Kepler, Galileo & Newton: Foundations of Astronomy

Test grades have been posted and are available for review.
If lab notes for Tuesday's session were not submitted, please send them to avoid a zero grade. (Notes are currently marked as zero until submitted).
An unanimous vote decided against changing lab partners.
M&M's were forgotten but are now packaged in small bags where lab packets are stored (on a bench in Bracey, near the back door, in a box for our class). Students are encouraged to retrieve them promptly as M&M's have a tendency to disappear quickly once word spreads. These will be used in a future lab session, not today or next Tuesday.

Historical Context
- Johannes Kepler used Tycho Brahe's data (obtained after Brahe's death, possibly illicitly) to deduce the laws of planetary motion.
- He spent four years on these calculations; a task that would take mere moments with modern computers and calculators.
Validity and Significance
- Kepler's laws, discovered in the 1600s, are still fundamental and valid today, used even for launching spacecraft.
- This stands in stark contrast to most 16th-century knowledge (e.g., medicine, which might involve leeches).

Statement: Planets orbit the Sun in ellipses with the Sun at one focus.
Correction of Ancient Bias
- Earlier beliefs (a bias that the universe must be perfect) held that orbits were perfect circles, considering the circle the only