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| An Introduction to Exploring the Cosmos | |
INTRODUCTION. "Daddy, why does the sky get dark at night?" asked centuries ago the little son of the Danish astronomer Tycho Brahe.* The boy was given the post-Columbian answer that it is because the earth has rotated so that the sun shines on the other side of the earth while we are left in shaddow. Later that night, Tycho couldn't sleep because it didn't make sense what he told his son. Find out about his surprising thoughts by looking at the first page of this cosmology set, which is item #1 in the list below.
The early great astronomers - Galileo, Copernicus, Kepler and Brahe - all radically changed human perspectives on the heavens that what we see today we comprehend in ways far different that what was thought centuries ago. We see the same sky, but how different it looks in our minds! Thus do not be surprised by the topics in this "Cosmos" set and especially do not be surprised that you can do them all with unaided eyes. Afterall, what you are looking at is huge far beyond imagination.
* Learn a little Danish pronunciation: Tycho is pronounced as if it were Too-ko in English, because eastern Europeans pronounce "y" like the English pronounce a long "u" sound; and the "ch" of many European languages is like an English "k". 'Brahe' is two syllables.
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