(March 29, 2021 at 8:46 pm)John 6IX Breezy Wrote:(March 29, 2021 at 8:22 pm)polymath257 Wrote: The final nail was Newton's discovery of his laws of motion and his law of universal gravity.
Out of curiosity, since I'm reaching far beyond my comfort zone, what role does Einstein play in this battle? If Newton put the final nail, but Einstein is often described as somewhat replacing Newton, what does Einstein's theory do to these models? Relativity seems to make use of "frames of reference" and "observers," which at first glance is the main difference between the geocentric and heliocentric model.
Well.... help explain why Mercury does its weird little thing in its orbit.
From a poor memory I think there's a weird little 'bulge'(?) (Or maybe an excentricity in the shape of the orbit?) or some other strangeness that, under Newton, had people looking for another planet tucked in there near Mercury and the Sun.
Einstein's 'Bendy space time' accuratley accounts for the Sun's immense gravity on the tiny mass that is Mercury orbiting so close.
That's all I've got off the top of my head. Hopefully others will add better stuff.
Not at work.