What astronomer was responsible for the idea that the earth was the center of the universe?

PRS

Claudius Ptolemy Claudius Ptolemy was a Roman astronomer who lived in Alexandria, Egypt. During this period in history Alexandria was the center of the widespread Greek culture. He is most well known for the book he wrote explaining the motions of the planets and stars, entitled the "Almagest". Ptolemy was very influenced by the ancient Greeks and drew on many of their ideas about the universe to develop his own theory to explain the strange movements of the heavens. Ptolemy embraced the generally accepted theory that the Earth did not move and was located at the center of the universe. http://library.thinkquest.org/28327/html/exploration/people/ptolemy.html [Added reference - McG] Aug 28 07, 4:28 AM

talbotbruno

I doubt very much if Ptolemy was the first to come up with the idea. Hipparchus and many earlier astronomers held this view. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hipparchus Aug 28 07, 5:23 AM

McGruff

Question #87090. mulvy580 asks: Who was an astronomer responsible for the idea that the earth was the center of the universe? -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- geniusonwheels posts: A lot of people may have been the original, but an astronomer named Anaximander may have been the first. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geocentric_model http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anaximander Oct 10 07, 6:49 AM Oct 10 07, 8:02 AM

McGruff

Question #87136. igorr235 asks: Who was an astronomer responsible for the idea that the earth was the center of the universe? ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- boghat posts: "In astronomy, the geocentric model of the universe is the disproven theory that the Earth is at the center of the universe and the Sun and other objects go around it. Belief in this system was common in ancient Greece. It was embraced by both Aristotle and Ptolemy, and most Greek philosophers assumed that the Sun, Moon, stars, and naked eye planets circle the Earth. Similar ideas were held in ancient China." "The geocentric model entered Greek astronomy and philosophy at an early point; it can be found in Pre-socratic philosophy. In the 6th century BC, Anaximander proposed a cosmology with the Earth shaped like a section of a pillar (a cylinder), held aloft at the center of everything. The Sun, Moon, and planets were holes in invisible wheels surrounding the Earth; through the holes, humans could see concealed fire. About the same time, the Pythagoreans thought that the Earth was a sphere (in accordance with observations of eclipses), but not at the center; they believed that it was in motion around an unseen fire. Later these views were combined, so most educated Greeks from the 4th century BC on thought that the Earth was a sphere at the center of the universe. In the 4th century BC, two influential Greek philosophers wrote works based on the geocentric model. These were Plato and his student Aristotle. According to Plato, the Earth was a sphere, at rest at the center of the universe." http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geocentric_model http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greek_astronomy http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chinese_astronomy Oct 11 07, 7:19 AM Oct 11 07, 6:58 AM

McGruff

Question #87135. igorr235 asks: Who was an astronomer responsible for the idea that the earth was the center of the universe? -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- tragic_flawed posts: Hipparchus, Ptolemy, Seleucus, Aristarchus, Wei-po, Copernicus, Tycho Brahe, Kepler, Galileo, Newton, Halley http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Babylonian_astronomy Oct 11 07, 1:10 AM Oct 11 07, 7:28 AM