The problem of the planets

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The Problem of the Planets

The problem of the planets relates to their movement. The Ancient Greeks were the first to address the issue thoroughly, and one of their men - Ptolemy - came up with a theory about how planets moved (Knox, n.d.). This was needed, because the Greeks said there were "wandering stars" that did not seem to move in the same way as other stars. They did not understand why this was the case, and they looked for ways that could be used to explain why some planets appeared to defy the "normal" way of moving across the sky (Knox, n.d.). If some of the planets were not in sync with the rest of the planets, what was the reason behind that? What did it mean for the Universe and for the Earth?

Ptolemy created a way to avoid most of the worry. He stated that the Earth was the center of the Universe, and that the planets all revolved around the Earth (Tarnas, 1993). To explain away some of the anomalies, Ptolemy stated that some of the planets' circular orbits also moved in a circular orbit (Knox, n.d.). Even with all of those explanations - what Ptolemy called "epicycles" - the planets that were expected to show up during certain times did not do so (Knox, n.d.). Eventually, what Ptolemy had created was discredited. That was after many revisions and changes that were designed to make the ideas acceptable. Because everything was alleged to move in a circle, the number of circles and epicycles grew exponentially until it became ridiculous to think that the planets moved in that method - there was simply too much confusion (Knox, n.d.).

Eventually, the Sun was deemed the center of the Universe instead of the Earth. This brought other complications, because the calculations that were needed to create tables about the planets and how they moved were a great deal more complicated once the Sun was placed at the Universe's center (Knox, n.d.). In addition, there were parts of the Bible that were interpreted to mean that the Sun went around the Earth. Because the Church had been teaching that for a very long time, changing what was taught and finding a good explanation for the changes was very difficult and would be an uphill battle that would continue for a long period of time (Knox, n.d.). The Sun being at the center of the rotation of the planets was eventually accepted, but it was also determined that it was only the center of the galaxy and not the center of the Universe as was previously assumed by Ptolemy and others.

One individual who had a difficult time with the problem of the planets was Plato. He believed that order equated with divinity (Tarnas, 1993). Since he had that belief, it was very difficult for him to see the planets as non-orderly. What would that mean from a divine perspective? His faith was endangered by the movement of the planets, and he felt that the entire faith of mankind might also be endangered because of the planetary concerns. Humans needed a good foundation politically and ethically, and Plato believed that foundation was based on the divine. By calling celestial bodies "wandering stars" or "wanderers" Plato believed that people were committing blasphemy (Tarnas, 1993).

A large part of the religious bulwark that made up Plato's philosophy was at stake with the lack of order in the planetary alignment and movement. Plato did not simply ignore the issue, however. After much thought and study he determined that the planets were not "wandering." Instead they were moving in perfect orbits for each planet, just as the Universe required. He put his faith in the idea that this was the case, and he believed that time would prove him right and show the empirical data that would allow the movements of the planets to be calculated with certainty. Mastering mathematics and astronomy was the way to solve the riddle that was the Heavens.

The belief that divinity and geometry were linked was what actually caused Plato and other Greeks the problem. They were insistent that the Universe had to be able to be explained mathematically, and when the way they had things figured did not turn out the way they expected, they were at a loss to know what to do next. Plato's willingness to consider his philosophy and adjust how the Universe was calculated mathematically meant that he was open to change - but not that he wanted to change his philosophy as a whole. He was more interested in saying that his philosophy was correct and there may have to be a better or different way to show that.