- Lesson 91: The Mercator Projection Map
- Lesson 92: Mercator
- Lesson 93: Tycho Brahe
- Lesson 94: The Backstaff
The Mercator Projection Map/Mercator
The Mercator Projection Map was a good tool for navigating the sea. Mercator also invented the first globe. Both of these were used when Portugal sailed the seas and discovered some new islands.
Tycho Brahe
Tycho made observations that proved Aristotle wrong (below). He was partners with Nicolaus Copernicus. He had his own worldview:
The planets go around the sun, yet the sun and moon go around the Earth. The planets known at the time were: Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, and Saturn. The The Heliocentric Theory was that the earth was just another planet, and the moon went around the earth. This is now not a theory, but truth. Aristotle’s philosophy was that the earth was at the center of the universe/solar system, and the sun and moon acted like planets.
The Backstaff
The Backstaff helped navigate the sea (like the globe, and Mercator’s map). It was made with two sights that could be moved to adjust the light. The sun’s shadow (labeled as sunlight above) and the sight line met at a point in green above.
Aristotle’s philosophy vs. Tycho’s observations
| Aristotle | Tycho |
|---|---|
| No object in space can change | Super Nova observed (looked as if star appeared and disappeared) |
| Ability to predict failed 1 day after expected, a solar eclipse happened. | Solar eclipse observed 1 day after expected |