Seeing is believing, but we do not see with our eyes only. We look at the world with the aid of inherited images that we may strive to improve but that we do not work to replace unless something dramatic occurs. The traditional Earth-centred system was confirmed not just by the everyday experience of seeing the Sun rise and set, but by the high-powered geometry that was embodied in Ptolemy’s Almagest, the result of centuries of diligent observation and detailed computation. Anyone who opens that great classic today cannot fail to be impressed by the mathematical sophistication that is displayed on virtually every page. Better still, those who use the … Continue reading William R. Shea