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Patricius' Picture of the Universe and Modern Cosmology
Tomislav Petković
; Zavod za primjenjenu fiziku, Fakultet elektrotehnike i računarstva, Zagreb, Hrvatska
Sažetak
An old outstanding cosmological pitfall about the finiteness or the infiniteness of space, its boundedness or unboundedness, Patricius reduced to a physical one by asking about real space of the World, which inherently has the World in itself and which coincides with the World. His conclusion is that space (Spatium) is both finite and infinite: bounded (closed) by the outermost surface of the World, but infinite at very long distances, becoming empty space (Vacuum). Therefore, the concept of an infinite isotropic space can be traced to Patricius, to be adopted later by Newton. However, Patricius' views on the World (Universe) were expressed in a philosophical sense, not by means of metric equations. The re-ordering, by which the science of space (physics) becomes a prerequisite for cosmology and all natural sciences, gives Patricius an honoured place close to Copernicus. Thus, in the foundations of modem cosmology is embedded the cosmological principle, sometimes called the Copernican principle, which is postulated for a Universe described by the Friedman•Robertson-Walker metric: The Universe is homogeneous and isotropic in three-dimensional space, has always been so, and will always remain so. In his theory of space De spatio physico Patricius drew avery similar picture: »If the trajectories were drawn in all spatial directions from the centre of the world, all of them would be the same, but finite.« (»Si enim a centro ipsius, quod est mundi centrum, quaquauersum lineae protrahantur, usque ad mundi conuexam superficiem, aequales erunt omnes, sed finitae.«) Nevertheless, Patricius' theory of space, with its insights into finite/infinite space, is one of the milestones in the history of natural philosophy and modern cosmology.
Ključne riječi
Hrčak ID:
81822
URI
Datum izdavanja:
1.12.1997.
Posjeta: 1.580 *