Post #4

Post #4

The Nerd, The Underdog, and the Psycho.

     Astronomy is possibly the oldest science. It has roots that date back to the earliest times of humans and civilizations. It seeks to satisfy human curiosity about the world and universe and where we came from. Astronomy as we know it today is the culmination of discoveries and theories and research of so many people. Little bits and pieces of work and knowledge that slowly come together over time. While our general comprehension of the universe can't be atributed to one or even a few people, there are three people who I consider my favorite astronomers. Some of their contributions and discoveries changed the worlds of their time and possibly life as we know it today.

     I'd like to start off talking about Isaac Newton. I'm sure you heard of him. He's the man who was layin' down the laws. The three laws of motion, that is. Newton was a scientist, mathematician, and natural philosopher. He's made significant contributions and advancements in the fields and areas of his study. In terms of how he helped advace astronomy, he came to conclustions about motion and universal gravitation (The apple falling from the tree scenario), he created the Newtonian style telescope, and invented calculus. Isaac Newton had ties in various areas of science. He was a well-rounded guy.
   
     Newton was also kind of a bad ass. In 1696 Newton became the warden of the Royal Mint, and had discovered an alarming number of counterfeit coin. As he tried to investigate how these coins got into circulation, and who the counterfeiter was, he had made some unsavory decisions and took stronger action. He bribed crooks for information and making threats. Some call him the Dirty Harry of his time. He eventually caught the counterfeit king pin and had him hanged. After the investigation, Newton torched the records of the investigation, likely to hide his sketchy methods of getting his info. After that, he stopped fighting crime and went back to his research and sciences. But for a golrious moment in time, Newton was kicking ass and taking names!

     My next favorite astronmer is Galileo Galilei. Like Netwon he also studied laws of motion and made improvements on the telescope. After building his first telescope, he spotted four "stars" orbiting Jupiter. We now cal lthem the Galilean moons; Io, Europa. Ganymede, and Callisto. He observed sunspots and the rinds of Saturn. He made conclusiosn aboout how objects in space move and orbit. He tried publishing his research and findings, buthis new ideas colided with the ideas of the Catholic Church at the time. The catholic church back then, was a large ruling body. The theology had its grips on society. The church argued that the universe was inalterable, couldn't change. They still held a strong beleif that the heavens revolved around Earth, and many of Galileos discoveries such as the moons of Jupiter and spots on the surface of the sun went against heavenly perfection. He was eventually cummoned to trial by the church.At first he was told he couldn't upport the beliefs of his colleagues also doing research the church diagreed with. But later, he was thretaned with torture if he didn't express his "sorrow" for his "errors" or tried to publish any more of his work. Reluctantly, he gave up on his beliefs and succumbed to the pressure. He was convicted of "vehement suspicion of heresy" and placed under house arrest, where he spent his next and last nine years of life.

     I guess I empathize with Galileo. I feel bad for him, you know? He was just doing what he loved, making discoveries, trying to better our understandig of the cosmos and he was shot down by the man! It makes me a little sad. So he holds a place in my heart like a puppy at the dog pound, you just can't help but feel bad.

     Lastly is Tycho Brahe. He has made some pretty cool contributions and discoveries to the field of astronomy like his observation of planetary motion, a super nova, and how the parallax of the stars maybe were just too small to measure(he was right). But I don't have a particular fondness of Brahe for these reasons. I like him because he was one of the more colorful figures of history.After his uncle died, tycho acquired quite a bit of property, which gave him room to do the crazy shit he did. One of the first things he did was hire a dward named Jeppe to be his jester in his new castle from his dead uncle. They became best friends.Tycho was also convinced his new dwarf friend had psychic abilities and could see the future. He also had a pet moose, and would often get his pet moose drunk at parties, but the moose later died when it drunkenly fell down some stairs. He also had a golden nose. Literally. He had a gold nose made and pasted onto his face after loosing it during a sword duel. Wha was the duel over? It was all about who was better at math. He also lived on an island where he had permission from the king to build a pretty dope observatory. So he did, which is where he threw outrageous parties. He had his own island lair, for science and partying and such, and ruled over the island as a king. But eventualy other island dwellers got pissed and basically kicked his ass off the island in exile.

     I really like Brahe because he seems like the Hunter S. Thompson of his time. Pretty crazy and out there, but skilled and talented in their own ways. I think the two of them would have gotten along swimingly. Brahe in his mad villian island lair, Thompson giving the moose some booze and laughing at the dwarft jester dancing around the room before going outside and dueling eachother. Point is- Brahe could party.

      I know there are so many more people, with probably more releavant, noteworthy, and significant discovereies and contributions. But this is my dream team.