Aristarchus
Aristarchus (310 – 230 BC)
Aristarchus of the isle of Samos was the first of the Greek philosophers and mathematicians to work out the workings of the universe and announce his discovery. Aristarchus, by observing the moon during a lunar eclipse, and estimating the angles between the Earth, Moon and Sun, as well as the size of the earth, was also one of the first astronomers to calculate the relative sizes of the Sun, Moon and Earth. Other astronomers before Aristarchus assumed that the Earth is a sphere and that it moves, but he was the first to explicitly formulate the heliocentric theory, the model which has the Sun in the centre of the universe. However his publication, stating his theories did not survive, and we only know of it because of references made to it by others, like Archimedes.
From these other authors, we know that Aristarchus developed many of the fundamental theories which we know as true today. Theories like “the fixed stars and the Sun remain unmoved, and that the Earth revolves about the Sun in the circumference of a circle, the Sun lying in the middle of the orbit.” Aristarchus also theorised that the universe was actually much large than was commonly believed at the time, and that the stars are enormous distances from the earth and the sun. However, these hypotheses, conflicted with the general consensus of the times, and were therefore disapprovingly put aside for about 1800 years until Copernicus, along with a number of other influential scientists proved him correct.
Although his calculations were wrong, this was only due to a lack of precise data, rather than floored logic. Today, the intelligence of Aristarchus is renowned, along with his contribution to science; so much so there is a crater on the moon named after him.
Aristarchus of the isle of Samos was the first of the Greek philosophers and mathematicians to work out the workings of the universe and announce his discovery. Aristarchus, by observing the moon during a lunar eclipse, and estimating the angles between the Earth, Moon and Sun, as well as the size of the earth, was also one of the first astronomers to calculate the relative sizes of the Sun, Moon and Earth. Other astronomers before Aristarchus assumed that the Earth is a sphere and that it moves, but he was the first to explicitly formulate the heliocentric theory, the model which has the Sun in the centre of the universe. However his publication, stating his theories did not survive, and we only know of it because of references made to it by others, like Archimedes.
From these other authors, we know that Aristarchus developed many of the fundamental theories which we know as true today. Theories like “the fixed stars and the Sun remain unmoved, and that the Earth revolves about the Sun in the circumference of a circle, the Sun lying in the middle of the orbit.” Aristarchus also theorised that the universe was actually much large than was commonly believed at the time, and that the stars are enormous distances from the earth and the sun. However, these hypotheses, conflicted with the general consensus of the times, and were therefore disapprovingly put aside for about 1800 years until Copernicus, along with a number of other influential scientists proved him correct.
Although his calculations were wrong, this was only due to a lack of precise data, rather than floored logic. Today, the intelligence of Aristarchus is renowned, along with his contribution to science; so much so there is a crater on the moon named after him.