Ancient Astronomers

  • 255 BCE

    Eratosthenes

    He invented a system of longitude and latitude and made a map of the known world. He legitimized the term of geography. He also put into system geographical information from various sources in order to obtain a map of the world as precise as possible.
  • 141

    Claudius Ptolemy

    He posited that the Moon, Mercury, Venus, and the Sun all revolved around Earth. His discovery was important because it established the geocentric model of the universe, which greatly influenced our understanding of astronomy for centuries.
  • 1514

    Nicolaus Copernicus

    Nicolaus Copernicus discovered that every planet, including Earth, revolved around the Sun. He was the first European scientist to propose that Earth and other planets revolve around the sun. It changed the role of astronomy in society
  • 1582

    Tycho Brache

    He discovered the geo-heliocentric model, the supernova, and the greater altitude of stars observed near the horizon due to refraction. His observations of planetary motion provided the crucial data for later astronomers like Kepler to construct our present model of the solar system.
  • Johannes Kepler

    He also discovered that planets move proportionally faster in their orbits when they are closer to the Sun. His discovery was so important because it helps us understand the relationship between a planet's distance from the sun and the time it takes to complete a full orbit
  • Sir Issac Newton

    The discovery he made was the three laws of motion. It laid the foundation for our current understanding of physics and the Universe. He took his ideas, and the ideas of earlier scientists, and combined them into a unified picture of how the universe works
  • Albert Einstein

    He discovered the theory of relativity. They redefined human understanding of space, time, and gravity and changed our daily lives, including modern electronics, nuclear power, and your GPS navigation.