'Our World in Motion' - The various ways in which the Earth moves, including some history of the development of ideas.
The areas discussed include:
Rotation | History of why we think the Earth rotates; various sorts of wobble (Chandler wobbles, tsunamis); leap seconds |
The Moon | Nutation of rotation; precession of the equinoxes (Milankovitch factor); changes in axial tilt (Milankovitch factor) |
The Earth's Orbit | History of geocentric to heliocentric view; Kepler; Newton; Bessel parallax |
Orbital Eccentricity | Changes in eccentricity (Milankovitch factor) |
The Equation of Time | Day length variation; eccentric orbit effect; axial tilt effect; the analemma |
Axial Tilt | Further comments on its changes |
Inclination of Earth's Orbit | Movement up and down through the invariant plane |
Movements of the Whole Solar System | Movement round the galaxy; movement of the galaxy |