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140
Ptolemy
Ptolemy wrote "The Almagest." He created a math and science to astronomy that people didn't see or care about before. He calculated the past, present, and future position of the planets. -
270
Aristarchus of Samos
Aristarchus presented the first model that placed the sun at the center of the universe. (This theory took about 1800 years to be accepted.) -
Jun 1, 1543
Nicolaus Copernicus
Copernicus formulated a heliocentric model that wasn't widely accepted, but he proved that it was true. He also wrote De Revolutionibus Orbium Coelstium, which translates to On the Revolutions of the Celestial Spheres.) -
Hans Lippershy
Hans Lippershy created the refracting telescope. This lead people to admire things there were further away, such as the sky, the planets, the stars. Galileo Galilei later makes an addition to Lippershy's invention in 1609. -
Johannes Kepler
Johannes Kepler is known for his laws of planetary motion. He studied under Tychoe Brahe, who was another famous astronomer, and kept very close records of Mars. -
Galileo Galeli
Galileo Galeli is often referred to as "The Father of Modern Astronomy." He made improvements to Lipperhy's telescope and supported the heliocentric view that stated that the sun was the center of our universe. He studied a lot of concept of weight, gravity, and physics. -
James Gregory
James Gregory invented the Gregorian telescope, which was a reflecting telescope. He made mathetmatic advances in trigonometry and algrebra, which led to finding distances of other planets more and more reasonable, feasable, and intriguing. -
Isaac Newton
Isaac Newton is best known for his contribution to the world of physics. In astronomy, he made the newtonian telescope and wrote Philosophiae Naturalis Principa Mathematica which laid down the foundation of classic mechanics. He studied the lwas of motion and the universal motion and planetary gravitation. He removed all remaining doubts of the heliocentric model. -
Edmond Halley
Edmond Halley studied meterology. He calculated the orbit of comet. He stated that this comet come around every 76 years. This comet was named Halley's comet after him. -
Joseph von Fraunhofer
Fraunhofer made discoveries of the dark absorption of lines in the sun's spectrum. He made really good telescopes and spectroscopes that allowed us to view the sun from far away. -
Konstantin Tsiolkovsky
Tsiolkovsky stated that a rocket will work as a vacuum. He outlined principles of a multistage launch vehicle. -
Karl Jansky
Karl Jansky detects the first radio waves coming from space. -
Hans Bethe
Hans Bethe explained how stars generate energy. He outlined a series of nuclear fusion reactions that turn hydrogen into helium and release energy into a star's core. This is why stars burn for billions of years. -
Plato
Originally named Aristocles, Plato, greek philosopher and student of Socrates, believed that all things were made of the four elements: air, earth, fire, and water. He believed that the Earth was spherical and at the center of the universe. -
Brahmagupta
Brahmagupta recognised gravity as a force of attraction. He gave methods and calculations on how this was true. He was said to have taught the Arabs astronmy. He made a lot of math contrubutions such as stating thta if you subtract a number from a number you get zero.
