Timeline for A parabolic arc is not semicircular. But students think so
Current License: CC BY-SA 3.0
4 events
| when toggle format | what | by | license | comment | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Feb 10, 2015 at 14:09 | comment | added | RemcoGerlich | And those were necessary because retrograde motion was a known thing, and couldn't be explained with a model where Earth is in the center and the planets revolve around it in pure circles. | |
| Feb 9, 2015 at 21:27 | comment | added | Francis Davey | Though to be precise for many centuries most astronomers had models that consisted of paths constructed from circles. Ptolemaic orbits (and Copernican ones) aren't circles at all, but beautiful spirograph patterns. | |
| Feb 9, 2015 at 20:19 | comment | added | Brendan W. Sullivan | Good idea. I'm always looking for opportunities to mention math history, and this seems like a good time to do so! As I noted in another comment (matheducators.stackexchange.com/questions/7368/…), we can have a class discussion about Newton, physics, and integration here, too! | |
| Feb 9, 2015 at 16:53 | history | answered | user52817 | CC BY-SA 3.0 |