yankel > RAMBAM versus Ptolemy, Einstein and Newton , has zero bearing on “interpreting gmara and rishonim
I understand what you are saying in terms of technique. As R Steinsaltz used to say – if you want to know what pipe was Abaye smoking (Rav was a smoker himself up to some point, I believe) – ask the archeologist, if you want to know what he is saying – ask Rabbis …
Still, in this case, I am addressing the substance of Rambam where he writes about science. He himself studied astronomy, etc both from ancients and from contemporaries (I think both in Spain and when he was on the run in Fes where there was the famous Fes madrasa that some call “first modern university” before English and French). So, you would need to know the subject to appreciate what Rambam is saying. Of course, you can pretend that Rambam of halakha is a different persona than Rambam of science.