The Post in Which Lost Rambles About Science

Hellooooooo and welcome to another post of Animal Jam Jummmmmmmble! XD

Today's post is going to be a little different then usual. It will contain interesting facts (not about AJ, sorry!) and basically my opinion on some things. Did I also mention it has a science and history?

You are all probably wondering, "Why are you making me read a post about school?!" Well, this is actually INTERESTING! But, yeah, I did read it in school.... :P

Just bear with me, okay? :D There will a reward for you listening to me yammer about 'school.' ;)

Alright! Let's begin!

NOTE: All this information comes from the book "Exploring Creation with Physical Science 2nd Edition" by Dr. Jay L. Wile.

NOTE: This post contains some of my opinions at the end that do not mean any offense.

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The motions of the stars and moon in the night sky have always fascinated people. Since the beginning of recorded history, people have tried to understand them. Indeed, most calendars (even ancient ones) were based on the appearance of the moon in the sky. As time went on, people realized that if they could predict the motions of the stars, moon, and sun, keeping track of dates and times would be relatively easy.

The ancient Greeks were probably the first toe develop a systematic view of the motion of the stars and the moon. Although many other cultures developed intricate calendars and the like, the ancient Greeks were the first to develop a systematic theory based on observations of the night sky. In the second century AD, the Greek astronomers Hipparchus and Ptolemy mapped the motion of 1,000 stars and thought of them as a "backdrop." They placed them on the surface of a rotating sphere, called the "celestial sphere," and then said that the earth was at the very center of the sphere. The moon and the planets, then, moved about in the sphere on circular orbits that were arranged within the sphere.

That was the start of what is called the geocentric view of our solar system. In a geocentric system, the earth was placed at the center of the solar system. Although there were several problems with this geocentric view of things, the ancient Greeks were able to use this system to predict the motion of the moon and other planets better than anyone else had ever done. Thus, although it was far from perfect, the success of the theory made it popular among scientists.

Many adjustments and commentaries were made on the geocentric theory, but it remained the general view of scientists until the sixteenth century A.D. By that time, too much data had been piled up that it was inconsistent with the theory. Things began to change in 1543 when a Polish scientist named Nicolaus Copernicus published a book called On the Revolution of Heavenly Bodies. In that book, he declared the geocentric theory sorely lacking. Instead, he postulated that the solar system would be much more orderly if the sun was at its center and the planets orbited in circles around the sun. This was the beginning of what physicists called the heliocentric view of the solar system, where the earth was taken out of the center and replaced with the sun.

Copernicus was raised and educated in the Roman Catholic Church. At that time, the Roman Catholic Church adhered strictly to the geocentric view of the solar system. After all, since God created man, he must be the most important aspect of creation. Therefore, his dwelling place (the earth) must be at the center of everything. The Roman Catholic Church  also pointed to various Scriptures, such as Joshua 10:12-13. In these verses, Joshua commanded the sun to stand still and, through the power of the Lord, it did. The Roman Catholic Church argued that Joshua would not have to command the sun to stand still if it were at the rest in the center of the solar system!

Copernicus' work was put on the Roman Catholic Church's list of banned books, but that didn't end the interest of the heliocentric view. In 1609, Italian physicist Galileo Galilei made a crude telescope and pointed it skyward. He was able to use that telescope to notice the phases of Venus, which could only be explained with the heliocentric view. He also discovered the four largest moons of Jupiter. This lent more evidence for the heliocentric view because it showed the smaller bodies orbited larger bodies, and even back then it was known that the sun is larger than the earth.

When Galileo, a well-respected scientist, published a work showing all the evidence in favor of the Copernicus system, the Roman Catholic Church put him on trial. They were firmly in support of the geocentric view, and they would not allow even a good scientist such as Galileo to say otherwise. Because Galileo was deeply committed to his church and did not want to be excommunicated, he publicly recanted his belief in the Copernicus system. As a result, the Roman Catholic Church was lenient on him, and his punishment was house arrest for the remainder of his life. Even though he publicly recanted his belief in the heliocentric system, he continued to collect data that supported it.

At about the same time (1580-1597), a Danish astronomer named Tycho Brahe (brah) and his German assistant, Johannes Kepler, began compiling a huge amount of data on the motion of the planets. As a result of the data, Kepler devised a series of rules that the planets always followed. They became known as "Kepler's Laws." Even though these laws did nothing to explain why the planets moved as they did, they clearly indicated that the planets orbit the sun and that their motion is guided by an overriding principle. What that principle was, however, Kepler did not know.

Sir Isaac Newton was the one who figured that out. When he formulated his Universal Law of Gravitation, he showed that the heliocentric view was the best way in which to understand the solar system. By that time, so much evidence had been accumulated that the Roman Catholic Church had to back off its desire to cling to the geocentric theory, and the heliocentric theory quickly dominated the scientific community.

After Newton's time, astronomy really took off. The telescope became one of the most widely used instruments in physics. New stars were charted, the surfaces of the planets were studied, and accurate predictions were made regarding the motion of the planets. After a while, physicists even developed a means of measuring the distance to a planet using a telescope. As technology increased our ability to gather more data increased. Today, we can study the chemical composition of stars, comets, and other objects in space. We can do all that and more without even venturing into space!

Notice what happened in this story. From the second century AD to the sixteenth century AD (1,400 years), not much process was made in the field of astronomy. That's because scientists of the time were working with a flawed theory. No matter how much they tried, they could not get the geocentric view of the solar system to be consistent with the data. Nevertheless, they just kept trying. Rather than throwing out the bad theory and coming up with a new one, they tried to make the old one work.

Through the efforts of Copernicus, Galileo, Kepler, Brahe, and Newton, however, a new theory slowly took over. Once it really took hold, incredible advances were made in only a few centuries. This story should teach all scientists a valuable lesson: Don't cling to theories simply because they have been well-established in the scientific community. If you can't get the data to agree with the theory, find a better one! That's what will advance science.

In my opinion, scientists have been doing the same thing today with the theory of evolution. Just like the geocentric theory, the theory of evolution has become well-established in the scientific community. As a result, it has a lot of support. Nevertheless, nearly all data that relate to the origin of life on the planet squarely contradict with the theory of evolution. If scientists want to really advance the science of biology, they need to throw evolution away and work in a better theoretical framework. A creationist framework is much more in agreement with the data, so that's a good place to start!

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(Whew, that was a LOT of typing. XD)

OPINION TIME!

So, your probably wondering why I just shared this section of my science book. Well, I know a lot of school books shove evolution down kid's throats when data doesn't even back it up.

So what are we doing?

We, humans, are teaching kids false info.

Is that what school is for?

I looked up the word school. The results I got was that it meant: to educate; teach; train.

Are we really educating kids? Or are we just going with the flow of the scientific community and saying that evolution is real when a whole whack of data clearly says no?

If I was up against someone who told me evolution was real, I'd have a bunch of facts ready. In fact, I'll even take on people who think global warming is real. I got the facts to tell them it isn't.

I honestly do not mean any of you to take offense by this. I just get quite upset when I hear something that contradicts what I know is right.

So the reason I told you this is this: Think about what your reading in your science books. Don't just suck up all these evolution 'facts.' Actually THINK about it. You can either take the info I just told you or leave it. It's your choice.

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Congrats! You just read through my whole science teaching and survived! XD

For that, you deserve a reward.

St. Patrick's day is coming up quick! (Thank goodness you don't have to write in cards for at least this holiday. (In a family of six, writing cards seems to happen every month. XD))

Also, since we recently reached 50,000 views, this party will also be celebrating that. ^.^

I hope you all can come!! ^.^

Jam on!

PS. Okay, a longish while I mentioned I had a secret. I said I was gonna spill it to you guys soon but oops, that was forever ago. XD So, I will most likely tell you guys it in the next post and something. And now I have two secrets, hehe. The new will get told on the 25th of this month. ;)