Hermit Eclipse: Science: Mechanics of Solar Eclipses

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Four hundred years ago, the Italian scientist Galileo Galilei heard stories of a miraculous ’spy glass’ that made things look three times closer than they really are. He wondered whether he could make a better one, and was soon observing stars and phenomena in the night sky that no-one had ever seen before. His discoveries changed the course of science and changed our view of the cosmos, and are being celebrated in the International Year of Astronomy 2009.

Listen to the podcast by going through the archives at the BBC site here

Or directly downloading (Right click > Save Target As… ) from the source here

On the BBC

I’m sure that I will always be

A lonely number like root three

The three is all that’s good and right,

Why must my three keep out of sight

Beneath the vicious square root sign,

I wish instead I were a nine

For nine could thwart this evil trick,

with just some quick arithmetic

I know I’ll never see the sun, as 1.7321

Such is my reality, a sad irrationality

When hark! What is this I see,

Another square root of a three

As quietly co-waltzing by,

Together now we multiply

To form a number we prefer,

Rejoicing as an integer

We break free from our mortal bonds

With the wave of magic wands

Our square root signs become unglued

Your love for me has been renewed

‘Super-microscope’ opens at Isis

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