SCW 1st term global exam contents

1) Solar system models (from geocentric to heliocentric model): Aristotle,

Ptolemy, Copernicus, Galileo, Kepler, and Newton.

Geocentric model: in astronomy, the geocentric model or the Ptolemaic worldview of

the universe is the theory, now superseded, that the Earth is the center of the universe and
other objects go around it. Belief in this system was common in ancient Greece. It was
embraced by both Aristotle and Ptolemy, and most, but not all, Ancient Greek philosophers
assumed that the Sun, Moon, stars, and naked eye planets circle the Earth.

Nicolaus Copernicus: Copernican heliocentrism is the name given to the heliocentric

theory developed by Nicolaus Copernicus and first published in 1543 just before he died.
His work is often regarded as the starting point of modern astronomy and the defining
epiphany that began the Scientific Revolution. The Copernican heliocentric model, with the
sun at the center of the universe, demonstrated that the observed motions of celestial
objects can be explained without putting the Earth at rest in the center of the universe.

Galileo Galilei played a major role in the Scientific Revolution. His achievements include
improvements to the telescope and consequent astronomical observations, and support
for Copernicanism.
The motion of uniformly accelerated objects was studied by Galileo as the subject of
kinematics. His contributions to observational astronomy include the telescopic
confirmation of the phases of Venus, the discovery of the four largest satellites of Jupiter
(named the Galilean moons in his honour), and the observation and analysis of sunspots.
Galileo also worked in applied science and technology, improving compass design.
Galileo's championing of Copernicanism was controversial within his lifetime, when a large
majority of philosophers and astronomers still subscribed (at least outwardly) to the
geocentric view that the Earth is at the centre of the universe. After 1610, when he began
publicly supporting the heliocentric view, which placed the Sun at the centre of the
universe, he met with bitter opposition from some philosophers and clerics, and two of the
latter eventually denounced him to the Roman Inquisition early in 1615. Although he was
cleared of any offence at that time, the Catholic Church nevertheless condemned
heliocentrism as "false and contrary to Scripture" in February 1616,[10] and Galileo was
warned to abandon his support for it—which he promised to do. When he later defended
his views in his most famous work, Dialogue Concerning the Two Chief World Systems,
published in 1632, he was tried by the Inquisition, found "vehemently suspect of heresy,"
forced to recant, and spent the rest of his life under house arrest.

Johannes Kepler was a German mathematician, astronomer and astrologer, and key
figure in the 17th century scientific revolution. He is best known for his eponymous laws of
planetary motion, codified by later astronomers based on his works Astronomia nova,
Harmonices Mundi, and Epitome of Copernican Astronomy. They also provided one of the
foundations for Isaac Newton's theory of universal gravitation. He also did fundamental
work in the field of optics, invented an improved version of the refracting telescope (the
Keplerian Telescope), and helped to legitimize the telescopic discoveries of his
contemporary Galileo Galilei.
Kepler lived in an era when there was no clear distinction between astronomy and
astrology, but there was a strong division between astronomy (a branch of mathematics
within the liberal arts) and physics (a branch of natural philosophy). Kepler also
incorporated religious arguments and reasoning into his work, motivated by the religious
conviction that God had created the world according to an intelligible plan that is
accessible through the natural light of reason.[1] Kepler described his new astronomy as
"celestial physics".

Isaac Newton: his 1687 publication of the Philosophiæ Naturalis Principia Mathematica
(usually called the Principia) is considered to be among the most influential books in the
history of science, laying the groundwork for most of classical mechanics. In this work,
Newton described universal gravitation and the three laws of motion which dominated the
scientific view of the physical universe for the next three centuries. Newton showed that
the motions of objects on Earth and of celestial bodies are governed by the same set of
natural laws by demonstrating the consistency between Kepler's laws of planetary motion
and his theory of gravitation, thus removing the last doubts about heliocentrism and
advancing the scientific revolution.
Newton also built the first practical reflecting telescope[8] and developed a theory of colour
based on the observation that a prism decomposes white light into the many colours that
form the visible spectrum. He also formulated an empirical law of cooling and studied the
speed of sound.

2) Big Bang theory

The Big Bang is the cosmological model of the initial conditions and subsequent
development of the Universe that is supported by the most comprehensive and accurate
explanations from current scientific evidence and observation.[1][2] As used by
cosmologists, the term Big Bang generally refers to the idea that the Universe has
expanded from a primordial hot and dense initial condition at some finite time in the past
(currently estimated to have been approximately 13.7 billion years ago[3]), and continues
to expand to this day.
Evidences:
1.Hubble's law describes the observation in physical cosmology that the velocity at
which various galaxies are receding from the Earth is proportional to their distance from
us. Universe expanding.
2. Rdiation coming from the explision. In cosmology, cosmic microwave background is
a form of electromagnetic radiation filling the universe.[1] With a traditional optical
telescope, the space between stars and galaxies (the background) is pitch black. But with
a radio telescope, there is a faint background glow, almost exactly the same in all
directions, that is not associated with any star, galaxy, or other object.
3. To be a complet theory, it would need the third evidence which is the creation of
matter  LHCThe Large Hadron Collider (LHC) is the world's largest and highest-
energy particle accelerator, intended to collide opposing particules . It is expected that it
will address the most fundamental questions of physics, which seem to block further
progress in understanding the deepest laws of nature.

The cosmic egg is an ancient concept resurrected by modern science in the 1930s and
explored by theoreticians during the following two decades. The idea comes from a
perceived need to reconcile Edwin Hubble's observation of an expanding universe (which
is also predicted by Einstein's equations of general relativity) with the notion that the
universe must be eternally old. Georges Lemaitre proposed in 1927 that the cosmos
originated from what he called the primeval atom.
Current cosmological models maintain that 13.7 billion years ago, the entire mass of the
universe was compressed into a singularity, from which it expanded to its current state (the
Big Bang), the so-called cosmic egg.

3) Plate tectonics and continental drift

Alfred Lothar Wegener (1 November 1880 – November 1930) was a German scientist,
geophysicist, and meteorologist. He is most notable for his theory of continental drift
(Kontinentalverschiebung), proposed in 1915, which hypothesized that the continents were
slowly drifting around the Earth. However, Wegener was unable to demonstrate a
mechanism for continental drift, which, combined with his mostly circumstantial evidence,
meant that his hypothesis was not accepted until the 1950s, when numerous discoveries
provided evidence of continental drift.
Pangaea (meaning entire Earth in Ancient Greek) was the continent that existed about 250
million years ago. Pangaea broke up into Lurasia and Gondwanaland before each of the
sections were separated into the current continents.
Plate tectonics is a theory which describes the large scale motions of Earth's lithosphere.
A similar process likely takes place on other celestial objects when they are sufficiently
similar to Earth. The theory builds on the older concepts of continental drift, developed
during the first decades of the 20th century by Alfred Wegener, and seafloor spreading,
developed in the 1960s.
The lithosphere is broken up into what are called tectonic plates. In the case of Earth,
there are currently eight major and many minor plates (see list below). The lithospheric
plates ride on the asthenosphere. These plates move in relation to one another at one of
three types of plate boundaries: convergent, or collisional boundaries; divergent
boundaries, also called spreading centers; and transform boundaries. Earthquakes,
volcanic activity, mountain-building, and oceanic trench formation occur along plate
boundaries. The lateral movement of the plates is typically 50–100 mm annually.

4) Space Missions
Apollo 1 is the official name that was retroactively assigned to the never-flown
Apollo/Saturn 204 (AS-204) mission. Its command module was destroyed by fire during a
test and training exercise on January 27, 1967. The crew aboard were the astronauts
selected for the first manned Apollo program mission. All three died in the fire.
Apollo 8 (1968) was the first human spaceflight mission to achieve a velocity sufficient to
allow escape from the gravitational field of planet Earth; the first to be captured by and
escape from the gravitational field of another celestial body; and the first crewed voyage to
return to planet Earth from another celestial body - Earth's Moon.
The Apollo 11 mission landed the first humans on the Moon. Launched on July 16, 1969,
the third lunar mission of NASA's Apollo Program was crewed by Commander Neil Alden
Armstrong, Command Module Pilot Michael Collins, and Lunar Module Pilot Edwin Eugene
'Buzz' Aldrin, Jr. On July 20, Armstrong and Aldrin became the first humans to land on the
Moon, while Collins orbited in the Command Module.
Apollo 12 (4 months after Apollo XII) 2nd landing on the moon.
Apollo 13 (1970) was the third manned mission by NASA that was intended to land on the
moon, but a mid-mission technical malfunction forced the lunar landing to be aborted.
Apollo 16 was the tenth manned mission in the Apollo program, the fifth mission to land
on the Moon and the first to land in a highlands area.