elliptical is the shape of the earth's path around the sun.
the shape of the earth's path around the sun?
elliptical
horrocks was the first to demonstrate that the moon moved in an elliptical path around the earth, and he posited that comets followed elliptical orbits. he supported his theories by analogy to the motions of a conical pendulum, noting that after a plumb bob was drawn back and released it followed an elliptical path, and that its major axis rotated in the direction of revolution as did the apsides of the moon's orbit. he anticipated isaac newton in suggesting the influence of the sun as well as the earth on the moon's orbit. in the "principia" newton acknowledged horrocks's work in relation to his theory of lunar motion. in the final months of his life horrocks made detailed studies of tides in attempting to explain the nature of lunar causation of tidal movements.
jeremiah horrocks
perhaps the simplest manner in which to understand hick's theory of pluralism of religions is to share the comparison he makes between his own understanding of religion and the copernican view of our solar system. before copernicus disseminated his views of the solar-centered universe, the ptolemaic system ruled in which the stars were painted in the sky, and the sun rose and set around the earth. in short, the rest of the universe existed for and was centered on earth. on the other hand, copernicus asserted that the earth, and other planets as well, circled the sun, which in fact, did not move, but only appeared to move due to the revolution of our planet. copernicus introduced our world to the understanding that other planets took similar paths around the sun; while each path differed, all served the same purpose and generated the same result: every planet makes a full path around our central star. rotation of a planet about its axis creates day and night for that planet, just as day and night occur on earth. although the time frames for a full trip around the sun and for a full day-night cycle differs on a planet-by-planet basis, the concept remains constant throughout our solar system.
john hick