator to set everything in motion
 Later Career
In 1696, Newton moves to London
• Two short terms as MP for Cambridge University
• Appointed Master of the Royal Mint (becomes rich)
• Tracks down counterfeiters!
• Elected President of the Royal Society
• Appointed head of the Board of Longitude
• Continued his theological studies

Stops doing science!

Newton dies (probably of complications from a gall stone)

in March of 1727

Funeral widely attended (Voltaire praised the British for

making a hero of a heretic)

Buried in Westminster Abbey

 The Clockwork Universe
Newton railed against the idea of a clockwork universe
A universe governed by laws, but God put everything in motion in the first place
(What were the initial conditions? What about free will?)

Newton worried that the solar system was unstable in the long run, and required God to
intervene periodically to “reset” the clock

"God Almighty wants to wind up his watch from time to time: otherwise it would cease to
move. He had not, it seems, sufficient foresight to make it a perpetual motion."
Leibniz, in a letter to Samuel Clarke

Newton rails against the magical thinking of pre-enlightenment thinkers, yet he invokes God
where he is uncertain (much in the tradition of intelligent design)
 Last of the Magicians
“Newton was not the first of the
age of reason, he was the last of
the magicians.”
John Maynard Keynes

Alchemy Prophecy

Newton spent many years secretly Newton left behind a vast amount
practicing alchemy, or turning lead of dense biblical interpretation, far
into gold by esoteric processes laid exceeding his scientific output. He
down in ancient Hermetic, religious held what were seen at the time as
texts. This may have given him lead scandalous, and perhaps heretical,
poisoning, resulting in a time where views on the Trinity. The work was
he had “toxic” relations with other sealed in trunks for centuries after
scientists. He never succeeded but his death, and much was bought at
he didn’t know alchemy only occurs auction by the Nobel Prize winning
in stars. Newton seamlessly moved economist John Maynard Keynes.
from the scientific to the occult. Newton was no theology dilletante.
 Imagining space travel

Imagining life on other worlds

Newton (1661)

Kepler’s Somnium (1630)

The Flowering of Science
The Enlightenment
Scientific Revolution
Science Timeline
London in the middle of the 17th century
Through the 17th C.,
most people held to
a medieval Chain of
Being, a hierarchical
and static worldview
of social order, that
was untouched by
Copernican thought.
It’s omnipresent in
Shakespeare’s work
and other writers of
the Elizabethan era.
Intellectuals of the
time were members
of “secret societies”
(Order of the Rosy
Cross, Freemasons)
who looked back to
ancient knowledge
for inspiration. The
boundary between
magic, superstition,
and science was not
as sharp as today.
Newton and other
great early scientists
studied the occult,
especially alchemy
(see Harry Potter for
many examples). He
also spent years on
his detailed analysis
of the Bible, using a
numerology method
and focusing on the
Apocalypse timing.
Left: The Royal Society
“Take nobody’s word for it”

Right: Unseen College (Pratchett)

“Now you see it, now you don’t.”

An “Invisible College”
of natural philosophers
and physicians.
Sir Thomas Gresham (1519-1579)

Gresham College, Royal Society (1660)

 Francis Bacon (1561-1626)

Novum Organum (1620) and Empiricism

Science and the Flow of Information

Imperial Academy (St. Petersburg)

Academy of Science (Berlin)

Royal Academy (Paris)

Royal Society (London)

Science and the Industrial Revolution

Blast Furnace (Wilkinson)

Spinning Jenny (Hargreaves)

Steam Engine (Watt)

Trains (Trevithick)

Roads (McAdam)
 Robert Boyle (1627-1691)

Skeptical Chemist (1661) and Chemistry

 Robert Hooke (1635-1703)

Micrographia (1665) and Physics

 Isaac Newton (1643-1727)

Principia Mathematica (1687) and Physics

 James Hutton (1726-1797)

Uniformitanarianism (1785) and Geology

Royal Institution, founded 1799
Charles Babbage (1791-1871)

Programmable Computer (1847)

 Charles Darwin (1809-1882)

Origin of Species (1859) and Evolution

James Clerk Maxwell (1831-1879)

Electricity and Magnetism (1873)

 Lord Kelvin (1824-1907)

Laws of Thermodynamics (1851)

History and Philosophy of Astronomy

Module 5 : The End