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Fritz Krafft1

  • 1Schützenstraße 18, D-35096, Weimar (Lahn).

Berichte Zur Wissenschaftsgeschichte
|October 3, 2020
PubMed
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Modern translations of historical astronomical texts distort meanings by using contemporary terms like "orbit" for ancient concepts like "orbis" (sphere). This leads to incomprehensible and inaccurate interpretations of celestial physics from Aristotle to Kepler.

Area of Science:

  • History of Science
  • History of Astronomy
  • History of Physics

Context:

  • Historical astronomical and physical texts are often translated using modern terminology and concepts.
  • A fundamental paradigm shift occurred between ancient (Aristotle, Ptolemy) and early modern (Copernicus, Kepler) celestial physics.
  • Ancient models involved etherical spheres ('orbis') driving planetary motion, while Kepler introduced forces acting on unequal 'orbita' (orbits).

Purpose:

  • To analyze how modernizing translations distort the understanding of historical scientific texts.
  • To demonstrate the misinterpretation of the Latin terms 'orbis' (sphere) and 'orbita' (orbit).
  • To highlight the incompatibility of ancient and modern physics paradigms due to terminological anachronisms.

Summary:

Keywords:
,orbis‘,sphaera‘AristotelesAristotleHimmelsphysik der ,orbes‘Johannes KeplerKlaudios PtolemaiosMax CasparMichael MaestlinMichael MästlinNicolaus CopernicNicolaus CopernicusParadigmenwechselPlanetenbewegungPtolemyTheoricae planetarumcelestial physics of ‘orbes’motion of planetsparadigm changetranslating historical scientific textsÜbersetzen historischer wissenschaftlicher Texte‘orbis’‘sphaera’

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  • The study examines the mistranslation of 'orbis' (sphere) as 'orbit' in historical astronomical texts.
  • This anachronistic translation conflates the Aristotelian/Ptolemaic sphere model with Keplerian orbital dynamics.
  • Such 'modernizing' translations render historical scientific concepts incomprehensible and factually incorrect.

    • Impact:

    • Modern translations can mislead readers by imposing contemporary dynamic thinking onto older physical models.
    • Understanding historical scientific texts requires appreciating their original conceptual frameworks and terminology.
    • Failure to distinguish between 'orbis' and 'orbita' leads to absurd and erroneous interpretations of celestial mechanics.