-
1514
nicolaus copernicus
developed the helio-centric model of the universe -
1572
tycho brahe
discovered that planets orbited the sun in elliptical orbits -
johannes kepler
proposed the laws of planetary motion -
isaac newton
theory of gravity, and how that keeps smaller objects orbiting around larger objects -
pierre-simon laplace
announced the invariability of planetary motions, meaning all planets have a unique but fixed orbit around the sun -
william herschel
discovered the planet Uranus -
henrietta leavitt
discovered about 2400 variable stars, which was crucial to measuring distances to different bodies in space -
albert einstein
proposed the theories of relativity, which allowed us to further understand the universe -
willem de sitter
made further predictions on the expansion of the universe -
harlow shapley
estimated the size of the universe and where the centre of the universe is -
edwin hubble
through observations of red-shifting, discovered the universe is expanding -
georges lemaître
proposed the big bang theory, suggesting everything in the universe originated from a single atom -
fred hoyle
discovered that a lot of elements on earth originated from inside stars -
arno penzias and robert wilson
discovery of cosmic microwave background radiation