Prof. Dr. Jürgen Teichmann

Deutsches Museum München


From Greek Astronomy to 20th Century Astrophysics

– History and Cultural Background –

Observation of the sky and – partly – calculation of its movements was of big importance in all cultures because

  • The sky is a - seemingly - immaterial counterpart of our daily world.
  • The movement of the celestial bodies defines time measurement and chrono-logical order.
  • The celestial bodies help for orientation at travelling.

There are three ”big bangs“ in the history of Astronomy:

  • 4th c. BC – 2nd c. AD: The discovery of the possibility of astronomy as an ex-act geometrical science in Greece.
  • 16th/17th c.: Mankind is no more central in the cosmos: the sky is from the same material as the earth.
  • 19th/20th c.: The cosmos becomes a laboratory for physics and chemistry. The conceptions of space, time, action are fundamentally changed.

It is not easy to define if the science of astronomy started in Mesopotamia or Greece. But the Greek geometrical concept was much more fruitful. There is no comparable development in other cultures (Islamic countries, India, China). But other cultures sometimes had specific interests, e.g. China preferred the observation of irregular phenomena. The ”Scientific Revolution“ of the 16th/17th century explained earth and sky as calculable by the principles of mechanical physics with the aid of new instruments and new mathematics. The 19th/20th century built up a new ”experimental“ astrophysics with a lot of new methods (e.g. spectroscopy) and powerful big instruments. New theoretical physics became base and essential forming factor of all astronomy. Astronomy became ”big science“ from also high political rank and - still - big philosophical value.

Treffen der Regionalgruppe
Rhein-Ruhr

Essen | 26. März 2024
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Mitglied Prof. Dr. Uwe Czarnetzki wird im März 2024 mit dem „Plasma Materials Science Hall of Fame Prize“ ausgezeichnet.
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Wissenschaftlicher Gesprächskreis (WGK)
Tokyo | 9. April 2024
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Symposium „How We Can Learn from Nature“
Braunschweig | 24./25. Mai 2024
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Mitglied Prof. Dr. med. Tanja Fehm wird 2023 mit der Auszeichnung der Klüh-Stiftung ausgezeichnet
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Neues vom Club 03/2023
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Das Zoom-Video „Kampo: Traditionelle Medizin in Japan“ vom 7. Treffen der Regionalgruppe des JSPS-Clubs Rhein-Ruhr am 21. November 2023 steht im Mitgliederbereich auf der Seite „Vorträge von Mitgliedern“ für alle Club-Mitglieder zur Verfügung.