Scientific Revolutions: Heliocentrism and Quantum Physics

Other Contributions to the New Worldview

Tycho Brahe: His astronomical observations were accurate enough in the long run to support heliocentric theses. His findings were inconsistent with the belief in Aristotelian spheres and the immutability of the cosmos. Brahe discovered a new star in the constellation Cassiopeia, destroying the notion that the supralunar world is free from generation and corruption; he also mapped the orbits of comets.

Johannes Kepler and Elliptical Orbits

Johannes Kepler, a disciple of Brahe, was an enthusiastic supporter of heliocentrism. He formulated a series of laws that moved away from the Aristotelian inheritance maintained by Copernicanism, specifically the circularity of orbits and the uniformity of their velocity. Kepler defined a consistent heliocentrism, stating that planetary orbits were elliptical, with the Sun at one focus, and that the speed at which planets orbit depends on their distance from the Sun. These laws allowed for a simple explanation of retrogradation.

Galileo Galilei and the Telescope

The scientific contributions of Galileo Galilei meant the definitive consolidation of heliocentrism. He was the first to use a telescope for astronomical observation. This allowed him to make discoveries such as sunspots and craters on the Moon. Another of his major discoveries was the moons of Jupiter, a phenomenon that directly contradicted geocentrism.

Quantum Physics: Revolution in the Microcosmos

The Wave-Particle Duality

Traditionally, matter was considered to have a discontinuous and corpuscular nature, while energy was considered to have a continuous and undulatory nature. Max Planck discovered that energy is not emitted continuously, but packaged in a discontinuous nature. Later, Einstein identified these packages of light as photons. Louis de Broglie proposed that not only photons, but also electrons, exhibit this duality.

Alternative Theories in Quantum Mechanics

• Matrix Mechanics: A formulation preferred by Werner Heisenberg, which interprets physical processes as discontinuous.
• Wave Mechanics: A formulation by Erwin Schrödinger, which highlights the wave behavior of matter and interprets physical processes as continuous.

The Uncertainty Principle

Every measurement involves an interaction between the observer and the object observed. For instance, when measuring the temperature of a water bath, introducing a thermometer alters the state it aims to measure. This becomes problematic when discussing subatomic phenomena, since any alteration is significant and decisive.

Quantum Superposition

Reality is indeterminate; it exists in all possible states at once until our observation determines the outcome. Schrödinger himself was among the first to realize the staggering consequences of his theory regarding the nature of reality.