Myths, Moons, and Methods.

Changing Worldviews in Astronomy

IDST120-001: Myths, Moons, and Methods. Changing Worldviews in Astronomy.

Departments Physics & Astronomy, Classics, Philosophy at UNC-CH
Credit hours 3
Term Spring 2024
Time 10:10-11:00a Mo/We/Fr
Room Hamilton 100
Instructors Fabian Heitsch ([email protected]); Physics & Astronomy
Marc Lange ([email protected]); Philosophy
James Rives ([email protected]); Classics
Assistants Anna Balaguer ([email protected]); Classics
Yifan Li ([email protected]); Philosophy
Zipora Stober ([email protected]); Physics & Astronomy
Leah Vazsonyi ([email protected]); Physics & Astronomy
Office Hours Fabian Heitsch: WF 11-12 and by appointment. Phillips 292.
Marc Lange : MWF 9-10a, in Caldwell 112A.
To make an appointment for a meeting at
some other time – perhaps on Zoom —
please email him.)
James Rives : MF 2-3p and by appointment.
Murphy Hall 323
Recommended M. Hoskin, The History of Astronomy - A Very Short
Literature Introduction (Oxford University Press 2003)
Final Exam Tuesday, May 7, 8-11am

Note: This is a syllabus for IDST120-001. The accompanying 1-credit, asynchronous,

remote “Data Literacy Lab” course (IDST120L-001) has its own syllabus. Any questions
about the Lab should be directed to its instructors, not to the “Myths, Moons, and
Methods” team listed above.

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Summary:

This course focuses on astronomy as it developed in the ancient Mediterranean and early
modern Europe, from astronomy's early beginnings as a means to keep calendars and the
underpinnings of mythology, to its central role for developing natural sciences during the early
modern period. Students will acquire skills to understand how different epochs interpreted the
generation of knowledge; how their interpretations were influenced by their culture, mythology,
and religion; and how science arrives at knowledge.

Learning Outcomes
1. Gain exposure to the three disciplines (astronomy, classics, philosophy) and their
methods of inquiry.
2. Compare and contrast different ways that scholars address a question, problem, or
theme.
3. Understand the power of approaching a topic from multiple perspectives.

Work expectation
This course will average about 9-12 hours of work per week, including time spent in class. The
amount will vary somewhat from week to week, depending (for instance) on whether a written
assignment is coming due.

Grading Schema and Scale

Numerical Grade [%] Letter Grade

grade ≥ 93 A

93 > grade ≥ 88 A-

88 > grade ≥ 85 B+

85 > grade ≥ 82 B

82 > grade ≥ 79 B-

79 > grade ≥ 76 C+

76 > grade ≥ 73 C

73 > grade ≥ 70 C-

70 > grade ≥ 67 D+

67 > grade ≥ 60 D

60 > grade F
Example: If your numerical grade is 87.99, you will receive a B+, and if it is 88.00, you will
receive an A-.

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 Grade Breakdown
9 assignments at 5.56% each 50%
2 midterms at 15% each 30%
Final 20%
Extra (optional) assignment 3%
The grade contribution from the assignments will be averaged over the 9 highest-scoring
assignments, i.e. your assignment with the lowest score will not contribute to your grade. The
optional assignment is that - optional. It is an opportunity to improve your grade if so desired.

Late work: Since the assignments will be available for a week or more, you should plan in
advance if you have other commitments that conflict with the due date. If you foresee a
legitimate reason for not being able to submit an assignment by the due date (extended illness,
family emergency, etc.), then you must contact your Teaching Assistant well before the
assignment deadline during business hours (8:00 AM-5:00 PM, Mo-Fr) to arrange for an
extension. In extenuating circumstances, please contact your TA at the earliest possible
moment. Email is the best way to make contact; email addresses are given near the start of this
syllabus.
How To Determine Which Teaching Assistant You Should Contact With Your Questions
Last name star ng with:
A-Doh: Anna Balaguer ([email protected])
Doi-Lib: Yifan Li ([email protected])
Lic-Rax: Zipora Stober ([email protected])
Ray-Z: Leah Vazsonyi ([email protected])

Class Session Topic Readings and Assignments

# Date

1 W 1/10 Course Introduction (FH, ML, JR)

Unit 1: The Earth and the Heavens

2 F 1/12 Our Place in Space: Overview of the Reading: Chaisson & McMillan 1.1, 1.2;
Solar System and Beyond (FH) Hoskin pp 1-22.

M 1/15 NO CLASS: Martin Luther King Day

3 W 1/17 The Celestial Sphere (FH) Reading: Chaisson & McMillan 1.3-1.4

4 F 1/19 The Earth-Sun system (FH) Quick review: star tracks

Reading: Hoskin 23-41

5 M 1/22 The Earth-Moon system (FH) Quick review: seasons

Reading: Chaisson & McMillan 1.5

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6 W 1/24 Planetary Motions I, Distances (FH) Reading: Chaisson & McMillan 1.6, 2.2;
Hoskin 42-58
Quick review: tides & phases
7 F 1/26 Planetary Motions II (FH) Quick review: distance estimates
Reading: Chaisson & McMillan 2.3-2.6
Assignment 1 due (FH): Our Place in
Space
8 M 1/29 Parallax (FH) Quick review: scaling laws

9 W 1/31 Kepler’s Laws (FH) Quick review: planetary motions

Reading: Chaisson & McMillan 2.7
Hoskin 59-77.
10 F 2/2 The Logic of Science (ML) Carl G. Hempel, Philosophy of natural
Science (Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice
Hall, 1966), chapter 2.
Assignment 2 due (FH): Distances,
Scaling
11 M 2/5 The Logic of Science (ML) Hempel, chapter 3.
12 W 2/7 The Logic of Science (ML) Assignment 3 due (ML): First “Logic
of Science” worksheet.
13 F 2/9 The Logic of Science (ML)
M 2/12 NO CLASS: WELL BEING DAY
Unit 2: The Quest for Understanding the Universe: The Ancient Mediterranean

14 W 2/14 Star-Lore in Greece and Assignment 4 due (ML): Second

Mesopotamia (JR) “Logic of Science” worksheet.
15 F 2/16 Hesiod and the Mythic Conception of
the Cosmos (JR)
16 M 2/19 MIDTERM 1
17 W 2/21 Early Greek Philosophical
Conceptions of the Cosmos (JR)
18 F 2/23 Early Greek Mathematics (JR)

19 M 2/26 Eudoxus and Aristotle (JR) Assignment 5 due (JR): Worksheet on

early Greek Astronomy
20 W 2/28 Eudoxus and Aratus (JR)
21 F 3/1 Hellenistic Astronomy 1: Adventures
in Measure [Aristarchus and
Eratosthenes] (JR, with perhaps a
contribution by FH)
22 M 3/4 Hellenistic Astronomy 2: The
Refinement of Eudoxus’ Model
[Apollonius and Hipparchus] (JR)

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23 W 3/6 Ptolemy 1: The Culmination of
Ancient Greek Astronomy (JR)
24 F 3/8 Ptolemy 2: Astronomy and Astrology
(JR)
M 3/11 NO CLASS: SPRING BREAK Assignment 6 due (JR): Worksheet on
W 3/13 developed Greek astronomy
F 3/15
Unit 3: The Quest for Understanding the Universe: Early Modern Europe

25 M 3/18 The Transmission of Ancient

Astronomical Knowledge (JR)
26 W 3/20 Copernican Arguments (ML) Thomas Kuhn, The Copernican
Revolution (Cambridge: Harvard
University Press, 1957), pp. 165-181
(“Copernicus’s Innovation”).

Owen Gingerich, “’Crisis’ vs. Aesthetic in

the Copernican Revolution,” in Arthur
Beer and K. Aa. Strand (eds.),
Copernicus: Yesterday and Today –
Vistas in Astronomy 17(Oxford:
Pergamon, 1975), pp. 85-93.
27 F 3/22 Copernican Arguments and Scientific Samir Okasha, Philosophy of Science: A
Realism and Anti-Realism (ML) Very Short Introduction (Oxford: Oxford
University Press, 2002), ch. 4 (“Realism
and Anti-Realism”).
28 M 3/25 Scientific Realism and Anti-Realism Selected Readings from Copernicus,
(ML) Osiander, Gemma Frisius, Erasmus
Reinhold, and Alessandro Piccolomini

Cardinal Bellarmine’s letter to Foscarini,

21 April 1615, in Maurice A. Finocchiaro,
The Galileo Affair: A Documentary
History (Berkeley and Los Angeles:
University of California Press, 1989), pp.
67-69

Assignment 7 due (ML): Worksheet on

Okasha and Scientific Realism/Anti-
realism.
29 W 3/27 Midterm 2
F 3/29 NO CLASS: HOLIDAY
30 M 4/1 Concluding Scientific Realism and
Anti-Realism, Galileo & his
Telescope (ML)

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31 W 4/3 Galileo and his Telescope (ML) Assignment 8 due (ML): Worksheet on
pro- and anti-Copernican arguments
due.

Dudley Shapere, Galileo: A Philosophical

Study (Chicago: University of Chicago
Press, 1974), pp. 11-21 (“Galileo and the
Interpretation of Science”)
Kuhn, The Copernican Revolution, pp.
219-25 (“Assimilation of Copernican
Astronomy”).
32 F 4/5 Galileo and his Telescope (FH) Refraction, prisms, lenses. Basic
telescope design. See Pages.

33 M 4/8 Galileo and his Telescope (FH)

34 W 4/10 The Trial of Galileo, Urban’s Ultimate Maurice A. Finocchiaro, The Galileo
Argument (ML) Affair: A Documentary History (Berkeley
and Los Angeles: University of California
Press, 1989), pp. 27-39 (“Introduction: 6.
The Earlier Incidents, 7. The Later
Incidents”).
Original documents in the above book:
pp. 67-69 (Cardinal Bellarmine to
Foscarini, 21 April 1615)
pp. 87-118 (Letter to Grand Duchess
Christina, 1615)
“Earlier Inquisition Proceedings”: pp.
147-148 (Inquisition Minutes of 25
February 1616, Special Injunction of 26
February 1616), p. 153 (Cardinal
Bellarmine’s Certificate, 26 May 1616)
“Miscellaneous Documents”: p. 212
(Vatican Secretary to Florentine
Inquisitor, 24 May 1631), p. 213 (ditto, 19
July 1631), pp. 214-7 (Preface to the
Dialogue), pp. 217-8 (end of the
Dialogue), pp. 218-22 (Special
Commission Report, September 1632)
pp. 256-62 (Galileo’s First Deposition)
pp. 277-8 (Galileo’s Second Deposition)
pp. 286-7 (Galileo’s Fourth Deposition)
pp. 287-291 (The Sentence of the
Inquisition)
pp. 292-3 (Galileo’s Abjuration, 22 June
1633)
35 F 4/12 The Trial of Galileo (concluded), Galileo, Two New Sciences, tr. S. Drake,
Galileo and Thought Experiments National Edition pages 107-110.
(begun) (ML) (University of Wisconsin Press, 1974, pp.
66-69)
36 M 4/15 Galileo and Thought Experiments Assignment 9 (FH): Precision
(concluded) (ML) measurements (due 4/26)

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 37 W 4/17 Tycho vs. Galileo, Precision
measurements (ML, FH)
38 F 4/19 Tycho & Kepler, Kepler’s Laws (FH)

39 M 4/22 Newtonian Gravity revisited; N’s Quick review: distance estimates

cannon (FH)
40 W 4/24 Newtonian Gravity: Gravity as central Quick review: Newtonian orbits
force, orbit classification (FH)
41 F 4/26 Beyond Newton, towards General Assignment 9 due
Relativity (FH)
42 M 4/29 Wrap-Up (FH, ML, JR)

Syllabus Changes
The instructor reserves the right to make changes to the syllabus including project due dates and test
dates. These changes will be announced as early as possible.
Attendance Policy
University Policy: As stated in the University’s Class Attendance Policy, no right or privilege exists that
permits a student to be absent from any class meetings, except for these University Approved Absences:
1. Authorized University activities: University Approved Absence Office (UAAO) website provides
information and FAQs for students and FAQs for faculty related to University Approved Absences
2. Disability/religious observance/pregnancy, as required by law and approved by Accessibility
Resources and Service and/or the Equal Opportunity and Compliance Office (EOC)
3. Significant health condition and/or personal/family emergency as approved by the Office of the
Dean of Students, Gender Violence Service Coordinators, and/or the Equal Opportunity and
Compliance Office (EOC).
Honor Code
All students are expected to follow the guidelines of the UNC Honor Code. In particular, students are
expected to refrain from “lying, cheating, or stealing” in the academic context. If you are unsure about
which actions violate the Honor Code, please see a professor for this course or consult
studentconduct.unc.edu.
Acceptable Use Policy
By attending the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, you agree to abide by the University of North
Carolina at Chapel Hill policies related to the acceptable use of IT systems and services. The Acceptable
Use Policy (AUP) sets the expectation that you will use the University’s technology resources responsibly,
consistent with the University’s mission. In the context of a class, it’s quite likely you will participate in
online activities that could include personal information about you or your peers, and the AUP addresses
your obligations to protect the privacy of class participants. In addition, the AUP addresses matters of
others’ intellectual property, including copyright. These are only a couple of typical examples, so you
should consult the full Information Technology Acceptable Use Policy, which covers topics related to using
digital resources, such as privacy, confidentiality, and intellectual property.

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Additionally, consult the Safe Computing at UNC website for information about data security policies,
updates, and tips on keeping your identity, information, and devices safe.
Accessibility Resources and Service
Accessibility Resources and Service (ARS – [email protected]) receives requests for accommodations, and
through the Student and Applicant Accommodations Policy determines eligibility and identifies reasonable
accommodations for students with disabilities and/or chronic medical conditions to mitigate or remove the
barriers experienced in accessing University courses, programs and activities.
ARS also offers its Testing Center resources to students and instructors to facilitate the implementation of
testing accommodations.
Faculty and instructors with any concerns or questions about accommodations and/or their
implementation, are invited to reach out to ARS to discuss.
Counseling and Psychological Services
UNC-Chapel Hill is strongly committed to addressing the mental health needs of a diverse student body.
The Heels Care Network website is a place to access the many mental health resources at Carolina.
CAPS is the primary mental health provider for students, offering timely access to consultation and
connection to clinically appropriate services. Go to their website https://caps.unc.edu/ or visit their
facilities on the third floor of the Campus Health building for an initial evaluation to learn more. Students
can also call CAPS 24/7 at 919-966-3658 for immediate assistance.
Title IX and Related Resources
Any student who is impacted by discrimination, harassment, interpersonal (relationship) violence, sexual
violence, sexual exploitation, or stalking is encouraged to seek resources on campus or in the community.
Reports can be made online to the EOC at https://eoc.unc.edu/report-an-incident/ or by contacting the
University’s Title IX Coordinator (Elizabeth Hall, [email protected]) or the Report and Response
Coordinators in the Equal Opportunity and Compliance Office ([email protected]).
Confidential resources include Counseling and Psychological Services and the Gender Violence Services
Coordinators ([email protected]). Additional resources are available at safe.unc.edu.

Policy on Non-Discrimination
The University is committed to providing an inclusive and welcoming environment for all members of our
community and to ensuring that educational and employment decisions are based on individuals’ abilities
and qualifications. Consistent with this principle and applicable laws, the University’s Policy Statement on
Non-Discrimination offers access to its educational programs and activities as well as employment terms
and conditions without respect to race, color, gender, national origin, age, religion, genetic information,
disability, veteran’s status, sexual orientation, gender identity or gender expression. Such a policy
ensures that only relevant factors are considered, and that equitable and consistent standards of conduct
and performance are applied.
If you are experiencing harassment or discrimination, you can seek assistance and file a report through
the Report and Response Coordinators (email [email protected] or see additional contact info
at safe.unc.edu) or the Equal Opportunity and Compliance Office at https://eoc.unc.edu/report-an-
incident/.
Undergraduate Testing Center
The College of Arts and Sciences provides a secure, proctored environment in which exams can be
taken. The center works with instructors to proctor exams for their undergraduate students who are not
registered with ARS and who do not need testing accommodations as provided by ARS. In other words,
the Center provides a proctored testing environment for students who are unable to take an exam at the
normally scheduled time (with pre-arrangement by your instructor). For more information, visit http://
testingcenter.web.unc.edu/.

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Learning Center
Want to get the most out of this course or others this semester? Visit UNC’s Learning Center at http://
learningcenter.unc.edu to make an appointment or register for an event. Their free, popular programs will
help you optimize your academic performance. Try academic coaching, peer tutoring, STEM support,
ADHD/LD services, workshops and study camps, or review tips and tools available on the website.
Writing Center
For free feedback on any course writing projects, check out UNC’s Writing Center. Writing Center
coaches can assist with any writing project, including multimedia projects and application essays, at any
stage of the writing process. You don’t even need a draft to come visit. To schedule a 45-minute
appointment, review quick tips, or request written feedback online, visit http://writingcenter.unc.edu.
Course AI Use Policy
Use of generative AI tools of any kind is not permitted in this course. Any use of these tools will be
considered an instance of academic dishonesty and will be referred to the Honor System.

Technology Use Policy

We allow computers to be used in class, especially if an assigned reading was available electronically.
We reserve the ability to disallow the use of computers when we feel that doing so will enhance
discussion. If you choose to use your laptop, we expect you to be 100% “with us,” which means no e-
mail, no Facebook, no X, no ESPN, and so on.