The Scientific Odyssey

In Part 1 of our biography of the Danish astronomer, Tycho Brahe, we follow his life from the keeps and fortresses of his homeland to the universities of Germany.  We look into his interactions with the people around him including his wife, Kirsten Jorgensdatter, and look at the idea of amicitia that would so shape his worldview.

This week we look at the scientific work of Tycho Brahe and his Tychonic Model of the solar system.

This week we evaluate the Copernicus heliocentric model of the solar system and compare it to Ptolemy's geocentric model.  We then look at the model's reception by Erasmus Reinhold, Gemma Frisius, Michael Maestlin and Tycho Brahe.  We conclude with Brahe's observations of the supernova of 1572 and the Great Comet of 1577.

A continuation of the the biographies of Nicolas Copernicus and Georg Joachim Rheticus from the time of the two men's meeting through the end of Rheticus' life and the publication of his trigonometric tables.  Rheticus' work on the Narratio and the publication will be discussed as will the tragic outcomes of his career.  The timely encounter with Valentin Otto is also covered.

The first part of a biographical examination of the two men who started the Scientific Revolution, Nicolas Copernicus and Georg Joachim Rheticus.

In this episode we take a look at the scientific work of Nicolas Copernicus including the Commentariolus and On the Revolutions of the Heavenly Spheres.  We look at the foundational principles of Copernicus' Heliocentric System and how it explains the motions of the planets.

A more in-depth look at the lives of Georg Peuerbach, Johannes de Regio Monte (aka, Johanes Muller, aka Regiomontanus) and Cardinal Basilios Bessarion with a specific focus on the years between 1454 and 1476.  The development of the Epitome of the Almagest is discussed as is the role of astrology in late medieval and early modern culture, specifically in relation to the practice of medicine.

Scientific Odyssey Unscripted-The JUNO Mission

We discuss the transition of European astronomy from the 13th to the 15th century.  We look at the effects of The Great Mortality on the institutions of Europe and consider the rediscovery of atomism, the development of the printing press, the Fall of Constantinople and the new universities of central and eastern Europe that allow for new ideas to develop and spread.  We conclude by looking at the work of Georg Peurbach and Johannes Muller that brings a complete understanding of the Hellenistic model.

This episode takes a look at the rise of the European university in the 12th century, the development of Scholasticism, the impact on the translations of Aristotle's works and the effects of the Condemnations of 1277.  From this, the challenges to Aristotle's formulation of physics and the terrestrial motion of objects are considered. The contributions of Bonaventure, Thomas Aquinas, Bardwardine and the Oxford Calculators, Jean Buridan and Nicole Oresme during this period are all covered.

In the final episode in our trilogy on the philosophy of time, we look at J. M. E. McTaggart's essay, The Unreality of Time, and then work through various philosophical positions that arise from it.  Included in the discussion are presentism, eternalism, the block universe model and the arrow of time.

In this episode we open the account of the temporal realist beginning with Isaac Newton and John Locke.  We then look at the a priori idealism of Immanuel Kant before ending on the reformulation of physics by Albert Einstein and his concept of relativity in space-time.

We look at how various ancient philosophers and theologians conceptualized time.  We look at the paradoxes of Eleatic school of Parmenides and Zeno, the response of Aristotle and the later reconsideration of the topic by Augustine.  This week is spend looking at early versions of idealism and relationalism with just a brief mention of realist concepts like relativity and frames of reference.

A short explanation of the recent lack of new content from the podcast and what the plan is going forward.

In this episode we look at subdividing the day with the development of time keeping devices from the gnomon and sundials to atomic clocks.