The Ptolemaic model was accepted by most philosophers of note until it was radically challenged by the Polish astronomer Copernicus in 1530. The Catholic church condemned the Copernican System in 1616 and forbade holding, defending, or even teaching alternatives to the Ptolemaic conception of the universe endorsed by the Church (Fowler 2008:10). But both theories were mere conjecture until the development of the Galilean telescope. Galileo's telescope was a modification of the currently existing lenses used for reading by the long -- and short-sighted. Galileo did not invent corrective lenses or even the telescope, but he did substantially improve them. By making use of both convex and concave lenses, Galileo was able to expand the magnification power and distance vision of ordinary gazers, enabling to look wide into the heavens (Fowler 2008:10).
"Galileo's belief that his discoveries with the telescope strongly favored the Copernican world view meant he was headed for trouble with the Church" (Fowler 2008:10). As illustrated in Two Pieces of Glass, a critical aspect of Galilean theory was the presence of sunspots, or dark patches on the surface of the sun. "He observed," through the use of his telescope, "motion of the sunspots indicating that the Sun was rotating on an axis. These blemishes on the Sun were contrary to the doctrine of an unchanging perfect substance in the heavens, and the rotation of the Sun made it less strange that the Earth might rotate on an axis too, as required in the Copernican model. Both represented new facts that were unknown to Aristotle and Ptolemy" (Galileo: The telescope and laws of dynamics, 2010, Astronomy 161).
Other critical findings of Galileo were the presence of moons orbiting around Jupiter, and evidence that "Venus went through a complete set of phases, just like the Moon. This observation was among the most important in human history, for it provided the first conclusive...
Glass Menagerie Tennessee Williams play, The Glass Menagerie, presents the drama of three family members who live in a world whose values and supporting pillars are shaking as a consequence of the disastrous economic times people went through during the Great Depression. The lack of role models in the micro universe of the Wingfield family as well as their dissolution in the macro universe of the whole American society is deeply
Small-Business Management & Entrepreneurship The fruition of many years of dreaming and planning will be realized through the opening of a restaurant in the Tri Cities area. Opening any business requires serious planning and calculations, yet the special needs of a restaurant are particular to the idea that many restaurants have gradual and long-term returns on investment. Start-up costs are often very significant with hard goods and food costs making up
Philip Glass Biography Philip Glass is certainly the world's finest identified living serious composer owing to vast amounts of American recording contracts. He has a readily exclusive, if ever controversial, style that is both imitated and parodied the world over. He is familiar to pop audiences, crossover audiences, new music audiences, opera audiences and increasingly to chamber music audiences and symphony goers. He is in regular performance around the world performing
As the light changes during the course of a day, the colors change as well; reds and yellows get more brilliant at noon, blues become brilliant as the light fades in the afternoon. All the while, the pictures tell important stories or symbolize truths. Light radiating through glass adds life, beauty, is transcendent, and spiritual connections become apparent. The above rather elaborate description is cited at length in order to
Glass Menagerie Tennessee Williams's play The Glass Menagerie is about the three members of the Wingfield family, Tom, Laura, and their mother Amanda. They live together and have done so since the loss of the Wingfield patriarch. This family dynamic is very dysfunctional and the three serve to harm one another more than provide support as a family unit with the exception of Laura who tries to provide positivity in
Escape for Tom means the suppression and denial of these emotions in himself, and it means doing great harm to his mother and sister." (www.sparknotes.com/lit/menagerie/themes.html) This play seems to revolve around the character of Laura, even though she is the one with the less lines and the one that appears to be the most weak. She is also the most powerfull symbol in the play. "The physically and emotionally crippled
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