MARC Record from Library of Congress

LEADER: 03481nam a2200361 a 4500
001 2011923655
003 DLC
005 20120425142001.0
008 110223s2011 nyua 001 0 eng c
010 $a 2011923655
016 7 $a015723282$2Uk
020 $a9781441981158
020 $a1441981152
035 $a(OCoLC)ocn690089500
040 $aBTCTA$beng$cBTCTA$dYDXCP$dOHX$dBWX$dIXA$dCDX$dFDA$dUKMGB$dS3O$dDLC
042 $apcc
050 00 $aBD495$b.C68 2011
100 1 $aCouprie, Dirk L.,$d1940-
245 10 $aHeaven and Earth in ancient Greek cosmology :$bfrom Thales to Heraclides Ponticus /$cDirk L. Couprie.
260 $aNew York :$bSpringer,$c2011.
300 $axxxii, 261 p. :$bill. (some col.) ;$c25 cm.
490 1 $aAstrophysics and space science library ;$v374
504 $aIncludes bibliographical references and indexes.
520 $aIn Miletus, about 550 B.C., together with our world-picture cosmology was born. This book tells the story. In Part One the reader is introduced in the archaic world-picture of a flat earth with the cupola of the celestial vault onto which the celestial bodies are attached. One of the subjects treated in that context is the riddle of the tilted celestial axis. This part also contains an extensive chapter on archaic astronomical instruments. Part Two shows how Anaximander (610-547 B.C.) blew up this archaic world-picture and replaced it by a new one that is essentially still ours. He taught that the celestial bodies orbit at different distances and that the earth floats unsupported in space. This makes him the founding father of cosmology. Part Three discusses topics that completed the new picture described by Anaximander. Special attention is paid to the confrontation between Anaxagoras and Aristotle on the question whether the earth is flat or spherical, and on the battle between Aristotle and Heraclides Ponticus on the question whether the universe is finite or infinite.
505 0 $aForeword / by Dmitri Panchenko -- Introduction -- Archaic astronomy and the world-picture of a flat earth. The archaic world picture ; Archaic astronomical instruments ; How Thales was able to predict the solar eclipse of 28 May 585 B.C. ; The shape of the earth according to Thales ; The riddle of the celestial axis ; The first map of the earth -- Anaximander and the discovery of space. Anaximander : a survey of his ideas ; The discovery of space : Anaximander's cosmology ; Anaximander's numbers : the dimensions of the universe ; The visualization of Anaximander's world picture ; Bellows or lightning? : A curious terminology explained ; Critique of an alleged cosmic architecture -- The completion of the new world-picture and the debate on the shape of the earth. A survey from Anaximander to Aristarchus ; With fear for his own life : Anaxagoras as a cosmologist ; The sun at the horizon, Anaxagoras' proof of the flatness of the earth ; The sun is as big as the Peloponnesus ; The dodecahedron, or the shape of the earth according to Plato ; Fear of falling : Aristotle on the shape of the earth ; Heraclides Ponticus and the infinite universe.
600 00 $aThales,$dca. 634-ca. 546 B.C.
600 00 $aAnaximander.
600 00 $aAnaxagoras.
600 00 $aHeraclides,$cPonticus,$dca. 390-310 B.C.
650 0 $aCosmology, Ancient$xHistory.
650 0 $aAstronomy, Ancient$xHistory.
650 7 $aAstronomi$xhistoria$zGrekland$yforntiden.$2sao
830 0 $aAstrophysics and space science library ;$v374.