The Origins of the Ptolemaic Tradition and its Adoption and Replacement in Colonial America

Journal of Big History Pub Date : 2019-02-21 DOI:10.22339/JBH.V3I2.3280

Benjamin Baumann

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Abstract

This monograph addresses the vital impact of ancient Greek thought on Colonial American cosmography, through an analysis of the ways Colonial Americans interpreted and applied Greek ideas. The conflict between the Ptolemaic tradition and the heliocentric model of Copernicus provides a focal point for this study. To highlight this cosmographic reformation, I examine the influence of Greek democratic culture, in particular the tolerance of open discussion, as well as attitudes of scientific objectivity, mathematical reasoning and religious openness. In turn, this cultural inheritance inspired and enabled leading Colonial American cosmographers associated with Harvard and Puritanism to view scientific truth as God’s truth. Thus, religiosity and the understanding of God’s created universe in Colonial America embraced an ongoing journey of discovery shaped by scientific inquiry and an openness to changing received wisdom concerning the cosmos. Correspondence | Ben Baumann, BRBAUMANN@csbsju.edu Citation | Baumann, Ben. (2019) The Origins of the Ptolemaic Tradition and its Adoption and Replacement in Colonial America. Journal of Big History, III(2); 121 153. DOI | http://dx.doi.org/10.22339/jbh.v3i2.3280

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托勒密传统的起源及其在殖民地美洲的采用和替代

这本专著通过分析殖民地美国人解释和应用希腊思想的方式，阐述了古希腊思想对殖民地美国宇宙学的重要影响。托勒密传统与哥白尼日心说模型之间的冲突为本研究提供了一个焦点。为了强调这种宇宙观的改革，我考察了希腊民主文化的影响，特别是对公开讨论的宽容，以及对科学客观性、数学推理和宗教开放性的态度。反过来，这种文化遗产启发并使与哈佛大学和清教主义有关的美国殖民地宇宙学家将科学真理视为上帝的真理。因此，在殖民时期的美国，宗教信仰和对上帝创造的宇宙的理解，在科学探究和对改变关于宇宙的公认智慧的开放的影响下，拥抱了一段持续的发现之旅。通信| Ben Baumann, BRBAUMANN@csbsju.edu引文| Baumann, Ben。(2019)托勒密传统的起源及其在殖民地美国的采用和替代。大历史学报，3 (2);121年153年。DOI | http://dx.doi.org/10.22339/jbh.v3i2.3280

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Journal of Big History

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