Download as pdf or txt
Download as pdf or txt
You are on page 1of 1

After reading the sections, write an essay (250-300 words)

describing the ancient idea about the position of the earth relative
to the other heavenly bodies. Explain why it was reasonable for
them to believe that the earth was the center of the universe.

In ancient times they believed that the earth was the center of the
universe. This idea is what you call the geocentric theory. In this theory, the
earth is the center of everything where other heavenly bodies revolve around
it.
The geocentric theory of the universe underlies "Ptolemy's model of
the Solar System." According to this theory, the Earth is at the center of the
universe, while other heavenly bodies such as the Sun and the Moon rotate
around it.
Earlier views of the universe by the Greeks reveal that the position of
the stars did not appear to change when they examined it throughout the
spring and fall seasons. The only logical approach is to acknowledge that
stars are very distant things that are highly important at the moment, or to
continue to believe that the Earth does not move. They pick the latter since
it is more appealing to the people and the historical period.
Aristotle already believed that the Earth is spherical due to his
observations of the moon and the shadows created by the Earth during a
lunar eclipse. He also proposed the geocentric theory, in which the Earth is
at the center of the universe and all other celestial bodies rotate around it.
Ptolemy improved on this concept, but only in terms of the pattern of
revolutions of other heavenly bodies.
This idea of a geocentric universe was still largely believed among
early Romans, and it remained the commonly accepted theory until Nicolas
Copernicus and Johannes Keppler proved it incorrect. The "heliocentric solar
system" theory was subsequently proposed, which marked the beginning of
modern cosmology. Further ideas about the forces that regulate celestial
motions, and the origins of the universe were created.

This study source was downloaded by 100000838491674 from CourseHero.com on 03-06-2022 19:44:21 GMT -06:00

https://www.coursehero.com/file/123043686/Learning-Task-31-Before-the-Scientific-Revolutiondocx/
Powered by TCPDF (www.tcpdf.org)

You might also like