SOURCE4 In 2002, Steve Roberts built a glider based entirely on Leonardo’s sketches and instructions produced between 1490 and 1505. Roberts used only materials that would have been available in Leonardo’s time. The glider reached 10 metres above the ground and flew for up to 17 seconds on its longest flight.
Nicolaus Copernicus (1473–1543) Copernicus was a Polish astronomer who developed a theory that put the Sun, rather than the Earth, at the centre of the universe. The Catholic Church held the view that the Earth was the centre of the universe around which the Sun, Moon and planets revolved. This belief had come from the ancient Greek philosopher Aristotle and had been described by the Greek astronomer Ptolemy in the second century CE. Copernicus spent many years investigating the movements of heavenly bodies and, in 1515, he sent copies of his findings to other astronomers. After further study, Copernicus published his theory in a book called On the Revolution of Heavenly Spheres (1543). Copernicus’s model of the planetary system is called the heliocentric system. It states that the Earth revolves around the Sun in a year and rotates on its axis once every 24 hours. Galileo Galilei (1564–1642) Galileo was an Italian astronomer, physicist, mathematician, philosopher and inventor. He was a great supporter of the scientific method, and used it to conduct experiments, including investigating gravity at the tower of Pisa. Galileo found that objects fall at the same rate regardless of differences in weight. He used a telescope to carry out observations of the movement of the moon and other planets. He was a supporter of Copernicus’s theory of heliocentrism, that argued the Earth rotated daily and revolved around the sun. Placing the Sun, rather than the Earth, at the centre of the solar system brought him into conflict with the Catholic Church, who declared him a heretic for his theories and placed him under house arrest.
SOURCE5 Adapted from Sidereus Nuncius, published in 1610. Sidereus Nuncius (translated as Starry Messenger), published in 1610, was a groundbreaking astronomical work by Galileo Galilei.
Galileo wrote of his observations of the moons and planets: ‘when I was viewing the constellations of the heavens through a telescope, the planet Jupiter presented itself to my view, I noticed that three little stars were near the planet; and although I believed them to be fixed stars, they seemed to be arranged exactly in a straight line, parallel to the ecliptic . . . When [the following night], I turned again to look at the same part of the heavens, I found a very different state of things, for there were three little stars all west of Jupiter, and nearer together than on the previous night. I therefore concluded that three stars are moving about Jupiter, as Venus and Mercury around the Sun.’
Jacaranda Humanities Alive 8 Victorian Curriculum Third Edition
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