Cosmology in the Early Modern Age: A Web of Ideas

Cosmology in the Early Modern Age: A Web of Ideas
Author: Paolo Bussotti
Publisher: Springer Nature
Total Pages: 346
Release: 2023-01-05
Genre: Philosophy
ISBN: 3031121953

This volume addresses the history and epistemology of early modern cosmology. The authors reconstruct the development of cosmological ideas in the age of ‘scientific revolution’ from Copernicus to Leibniz, taking into account the growth of a unified celestial-and-terrestrial mechanics. The volume investigates how, in the rise of the new science, cosmology displayed deep and multifaceted interrelations between scientific notions (stemming from mechanics, mathematics, geometry, astronomy) and philosophical concepts. These were employed to frame a general picture of the universe, as well as to criticize and interpret scientific notions and observational data. This interdisciplinary work reconstructs a conceptual web pervaded by various intellectual attitudes and drives. It presents an historical–epistemological unified itinerary which includes Copernicus, Kepler, Galileo, Descartes, Huygens, Newton and Leibniz. For each of the scientists and philosophers, a presentation and commentary is made of their cosmological views, and where relevant, outlines of their most relevant physical concepts are given. Furthermore, the authors highlight the philosophical and epistemological implications of their scientific works. This work is helpful both as a synthetic overview of early modern cosmology, and an analytical exposition of the elements that were intertwined in early-modern cosmology. This book addresses historians, philosophers, and scientists and can also be used as a research source book by post-graduate students in epistemology, history of science and history of philosophy.

The Cosmic Web

The Cosmic Web
Author: J. Richard Gott
Publisher: Princeton University Press
Total Pages: 272
Release: 2018-06-26
Genre: Biography & Autobiography
ISBN: 0691181179

Semi-autobiographical discussion of astronomy and astronomers, and history of astronomy and cosmology.--

Cosmic Horizons

Cosmic Horizons
Author: Steven Soter
Publisher:
Total Pages: 253
Release: 2001
Genre: Science
ISBN: 9781565846029

Leading scientists offer a collection of essays that furnish illuminating explanations of recent discoveries in modern astrophysics--from the Big Bang to black holes--the possibility of life on other worlds, and the emerging technologies that make such research possible, accompanied by incisive profiles of such key figures as Carl Sagan and Georges Lemaetre. Original.

On the Heavens

On the Heavens
Author: Aristotle
Publisher: Aeterna Press
Total Pages: 124
Release: 1969
Genre: Religion
ISBN:

On the Heavens (Greek: Περὶ οὐρανοῦ, Latin: De Caelo or De Caelo et Mundo) is Aristotle’s chief cosmological treatise: written in 350 BC it contains his astronomical theory and his ideas on the concrete workings of the terrestrial world. It should not be confused with the spurious work On the Universe (De mundo, also known as On the Cosmos).

PaGaian Cosmology

PaGaian Cosmology
Author: Glenys Livingstone
Publisher: iUniverse
Total Pages: 357
Release: 2005
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 0595349900

PaGaian Cosmology brings together a religious practice of seasonal ritual based in a contemporary scientific sense of the cosmos and female imagery for the Sacred. The author situates this original synthesis in her context of being female and white European transplanted to the Southern Hemisphere. Her sense of alienation from her place, which is personal, cultural and cosmic, fires a cosmology that re-stories Goddess metaphor of Virgin-Mother-Crone as a pattern of Creativity, which unfolds the cosmos, manifests in Earth's life, and may be known intimately. PaGaian Cosmology is an ecospirituality grounded in indigenous Western religious celebration of the Earth-Sun annual cycle. By linking to story of the unfolding universe this practice can be deepened, and a sense of the Triple Goddess-central to the cycle and known in ancient cultures-developed as a dynamic innate to all being. The ritual scripts and the process of ritual events presented here, may be a journey into self-knowledge through personal, communal and ecological story: the self to be known is one that is integral with place. PaGaian Cosmology may be used as a resource for individuals or groups seeking new forms of devotional expression and an Earth-based pathway to wisdom within.

Tracing Old Norse Cosmology

Tracing Old Norse Cosmology
Author: Anders Andrén
Publisher: Nordic Academic Press
Total Pages: 248
Release: 2014-01-01
Genre: History
ISBN: 9185509388

Old Norse religion is considered as one of the best-known pre-Christian religions in Europe, due to the rich and varied Icelandic literature from the 12th to the 14th century. Since the Icelandic texts are Christian there has been an ongoing debate regarding their value as sources for deeper knowledge about pre-Christian religion in Scandinavia. However, with the help of archaeology it is possible to show that some elements in the texts actually have a pagan origin. Archaeology can also be used to outline a history of Old Norse religion through time. The collection of essays is a thorough study of some fundamental cosmological elements in Old Norse religion, such as the sun, the world-tree and the concept of Midgard (i.e. Middle Earth). Andrén argues that representations of all these elements can be traces through images and material culture during different parts of Scandinavian prehistory. By studying the history of these representations it is possible to outline a long-term perspective on Old Norse religion, including periods of fundamental changes.

The Oxford Companion to Cosmology

The Oxford Companion to Cosmology
Author: Andrew R. Liddle
Publisher:
Total Pages: 368
Release: 2008
Genre: Cosmology
ISBN:

This companion includes over 350 entries, extensively cross-referenced, describing the modern view of cosmology, including both theoretical ideas and the many strands of observational evidence.