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240 BCE
Eratosthenes
- Most famous for making the first accurate measurement of the circumference of the Earth.
- 240 BC
- Could create a calendar with leap years.
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168 BCE
Claudius Ptolemy
- Said Earth is the center of the universe.
- 168 AD
- It was important in the development of astronomy and science because it was the first model that aimed to predict how the planets move in their orbits.
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1508
Nicolaus Copernicus
- Discovered that the planets revolve around the sun (heliocentric)
- Occurred in 1508
- The heliocentric theory is important because it led to the advancement and accuracy in astronomical tools. Changed the way scientist understand the design of our solar system.
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Nov 11, 1572
Tycho Brahe
-Brahe proved that a very bright star was a supernova
-November 11, 1572
-His work accurate and comprehensive astronomical and planetary observations. 1546 - 1601 birth-death -
Johannes Kepler
- Discovered that planets revolve in an ellipse not in orbit.
- 1600s
- People believed that planets moved in orbit.
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Sir Issac Newton
- Created universal law of gravity
- published in 1687
- Gravity is what holds the planets, sun and moon etc. in orbit. The gravitational pull of the moon pulls the seas towards it, causing the ocean tides. Gravity creates stars and planets by pulling together the material from which they are made.
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Albert Einstein
- Formulated the theory of relativity which revolutionized modern astrophysics
- 1905
- Explained how gravity pulls on things. Opened doors for other scientist.
