Reply To: Science and Astronomy in the Torah

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#672482
ZachKessin
Member

As an aside why is it so hard to believe that the sun may be revolving around Earth? They used to believe that and it turns out they were wrong. Perhaps they were actually right and what we believe now is wrong? Besides it does not go against the torah in any way so what makes you think that the scientists are wrong?

Because they believed that the Earth was fixed and unmoving for reasons that are simply not correct. The basic idea from Ptolomy was that the earth was too big to move, the problem is that he did not have a correct understanding of forces or accurate data on the motion of the solar system. In fact the sun is about 1,000,000 times as massive as the Earth, though this was not known then.

The daily rotation of the Earth has physical manifestations that can be measured. As an object on the equator moves around faster then one at middle latitudes, it has a greater angular momentum. So for example a projectile fired from the equator to the north will feel a “force” pulling it to the East. This effect known as the “Coriolis” effect is well known, just ask anyone who works with artillery.

In addition if the Earth was not moving we would not see the effect of stellar parallax. As nearby stars appear to move vs farther objects as the Earth orbits the sun. the effect is very small but can be measured. For some stars it could even be measured with equipment held by a well equipped backyard astronomer. (a rig costing maybe $2000 or even less).

As for saying Well G-d wanted it this way the other problem is that its not a fruitful concept. It can not lead you to discover things that you would otherwise not know. Using Newton’s laws Urbain Le Verrier discovered the planet Neptune without ever looking threw a telescope. Yet it was less than 1 degree away from where he said it would be.

Eppuir Si Mouve (and yet still it moves)