Special Sub-Topic: Historical Cosmologists Click Here To Play: Historical Cosmologists

During the 3rd Century B.C., the Earth's circumference was estimated to be 25,000 miles (a rather close estimate) by:

Eratosthenes. Eratosthenes used the angle on the sun in the sky over Syene and Alexandria at noon (calculated based on the distance between the cities). Posidonius tried the same thing, but used Rhodes and Alexandria. Unfortunately, he had the wrong distance between the 2 cities. Ptolemy used Posidonius' erroneously small circumference in his geography treatise (a document which influenced Christopher Columbus). Hipparchus, though a great astronomer, is not known for this feat.

Which astronomer is credited with discovering the existence of other galaxies?

Hubble. At the dawn of the 20th century, most astronomers thought that the Milky Way Galaxy was the universe, and it measured only a few thousand light-years across. Hubble examined the Andromeda nebula in 1923 and 1924 and detected stars similar to those in our own galaxy.

In the 19th century, which astronomer used astral parallax to directly observe Earth's movements?

Bessel. Although the heliocentric (sun-centered) model of the solar system was already accepted by most, this was one of the first times someone had observed earth moving around the sun by looking at the stars. In 1838, Friedrich Bessel measured the tiny displacement, or parallax, of a nearby star relative to the more distant stars throughout the progress or a year.

The term 'Big Bang' was coined by:

Hoyle. Ironically, Fred Hoyle was one of the developers of the steady-state theory, which holds that the universe has always existed and has always looked the same. He coined the term 'Big Bang' to describe the competing theory, while looking for a snappy, memorable phrase for a radio audience.

One of the pioneers of the 10 dimensional superstring theory, postulated to be the ultimate theory of everything, is:

Dr. Michio Kaku. Dr. Kaku's weekly national science radio show can now be heard over the Internet and in New York City, L.A., the Bay Area, Portland, Tampa, West Hartford, and the KU National Radio Satellite.

The primary flaw in Nicolas Copernicus' model of the solar system was:

the planetary orbits were circular. His book, 'The Revolution of the Heavenly Orbs' explained the circular movements the planets make around the sun. In truth, the movements are eliptical (as determined by Johannes Kepler). 73 years after being published, the book was banned by the Roman Catholic Church.

Vera Rubin, a pioneer in the study of the motions of galaxies and the first woman to observe at Palomar Observatory, was born the same year as:

Mickey Mouse. Queen Elizabeth - 1926; Mickey Mouse (and Vera Rubin) - 1928; Sandra Day O'Connor - 1930; Superman - 1933.

In the early 1600s Galileo Galilei destroyed the Greek idea that Earth was the center of all motion when he discovered moons obiting which planet?

Jupiter. He was forced to recant his findings before the Inquisition and spent the last decade of his life under house arrest.

Isaac Newton is credited with inventing:

Calculus. He invented a branch of mathematics called Calculus to show the workings of his 3 laws of motions and law of universal gravitation. He is also the inventor of the reflecting telescope.

Albert Einstein received a Nobel Prize for his:

description of the photoelectric effect. All these questions, almost all answers and many quoted facts are found on or through Stephen Hawking's Universe. (Find it through www.go.com)