Tuesday, November 23, 2021

956: Great Minds.......

 


The period 1450 -1650 is a special period in the development of thought. You go from one surprise to the next. 

  

when you see how one is driven by an enormous curiosity, how really genius minds come to genius insights. 

  

I ended the previous lecture with a reference to Keppler. Philology, chronology, physics, mathematics, musicology, optics, astronomy

    

Kepler has dealt with all these disciplines and everywhere he strived for the greatest possible accuracy. 

   

He generalized the empirical cycle of testing and adaptation from philology to other scientific practices. Textual and non-textual phenomena were epistemologically not different for Kepler. 

     

Kepler realized that his application of the empirical cycle to astronomy had brought about something new. 

   

Until then, in Europe, and before that in the Arab world, astronomy was mainly seen as a form of mathematics that was separate from natural science. 

  

Kepler, on the other hand, referred to his activities as celestial physics. He looked not only for mathematical models, 

  

but also for underlying physical forces that could explain these models. He has tried this with the help of another reduction pattern: analogy thinking. 

  

What works well in one case for linking patterns and principles may also work well in another, and this recurring way of linking patterns and principles becomes a pattern itself. 

  

Thinking of analogy is such a recurring pattern in reductions. And the analogy Kepler envisioned was that of a magnetic force, such as that described by William Gilbert in "De magnete" in 1600.

   

Just imagine, in this work, Gilbert describes many of his experiments with his model Earth called the terrella. 

  

From these experiments, he concluded that the Earth was itself magnetic and that this was the reason compasses point north. 

  

Previously, some believed that it was the pole star, Polaris, or a large magnetic island on the north pole that attracted the compass. 

  

He was the first to argue, correctly, that the center of the Earth was iron, and he considered an important and related property of magnets was that they can be cut, each forming a new magnet with north and south poles. 

  

Where did this brilliant mind get his ideas from? At least you could conclude, that Einstein has not been the only brilliant and unique mind on this planet.

   

According to Kepler, the sun could be thought of as a magnet that exerted a force on the planets such that a planet's speed was inversely proportional to the planet's distance from the sun. 


In this way, Kepler was able to link his laws to an underlying principle in a manner analogous to magnetism. 

  

It was the first paging to apply any form of physics to astronomy. Kepler summarized these ideas in his "Epitome astronomiae Copernicanae" ("Summary of Copernican Astronomy") of 1621.

   

It is impressive to see how such outstanding minds emerge from the masses and change the world.

   

Thank you for your attention......



MacMillan The Encyclopedia of Philosophy, 2nd edition
Routledge Encyclopedia of Philosophy, 1995
 http://plato.stanford.edu/contents.htm
Rens Bod: "Een Wereld vol Patronen".  2019



The Discussion


[13:14] .: Beertje :. (beertje.beaumont): Thank you Herman

[13:15] Particle Physicist Bejiita (bejiita.imako):

[13:15] herman Bergson: The more I study this subject the more impressed I get by those brilliant minds of that period

[13:15] herman Bergson: The top was just a handful of scholars....

[13:15] Particle Physicist Bejiita (bejiita.imako): interesting stuff it is

[13:16] herman Bergson: But as you see...this Gilbert was also toying with the earth

[13:16] .: Beertje :. (beertje.beaumont): how did he find out that the center of the earth was iron?

[13:16] herman Bergson: there must have been dozens of scholars of all levels

[13:17] herman Bergson: that is what I am asking myself too.... where did that insight come from

[13:17] herman Bergson: A logical deduction....

[13:17] herman Bergson: magnets are attracted to iron

[13:17] Particle Physicist Bejiita (bejiita.imako): thats the only way i can conclude it. They know irin is magnetic and so

[13:17] Particle Physicist Bejiita (bejiita.imako): iron

[13:17] herman Bergson: and a compass needle is attracted to a certain place on earth....which must be iron

[13:18] oola Neruda: could sailors... who use the north star... have also used magnets????

[13:18] Particle Physicist Bejiita (bejiita.imako): well how old is the compass?

[13:18] herman Bergson: yes oola....the compass itself is very old

[13:19] herman Bergson: I may be mistaken but the Phoenicians used it already.....something floating on water in a bucket....

[13:19] Particle Physicist Bejiita (bejiita.imako): yep

[13:19] Particle Physicist Bejiita (bejiita.imako): that i recognize

[13:20] herman Bergson: The compass was invented in China during the Han Dynasty between the 2nd century BC and 1st century AD

[13:20] herman Bergson: People knew about magnetism probably

[13:20] Particle Physicist Bejiita (bejiita.imako): they used magnetite wich was a natural magnet and how magnetism was first discovered. They thought it was a magic force, hence the name MAGnet

[13:21] herman Bergson: yeah they must have regarded it as magic

[13:21] Particle Physicist Bejiita (bejiita.imako): ah

[13:21] herman Bergson: a stone that attracts metal...

[13:21] Particle Physicist Bejiita (bejiita.imako): and sure its quite special

[13:22] Particle Physicist Bejiita (bejiita.imako): today we cant live without it. generators and motors are everywhere

[13:22] Particle Physicist Bejiita (bejiita.imako): all using magnetism to operate

[13:22] herman Bergson: But the people in the period we are discussing were superb mathematicians too

[13:22] oola Neruda: it is fun to take a magnet to the beach and run it through the sand... picks up little pieces

[13:22] herman Bergson: that is a sport here in the Netherlands oola

[13:23] oola Neruda: smiles.... and on our town beaches

[13:23] herman Bergson: a very super strong magnet on a rope....and then they throw it in lakes and rivers...fishing for metal objects

[13:23] Particle Physicist Bejiita (bejiita.imako): i tried magnet fishing with a friend a while ago in a nearby lake. DAMN how much  trash they dump in there. Don't know how much we got up!

[13:23] Particle Physicist Bejiita (bejiita.imako): Dont

[13:24] Particle Physicist Bejiita (bejiita.imako): Including one and another of these Voi scooters

[13:24] herman Bergson: Last time I talked about astrology and that Keppler drew horoscopes

[13:24] .: Beertje :. (beertje.beaumont): my stove works on magnets

[13:24] .: Beertje :. (beertje.beaumont): it's inductie

[13:24] herman Bergson: we are going to see an interesting development in that respect

[13:24] Particle Physicist Bejiita (bejiita.imako): aaa ok

[13:25] Particle Physicist Bejiita (bejiita.imako): yes these horoscopes

[13:25] herman Bergson: Newton who lived a hundred years later despices astrology....

[13:25] oola Neruda: !!!

[13:25] herman Bergson: so...somewhere in the period 1650 -1750 astrology is removed from the stage of science

[13:26] Particle Physicist Bejiita (bejiita.imako): ok

[13:26] herman Bergson: Maybe I run into an explanation

[13:27] herman Bergson: Maybe it is due to the increasing belief in natural sciences

[13:27] herman Bergson: I'll look into this

[13:27] Particle Physicist Bejiita (bejiita.imako): oki

[13:28] herman Bergson: Heliocentrism is not yet the leading story in Kepler's days

[13:29] herman Bergson: For that we have to wait for Galilei

[13:29] Particle Physicist Bejiita (bejiita.imako): ah

[13:29] Particle Physicist Bejiita (bejiita.imako): and the church go wild! WHAAAAAT!

[13:29] Particle Physicist Bejiita (bejiita.imako): lol

[13:30] herman Bergson: Well.....

[13:30] herman Bergson: Galilei was the result of a long development

[13:30] herman Bergson: The ideas could no longer be blocked

[13:31] herman Bergson: The heliocentric idea already dates back to the GreeL

[13:31] herman Bergson: Greek

[13:32] Particle Physicist Bejiita (bejiita.imako): oki

[13:32] herman Bergson: The development of science broke the resistance of the Church of Rome

[13:32] herman Bergson: And you had the Reformation.....

[13:33] herman Bergson: I have no idea what the protestants thought about heliocentrism :-)

[13:33] .: Beertje :. (beertje.beaumont): why so much resistance from the church?

[13:33] .: Beertje :. (beertje.beaumont): resistance

[13:33] Particle Physicist Bejiita (bejiita.imako): threatened their power

[13:33] herman Bergson: Because the  earth and mankind were the center of the universe

[13:33] oola Neruda: 7 days for creation

[13:34] Particle Physicist Bejiita (bejiita.imako): ah

[13:34] herman Bergson: Imagine that we are just a planet among a lot of other planets

[13:34] herman Bergson: Let alone the thought that on those planets  there could be life too...

[13:34] herman Bergson: Unacceptable for Rome

[13:35] herman Bergson: I guess it still is unacceptable for Rome

[13:35] oola Neruda: what if they called it seven steps to creation rather than days

[13:36] herman Bergson: the bible speaks of DAYS oola...:-)

[13:36] Particle Physicist Bejiita (bejiita.imako): yep

[13:36] oola Neruda: esactly

[13:36] herman Bergson: You are to liberal

[13:36] oola Neruda: exacty

[13:36] Particle Physicist Bejiita (bejiita.imako): (imagines god laying in a couch on Friday drinking beer)

[13:36] herman Bergson: But the funny thing is......

[13:36] Particle Physicist Bejiita (bejiita.imako):

[13:37] oola Neruda: they could have talked their way around it a lot more easily

[13:37] herman Bergson: when god started with creating there didn't exist days

[13:37] oola Neruda: again... exactly

[13:37] oola Neruda: better talking points even if not scientific

[13:38] herman Bergson: why couldnt he have created the whole creation in one magical strioke?

[13:38] oola Neruda: lol... the big bang

[13:38] Particle Physicist Bejiita (bejiita.imako): hmm

[13:38] herman Bergson: He is omnipotent...

[13:39] herman Bergson: Nice conclusion oola ^_^

[13:39] oola Neruda: so the big bang works better than seven days

[13:39] herman Bergson: We used to joke about god's omnipotence....he isn't omnipotent.....

[13:39] herman Bergson: Proof....

[13:39] oola Neruda: i prefer seven steps if it comes to that

[13:40] herman Bergson: Can god create a stone that is so heavy that he can't carry it?

[13:40] herman Bergson: Yes...think about it the coming days

[13:40] oola Neruda: define stone...... i know hearts of stone

[13:40] Particle Physicist Bejiita (bejiita.imako):

[13:40] herman Bergson: Then we now can conclude our discussion

[13:41] herman Bergson: Thank you all again today :-))

[13:41] herman Bergson: Class dismissed ....

[13:41] oola Neruda: satan comes into the question you ask

[13:41] herman Bergson: oh..does he....love that fellow

[13:42] herman Bergson: god created the snake so god created evil too

[13:42] herman Bergson: and satan too

[13:42] oola Neruda: hmmmmm getting somewhere...

[13:42] herman Bergson: Before the big bang there was nothing

[13:42] oola Neruda: esoteric but interesting

[13:43] herman Bergson: If he didn't create evil, then he is not the only creator in the universe

[13:43] Particle Physicist Bejiita (bejiita.imako): well

[13:43] herman Bergson: so there must be at least two gods

[13:43] oola Neruda: or a wannabe

[13:43] oola Neruda: like trump

[13:43] bergfrau Apfelbaum: when God created the world, she had her days

[13:43] bergfrau Apfelbaum: :-)

[13:44] bergfrau Apfelbaum: maybe 6

[13:44] herman Bergson: Yes ..like the US has now two presidents :-))

[13:44] oola Neruda: depends on your point of view

[13:44] herman Bergson: Both parties will say...there is only one, oola :-)

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