Kepler vs. Asimov
Kepler's Laws of Planetary Motion:
1. The orbit of every planet is an ellipse with the sun at one of the foci. An ellipse is characterized by its two focal points. Thus, Kepler rejected the ancient Aristotelean and Ptolemaic and Copernican belief in circular motion.
2. A line joining a planet and the sun sweeps out equal areas during equal intervals of time as the planet travels along its orbit. This means that the planet travels faster while close to the sun and slows down when it is farther from the sun. With his law, Kepler destroyed the Aristotelean astronomical theory that planets have uniform velocity.
3. The squares of the orbital periods of planets are directly proportional to the cubes of the semi-major axes (the "half-length" of the ellipse) of their orbits. This means not only that larger orbits have longer periods, but also that the speed of a planet in a larger orbit is lower than in a smaller orbit. His third law is based on the foundation left by Copernicus, because he uses a mathematical expression to show the correlation between T (time for one revolution) and D (distance from the sun).
Asimov's Laws of Robotis
1. A robot may not injure a human being or, through inaction, allow a human being to come to harm.
2. A robot must obey orders given to it by human beings except where such orders would conflict with the First Law.
3. A robot must protect its own existence as long as such protection does not conflict with the First or Second Law.
Monday, November 5, 2007
Round 2, Fight 1
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4 comments:
Kepler.
Asimov's laws only work (defined loosely) in the presence of humans. Keplers do not depend on interpersonal relationships (see Simon and Garfunkel's "I am a Rock").
Asimov's laws were created by a Man.
Keplers were defined by man, but created by God.
But I would rather read Asmov's works as opposed to Keplers, not that that matters in this arena.
I'll go with Kepler.
His laws have much greater scope. Understanding planetary trajectories increases understanding of planet/start interactions.
That and space is freakin' awesome. Robots are cool too, but space was there first.
I'm gonna go with Kepler on this one, as much as I like Asimov. Much like badanswer's reasons, my thoughts are this:
Kepler describes the real world as it has existed for millennia.
Asimov states what he wants, but doesn't exist at this time.
Kepler did not bother to come up with his own laws; rather, he made some observations, did some sloppy math to justify his conclusions, and passed them off as his own. Kepler's "Laws" are really just someone else's that he stole because they weren't protected by copyright. If a student plaigarizes, they don't get an A, they get punished. We should punish Kepler.
Asimov's Laws, on the other hand, are his and they are protected by copyright In addition,his stories about them have brought joy to millions, as well as millions to Asimov. Asimov's laws are clearly superior.
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