Earth Had to Be a Sphere

It is not so much that certain educated men had not already theorized that Earth was round, but that with the return of the first ship Victoria the expedition’s wealthy financial backers had visual evidence that ships could circumnavigate the...

Source: JFK  by L. Fletcher Prouty

Not upon Any Theory or Abstract Model of the Universe

It is evident that Teilhard does not resonate to the biblical world-view. Not only does he find it staticist and narrow, but he thinks that it is based upon "the Alexandrine" cosmology (whatever that might be). What Teilhard fails to...

Source: Teilhardism And The New Religion  by Wolfgang Smith

Concept of the Earth Revolving—Axially and Orbitally—Around the Sun

The term [revolution] derives from the Latin substantive revolutio, which was unknown in classical Latin but was used in the early Middle Ages by St. Augustine and other Christian writers. Translated into Italian as rivoluzione in the early Renaissance and...

Source: Fire in the Minds of Men  by James H. Billington

We Are Using Philosophical Criteria in Choosing Our Models

"People need to be aware that there is a range of models that could explain the observations," Ellis argues. "For instance, I can construct you a spherically symmetrical universe with Earth at its center, and you cannot disprove it based...

Do You Suppose It Is Beyond Us to Produce a Dual System of Astronomy?

Do you suppose it is beyond us to produce a dual system of astronomy? The stars can be near or distant, according as we need them. Do you suppose our mathematicians are unequal to that? Have you forgotten doublethink?

Source: 1984  by George Orwell

The Slaying of a Beautiful Hypothesis by an Ugly Fact

It is the supreme challenge, and a brutal one, but every scientific theory must be testable and compatible with reality. The nineteenth-century naturalist Thomas Huxley stated it thus: ‘The great tragedy of Science — the slaying of a beautiful hypothesis...

Source: Big Bang  by Simon Singh

Did the Earth Really Orbit the Sun?

Another reason why the Greeks rejected Aristarchus’ Solar System was its apparent failure to stand up to scientific scrutiny. Aristarchus had built a model of the universe that was supposed to match reality, but it was not clear that his...

Source: Big Bang  by Simon Singh

Different Theories Add Strength to the Edifice

This architecture of scientific logic has an inherent beauty which emerges from how various arguments fit together, how several measurements interlock with one another, and how different theories are suddenly introduced to add strength to the edifice.

Source: Big Bang  by Simon Singh

This Is Essentially an Artistic Task

Science has given new answers to all these problems in recent years but most of the people do not know them. And those who know, often do not feel them. For this reason, Mr. Frank considers the rebuilding of our...

Nothing More than Reflected Sunlight

Throw in some assumptions, such as moonlight being nothing more than reflected sunlight, and a framework of scientific logic takes shape.

Source: Big Bang  by Simon Singh