Beschrijving

Suppose you and I still wondered whether all of the pinpoints of light in the night sky are the same distance from us. Suppose none of our contemporaries could tell us whether the Sun orbits the Earth, or vice versa, or even how large the Earth is. Suppose no one had guessed there are mathematical laws underlying the motions of the heavens.

How would – how did – anyone begin to discover these numbers and these relationships without leaving the Earth? What made anyone even think it was possible to find out \