Includes bibliographical references (pages 201-213) and index.
An introduction to the history of science -- Babylonian planetary astronomy -- Plato and saving the phenomena -- Eudoxus and concentric spheres -- Eccentrics and epicycles -- Equivalence -- Astronomy and physics -- Saving the phenomena quantitatively -- Ptolemy's exposition of mathematical astronomy -- Reality or mathematical fiction? -- The greatest astronomer of antiquity or the greatest fraud in the history of science? -- Islamic planetary astronomy -- Revival in the west -- Copernicus and planetary motions -- The Copernican revolution -- Breaking the circle -- Isaac Newton and gravity -- The Newtonian revolution.
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Presents an historical perspective of planetary motions that enables students to understand how the discoveries of the luminaries of the Scientific Revolution impact the way physics is practices today.