The Scientific Odyssey

In our second episode devoted to the life and work of Edmond Halley, we recount his three voyages aboard the Paramour to create a map of magnetic variation and survey the tides and currents of the English Channel.  We also cover his predictions on the return of the comet of 1682, now known as Halley's Comet, his discovery of the proper motion of the stars, his translation of the works of Apollonius, and his work as Britain's Astronomer Royale among a host of other accomplishments.

This week we look at the earlier career of astronomer, mathematician and natural philosopher Edmond Halley.  We look at the first part of his career but through about 1693 including his trips to St. Helena, Danzig and Paris.  We also look at his ideas on measuring the size of the solar system, terrestrial magnetism, ocean salinity and the cause of the Biblical flood.

We finally conclude our biographical sketch of Newton by looking at his life in the years following the publication of the Principia.  We look at his political activities following the Glorious Revolution, his friendship with John Locke, the circle of young followers the gathered around him in London, including David Gregory, his intense and troubled relationship with Nicolas Fatio de Duillier, and the emotional breakdown that took place in 1693 and his work afterwards including his publication of Opticks

Scientific Odyssey Unscripted-The TRAPPIST Discovery

In 1687, Issac Newton, through the hard work and auspices of Edmund Halley, published the greatest scientific work of all time.  In this episode we examine the events that led to the book's creation including Newton's correspondences with Robert Hooke and John Flamsteed.  We also spend a bit of time considering the work's content.

This week we look at Newton's work in the area of alchemy and examine his heretical religious views.

In this episode we look at the emergence of Isaac Newton onto the public stage with the publication of his first work on Optics in the pages of the Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society in 1672.  We then examine the growing conflict between Newton and Robert Hooke and consider the work of the Society's secretary, Henry Oldenburg in fostering scientific communication during the turmoil.

In part 1 of our multipart biography of the father of physics, we look at the life of Isaac Newton from his early years in Woolsthorpe, Lincolnshire through his grammar school days to his time at Trinity College, Cambridge.  We take some time to specifically look at the cultural and religious background that influenced his upbringing as well as his work on vision, color, light and optics.

In this episode we look at the work in mathematics and physics of Isaac Newton from his time at the University of Cambridge to the publication of the Philosophae Naturalis Principia Naturalis or "Mathematical Principles of Natural Philosophy".  Specifically we look at the development of fluxional calculus, the Universal Law of Gravitation and Newton's Three Laws of Motion.

This week we consider the work of Jesuit astronomers across Europe and around the world before returning to a discussion of weighing the heliocentric and geoheliocentric models of the solar system.

In this episode, we look at the work of four men who bridge the period between Galileo Galilei and Isaac Newton: Giovanni Battista Riccioli, Rene Descartes, Christiaan Huygens and Robert Hooke.  In this discussion we pay particular attention to each man's work in physics that will set the stage for Newton's great synthesis.

We examine the events leading up to the heresy conviction of Galileo Galilei in 1633.

In this episode we look at the 25 months leading up to the Congregation of the Inquisition censuring the two propositions related to the work of Copernicus; namely that the Earth moves and the Sun does not.  We specifically examine the Letter to Castello and Foscarini's Letter as well as the role of Galileo's work and Letter to the Grand Duchess Christina in the proceedings and what follows.

In the tradition of the Icelandic custom of Jolabokaflod, we read one of the earliest works of science fiction-Johannes Kepler's The Somnium. Break out some chocolate and settle in for an hour-long journey to the Moon.

In this episode, we examine the emerging conflict involving Galileo, the Aristotelian natural philosophers of the Italian universities and the Catholic Church, we examine the factors that would lead to the initial confrontation of 1615 and 1616. These will include a debate that led to a fundamental revaluation of hydrology and a priority dispute on the discovery of sunspots.  Finally, we discuss the piece of information that may have led to Galileo's open support of the Copernican model o the solar system.