Classroom introduction
Use the guided tour before asking students to compare the three orbital motions.
Open the tour →Teach · Cite · Share
A Living Guide to Milutin Milanković’s Climate Legacy
Built by his great-grandson Filip van Harreveld, this free visual project helps learners move from “three orbital cycles” to a physically accurate understanding of seasonal sunlight, ice sheets, and modern climate change.
Why It Is Different
Family history meets transparent science
Milutin Milanković spent decades calculating how Earth’s orbit and axis redistribute sunlight. Filip’s tools are design and software. This project brings those threads together without turning a family story into a substitute for evidence.
Every calculation is separated from climate prediction, the orbital presets trace to the peer-reviewed La2004 astronomical solution, and the project states clearly that orbital cycles do not explain today’s rapid human-caused warming.
Ready to Use
Ways to use the project
Interactive investigation
Let learners change real orbital inputs and discuss what the 65°N result can—and cannot—show.
Open the lab →Background reading
Assign one focused guide on eccentricity, obliquity, precession, insolation, or modern warming.
Browse the guides →Science communication
Link directly to a visual explanation backed by equations, limitations, and primary references.
Review the method →Suggested Citation
Link to the most useful page
Van Harreveld, Filip. Milanković Cycles: Why Ice Ages Come and Go. milankovitchcycles.com.
Deep links to individual Learn guides are encouraged when they better match your lesson, article, newsletter, or resource list.
Invite a Conversation
Questions, interviews, or classroom feedback?
Filip welcomes thoughtful educational use, corrections, and conversations about making Milanković’s work accessible. Contact him through filipvanharreveld.com.