Agora2009

Hypatia:
Ever since Plato, all of them - Aristarchus, Hipparchus, Ptolemy - they have all, all, all tried to reconcile their observations with circular orbits. But what if another shape is hiding in the heavens?

Davus:
Another shape? Lady, there is no shape more pure than the circle; you taught us that.

Hypatia:
I know, I know, but suppose - just suppose! - the purity of the circle has blinded us from seeing anything beyond it! I must begin all over with new eyes. I must rethink everything!... What if we dared to look at the world just as it is. Let us shed for a moment every preconceived idea - what shape would it show us?