Fourth Day: Sext (pp. 287-99)
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Address questions or comments to Professor Anderson.
"the ceaseless cycle of the stars (p. 287)
[Melissa Svigelj comments] During the middle ages most scholars believed that the earth was an
unmoving object located at the center of the universe. According to that
belief, the moon, the sun, and the planets all moved in perfectly clear paths
around the earth. Common sense seemed to support this view. After all, the
sun appeared to be moving around the earth as it rose in the morning and set
in the evening.
This earth-centered view of the universe, called geocentric theory, was
supported by more than just common sense. The idea came from Aristotle (4th
century BC). Greek astronomer Ptolmey expanded on the theory in the 2nd
century AD. In addition, Christianity taught that God had deliberately
placed earth at the center of the universe. Earth was perceived as a special
place on which the great drama of life took place.
When Adso refers to the "ceaseless cycle of the stars," the
twentieth-century reader may automatically interpret the phrase to mean the
elliptcal orbit of planets around the sun, or moons around planets. In fact,
it was not until the Scientific Revolution of the mid-1500s that Nicolaus
Copernicus began to develop the heliocentric, or sun-centered theory. The
theory was not demonstrated mathematically until 1601 when Johanes Kepler
concluded that certain mathematical laws govern planetary motion. When
Galileo Galilei published Dialogue Concerning the Two Chief World Systems,
which supported Copernicus's theory, in 1632, he was angrily summoned by the
pope to Rome to stand before the Inquisition. Heliocentric theory was
revolutionary and caused tremendous conflict with the Catholic church. Adso
pre-dates these controversial discoveries and knows nothing about future
intimidations from the vatican, so his statement must be a reference to the
geocentric theory. He presumes that the heavens are rotating around the
earth.
(Galileo's condemnation was not cleared until 1992 when Pope John Paul II
officially acknowledged that Galileo's assertions were correct.)
Source:
Krieger Larry S., Neill Kenneth, Reynolds Edward Dr., Modern World History.
McDougal Littell Inc., USA: 1999.