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From Descartes to Kapler: Who was the first prophet of the formation of the solar system?
The history of scientific thought began with the Copernican Revolution. Since the 17th century, philosophers and scientists have continuously proposed hypotheses about the formation and evolution of the solar system in order to predict future changes. From Descartes to Kappler, these thinkers have contributed to our understanding of the origin of our solar system and its evolution.
In his book The World, French philosopher and mathematician René Descartes first proposed a model for the origin of the solar system.
Descartes believed that the universe was filled with swirling particles and that the sun and planets were condensed from a large vortex. This theory attempted to explain the circular motion of the planets. However, this was all before Newton's theory of gravity, which failed to properly describe how matter navigated.
Over time, scientists developed more complete theories. The most widely accepted model of planet formation is the "nebular hypothesis", which holds that the solar system underwent a huge gravitational collapse 4.6 billion years ago to form the current star. During this process, large amounts of gas and dust gathered and eventually evolved into the planets we know.
The proposal of the nebula hypothesis marked a major breakthrough in the theory of planet formation, and many scientists have conducted in-depth explorations on it.
As the research progressed, many other hypotheses emerged. Although some of these assumptions were once supported, many have been overturned by advances in technology and new understandings of the nature of things. Regarding the origin of the moon, scientists proposed the "giant impact hypothesis", which explains how the moon was formed from a collision with the earth.
As our understanding of how stars work improved in the 19th century, hypotheses about the evolution of the Sun began to emerge. More and more research is showing how the celestial bodies orbiting within the solar system influence and evolve with each other.
The story of the formation of the solar system becomes increasingly complex as various theories come together in one's mind.
Historically, many scientists have proposed various hypotheses about the origin and evolution of the solar system, but not all hypotheses can be supported for a long time. For example, the original "tidal hypothesis," which proposed that the solar system formed due to the gravitational disturbance of a star passing near the sun. However, this hypothesis has difficulty explaining the angular momentum and orbits of the planets.
Through the exploration of various theories, finally, with the advancement of science and technology in the 20th century, the most widely accepted theory is still the nebular hypothesis. This theory not only explains the formation process of planets, but also explains why the movement and composition of planets have such special characteristics.
However, despite its strong scientific basis, the nebular hypothesis still faces some unresolved problems, including the problem of the angular momentum of the planets.
With the advancement of modern technology, scientists have gained a deeper understanding of the formation and operation of the solar system. For example, the nebulae observed in the universe further support the process of planet and star formation. In addition, the launch of space probes has also provided us with a large amount of direct data, which helps scientists better reconstruct the evolution of the solar system.
Today, faced with a series of discoveries and hypotheses, we still remain curious about the formation process of the solar system. With the further development of technology, perhaps new theories will emerge in the future to make our understanding more complete and in-depth.
Among the countless theories, who can be called the first predictor of the formation of the solar system?
