Before we looking forward to a new year of discovery, we have to know the past to understand the present. In this solo episode, Dr. Jeffrey Zurek (P.Geo) takes a deviation from cutting-edge research to chronicle the history of the planets—from the "wandering stars" of antiquity to the mathematical hunt for Planet Nine.

We explore how the Babylonians set the stage for modern astrology, the high-stakes heresy of the heliocentric model, and the "detective story" of Uranus and Neptune. Discover why the discovery of Neptune was once called a British "heist," how a bookkeeping error led to the discovery of Pluto, and why the search for a massive, unseen world in the Kuiper Belt is still a legitimate open question in orbital dynamics today.

Topics Covered

The Antiquity of Planets: How Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, & Saturn were viewed 3,000 years ago.
The Heliocentric Divide: Clash between Aristotelian philosophers, Church, and observations of Galileo and Copernicus.
The Parallax Problem: Breakdown of why early astronomers couldn't prove the Earth moved.
Kepler’s Divine Geometry: How a "mystic" defined the three laws of planetary motion.
The Neptune Controversy: The international scramble for prestige between Urbain Le Verrier and John Couch Adams.
The Ghost of Planet X: From Percival Lowell’s errors to the 2006 demotion of Pluto & the modern hunt for Planet 9.

Chapters

(00:00) Holiday Housekeeping & New Year’s Resolutions

(03:10) Why History Matters to Science

(06:04) Babylonian Astronomy & The Zodiac Tradition

(09:15) Wandering Stars vs. Worlds: Greek Perspective

(10:45) Heliocentric Revolution: Copernicus & Galileo

(14:15) Parallax: Measuring the Width of a Coin

(18:42) Johannes Kepler: Mystic of Planetary Motion

(22:01) Newton’s "Why": Unifying Gravity

(24:00) Uranus: The First Discovered Planet

(25:40) Neptune Heist: for International Prestige

(31:00) Pluto & Planet X: Finding a Planet

(34:30) Planet 9 & The Kuiper Belt

(37:00) 2006: The Demotion of Pluto

(38:30) Outro: Wandering Stars and the New Year

Links & Resources

Support: Pateron
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Whimsical Wavelengths: Deep-dive conversations where a working scientist unpacks how we know what we know, one paper, one idea, or whimsical detour at a time. Hosted by Dr. Jeffrey Zurek (P.Geo).