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There are good reasons to view our solar system as a target for mathematical modeling. For one thing, we can't hope to ever have a "fully defined" description of the prototype (i.e. the actual system). Therefore, we must rely on models. What's wonderful about the whole thing is that it's one subject that is neutral to the worries of the world. That might make celestial motion the one topic that all humans can discuss without cultural bias. On the other hand, the very notion that the whole system could exist and function without "intellectual" intervention might disturb the religious frameworks of some cultures. It would be irresponsible and imprudent to simply dismiss the beliefs of others, however it seems that to a large extent we've decided that there's no reason to have "mechanical" presence disturb a higher work. The work after all, may be His. Either act or accident, the Universe is a marvel. And there would "appear" to be a lot of it that we cannot see. Of what we can see, the show is truly cosmic. Technology continues to enhance our ability to peer into the depths of the heavens, and there's no reason to think that improvements will not continue to be made so that the workings of nearby stellar systems are more fully revealed. At that time we'll be able to better understand what's going on here close to home -- and our dear old Sol. One could wax at length about the intricacies of the Universe, but prosaic descriptions aren't necessary. We have fantastic visual displays to consult. Furthermore, there are readily available models of our system which even offer a sense of motion. Things would be pretty dull if they didn't change. Still, the change would be unsettling were it to be too drastic. Indeed, most changes are so subtle that they remain unnoticed. It's interesting that throughout the development of civilization, there appears to have been a common thread as regards predicting the motions of heavenly bodies. The ancient Babylonians used models whose vestiges are alive in the common angular measures still in use today. Furthermore, the use of a sexigesimal system was shared by other civilizations as apparently different as that of the Maya. 60 is a handy base for computations since it is evenly divisible by the primes 2, 3, and 5. 360, being 60 times 6, is a great base for angular mensuration since we can finely divide 360 degrees using many unit fractions. And certainly there is some consideration here of the near coincidence of the number of days in the year. Our ancestors would have probably been very interested in what celestial objects were doing. There was clearly a connection between what was happening on the earth and what the Sun was doing. The lunar cycle has become well entrenched in our lives. It is likely tied to our very cycle of birth. Surely the moon was of interest to the ancients. It may have been no more than a curiosity, but curiosity would have been enough to stimulat |