Universebubble

Early History of Astronomy

By swes0351
  • 1600 BCE

    Babylonians documented earliest written records

    Babylonians documented earliest written records
    Observations recorded position of planets, times of eclipses, etc. Astronomy is regarded as the first science.
  • 500 BCE

    Hellenistic Culture

    Hellenistic Culture
    The ancient Greeks inherited astronomical records from the Babylonians and applied the data to construct a cosmological framework. Data was not just used for practical goals, such as navigation, but also to think of new experiments.
  • 480 BCE

    Thales of Miletus

    Thales of Miletus
    Pre-Socratic Greek/Phonecian philosopher, mathematician and astronomer who used previous data to predict eclipses.
  • 330 BCE

    Heraclides

    Heraclides
    Developed the first Solar System model, which was geocentric (meaning Earth was the center of the universe).
  • 270 BCE

    Aristarchus

    Aristarchus
    Developed the heliocentric theory, claiming the the sun was the center of the universe.
  • 220 BCE

    Eratosthenes

    Eratosthenes
    The early Greeks knew the Earth was a sphere based on the shadow of Earth on the Moon during lunar eclipses. Eratosthenes proceeded to use this information to measure circumference of Earth.
  • 100 BCE

    Hipparachus

    Hipparachus
    Produced first star catalog and recorded the names of constellations.