Ancient Astronomers Timeline

By JoJo677
  • 240 BCE

    Eratosthenes

    Eratosthenes
    He was born on 226 B.C and died on 194 B.C. He discovered the circumference of the Earth. The is important because it helped the early civilizations be able to visualize a bigger world while still being able to improve their place in it. He discovered that Earth is 25,000 miles.
  • 150 BCE

    Claudius Ptolemy

    Claudius Ptolemy
    He was born on 100 AD and died 170 AD. He discovered the Geocentric Theory. The Geocentric Theory is important because it tells us that the Earth is in the center of the universe and other objects go around it
  • 1532

    Nicolaus Copernicus

    Nicolaus Copernicus
    He was born on February 19, 1473 and died on May 24, 1543. He discovered the Heliocentric Theory. The Heliocentric Theory is the theory that planets orbits around the Sun rather than the Earth. This theory is important because it led to the advancement and accuracy in astronomical tools.
  • 1572

    Tycho Brahe

    Tycho Brahe
    He was born on December 14, 1546 and died on October 24, 1601. He discovered irregularities in the moon's orbit and a new star. This is important because it showed that the moon was among fixed stars. He also supported the Heliocentric Theory proposed by Nicolaus Copernicus.

  • Johannes Kepler

    Johannes Kepler
    He was born on December 27, 1571 and died on November 15, 1630. He discovered the 3 major laws of planetary motion. This is important because astronomers could finally throw out epicycles and the equant, and construct a simplified version of the Copernican Universe. He was also Tycho Brahe assistant, and when Tycho Brahe died he inherited Tycho's position as imperial Mathematician.

  • Sir Isaac Newton

    Sir Isaac Newton
    He was born on January 4, 1643 and died on March 31, 1727. He discovered the laws of gravity. The laws of gravity is important it encapsulates the idea that all particles of matter in the universe attract each other through the force of gravity. He also discovered the laws of motion in 1686. The laws of motion are also important because we use motion everyday in our life.

  • Albert Einstein

    Albert Einstein
    He was born on March 14, 1879 and died on April 18, 1955. He discovered the Theory of Relativity. Theory of Relativity is important because it explains the behavior of objects in space and time, and it can be used to predict anything anything that happens in space. Albert also discovered nuclear bomb, nuclear energy, 3-Kelvin microwave background radiation (1965), and pulsars (1967).