In light of all this, one would require special reasons for saying that the paths of the heavenly bodies were other than circular.

This, conjoined with the considerations above, made the circular motions of heavenly bodies appear an almost directly observed fact.

But the natural condition for the heavenly bodies is neither rest, nor rectilinear motion.

So when textbooks, like that of Baker set out drawings of the ' Ptolemaic System ', complete with earth in the center and the seven heavenly bodies epicyclically arranged on their several deferents, we have nothing but a misleading 20th-century idea of what never existed historically.

Clement suggests that at first, men mistakenly believed the Sun, the Moon and other heavenly bodies to be gods.

Anaximenes of Miletus believed that " the earth is flat and rides on air ; in the same way the sun and the moon and the other heavenly bodies, which are all fiery, ride the air because of their flatness.

While the heavens were variously described as being like an umbrella covering the earth ( the Kai Tian theory ), or like a sphere surrounding it ( the Hun Tian theory ), or as being without substance while the heavenly bodies float freely ( the Hsüan yeh theory ), the earth was at all times flat, although perhaps bulging up slightly.

But then, says Cleanthes, Zeus uses the fire to " straighten out the common logos " that travels about ( phoitan, " to frequent ") mixing with the greater and lesser lights ( heavenly bodies ).

In it, Kepler described the inverse-square law governing the intensity of light, reflection by flat and curved mirrors, and principles of pinhole cameras, as well as the astronomical implications of optics such as parallax and the apparent sizes of heavenly bodies.

Many of these methods relied on astronomical observations relying on the predictable, " clockwork " nature of motions of heavenly bodies.

Detailed calculations for the orbit of the planet Mars first indicated to Kepler its elliptical shape, and he inferred that other heavenly bodies, including those farther away from the Sun, have elliptical orbits too.

However, Western occult practice mostly includes the use of astrology ( calculating the influence of heavenly bodies ), bibliomancy ( reading random passages from a book, such as Liber Legis or the I Ching ), tarot ( a deck of 78 cards, each with symbolic meaning, usually laid out in a meaningful pattern ), and geomancy ( a method of making random marks on paper or in earth that results in a combination of sixteen patterns ).

He describes the meteorological character of the sky, the planets and constellations, the sun and moon, the lunar phases indicating seasons and rain, the anwa ( heavenly bodies of rain ), and atmospheric phenomena such as winds, thunder, lightning, snow, floods, valleys, rivers, lakes, wells and other sources of water.

Ordinary differential equations appear in the movement of heavenly bodies ( planets, stars and galaxies ); optimization occurs in portfolio management ; numerical linear algebra is important for data analysis ; stochastic differential equations and Markov chains are essential in simulating living cells for medicine and biology.

The ancient Greek view of the heavenly bodies on which their navigation was based was imported from Babylonia by the Ionian Greeks, who used it to become a seafaring nation of merchants and colonists during the Archaic period in Greece.

The basis for division into zones was the two distinct paths of the heavenly bodies: that of the stars and that of the sun and moon.

As soon as they discovered that the Earth is spherical they devised the concept of the celestial sphere, an imaginary spherical surface rotating with the heavenly bodies ( ouranioi ) fixed in it ( the modern one does not rotate, but the stars in it do ).

Star and planet sights are normally taken during twilight at dawn or dusk, while both the heavenly bodies and the sea horizon are visible.

Later Greek philosophers, observing the motions of the heavenly bodies, were concerned with developing models of the universe based more profoundly on empirical evidence.

The rise of the Copernican view of the world led to the resurgence of the Platonic idea that like objects attract but in the context of heavenly bodies.

Syncretism covers the worship of Baal, the heavenly bodies ( sun, moon, and stars ), the " Queen of Heaven " and other deities as well as practices such as child sacrifice: " Other gods were invoked and serviced in time of need or blessing and provision for life when the worship of Yahweh seemed inadequate for those purposes.

Though the " host of heaven " has traditionally been interpreted as either the stars / heavenly bodies or the host of angels / heavenly spirits depending on the context, some again have interpreted this term to refer to a pantheon of Israelite gods.

Shiva's long, matted tresses, usually piled up in a knot, loosen during the dance and crash into the heavenly bodies, knocking them off course or destroying them utterly.

This is consistent with " the cult of heavenly ordained rule " which was a pivotal element of the Turko-Mongol political culture and were inherited by the Göktürks from their predecessors in Mongolia.

Raymond Brown contends that " The Johannine picture of a savior who came from an alien world above, who said that neither he nor those who accepted him were of this world, and who promised to return to take them to a heavenly dwelling could be fitted into the gnostic world picture ( even if God's love for the world in could not ).

Aristotle ( 384 – 322 BC ), however, believed the Milky Way to be caused by " the ignition of the fiery exhalation of some stars which were large, numerous and close together " and that the " ignition takes place in the upper part of the atmosphere, in the region of the world which is continuous with the heavenly motions.

Eastern Orthodox believe these qualify as icons, in that they were visible images depicting heavenly beings and, in the case of the cherubim, used to indirectly indicate God's presence above the Ark.

To Pius XII, science and religion were heavenly sisters, different manifestations of divine exactness, who could not possibly contradict each other over the long term Regarding their relation, his advisor Professor Robert Leiber wrote: " Pius XII was very careful not to close any doors prematurely.

Many ancient astronomers believed that stars were permanently affixed to a heavenly sphere, and that they were immutable.

Early adherents of the Kabbalah portray Solomon as having sailed through the air on a throne of light placed on an eagle, which brought him near the heavenly gates as well as to the dark mountains behind which the fallen angels Uzza and Azzazel were chained ; the eagle would rest on the chains, and Solomon, using the magic ring, would compel the two angels to reveal every mystery he desired to know.

In addition to recording heavenly observations and portents, preparing the calendar, and reporting which days were auspicious or not, Zhang was also in charge of an advanced literacy test for all candidates of the Imperial Secretariat and Censorate ( who were expected to know at least 9, 000 Chinese characters and all major writing styles ).

In 1730, German chemist Frobenius gave this liquid its present name, ether, which is Greek for “ heavenly .” But 112 more years would pass before ether ’ s anesthetic powers were fully appreciated.

* 4th century BC — Aristotle believes the Milky Way to be caused by " the ignition of the fiery exhalation of some stars which were large, numerous and close together " and that the " ignition takes place in the upper part of the atmosphere, in the region of the world which is continuous with the heavenly motions ",

The two Chinese characters Fu ( 復 ) and Dan ( 旦 ), literally meaning "( heavenly light shines ) day after day ", were chosen by the distinguished educator in modern Chinese history, Father Ma Xiangbo S. J.

At the turn of the twentieth century, Arabs of the Sinai Peninsula were selling resin from the tamarisk tree as man es-simma, roughly meaning " heavenly manna ".

In the Society Islands, the Areoi or Areoiti were a secret society of warriors who styled themselves as descendants of Ora-Tetefa and Uru-Tetefa, two heavenly brothers.

The planetary spheres were thought to be planes of existence intermediate between earth and the heavenly regions

In the Vedas Aditi is a sky goddess and mother of the gods ( devamatri ) from whose cosmic matrix the heavenly bodies were born.

In the Vedas, Aditi is Devamatri ( mother of the celestial gods ) as from and in her cosmic matrix all the heavenly bodies were born.

The brothers were ardent admirers of Thomas Jefferson, who invented the word from two Latin words meaning " heavenly mountain ", which Mr. Jefferson gave to his home place.

Reason is employed in another way, not as furnishing a sufficient proof of a principle, but as confirming an already established principle, by showing the congruity of its results, as in astronomy the theory of eccentrics and epicycles is considered as established, because thereby the sensible appearances of the heavenly movements can be explained ; not, however, as if this proof were sufficient, forasmuch as some other theory might explain them.