scary things at CRTC

[Mel Wilson]

James Knott wrote:
> [ ... ] As an example look at how astrophysics progressed from
> Kepler, Newton, Einstein and others.  Kepler came up with circular
> orbits, which was a big improvement over what had been claimed by the
> church.  Then Newton realized orbits were elliptical and also developed
> the theory of gravity. [ ... ]

Actually, it was Tycho de Brahe (along with many others) who thought 
orbits were circular, even though this theory didn't sit well with his 
exemplary observations of planetary motion.  Kepler started by trying 
to find a circular-orbit theory that would account for Brahe's 
observations, and ended by showing that orbits had to be elliptical. 
Newton's gravitational theory finally provided a reason for why orbits 
should be that way.

Arthur Koestler's fine book _The Sleepwalkers_ gives an account of how 
these ideas progressed.

	Mel.

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