The story of the Solar System – how have our ideas

changed
Thales (Thay-lees), (624 - 547 BC.)

The theory held that Earth is stationary and

at the centre of the universe; closest to
Earth is the Moon. His explanation was
based on observed motion of the planets
orbiting the Earth.
Pythagoras, (580 - 500 B.C.)

Pythagoras and his followers

were the first to consider the
earth as a globe revolving with
the other planets around a
central fire (the Sun but was
unknown at that time). However
this was not taken seriously.
Aristotle, (384 - 322 B.C.)
Was the first person to state
that the Earth was spherical,
although his theory was not
taken seriously at the time at it
was based more on philosophy
than on actual evidence. He
also believed that the Earth
was at the centre of the
universe and that everything
including the Sun orbited the
Earth.
Aristarchus of Sámos, (310 - 230 B.C.)
First person known to have proposed
our modern view of the universe: that
the Earth revolves around a fixed
Sun. His work was firmly grounded in
observation and mathematics. He
went on to calculate the approximate
distance from the Earth to the Sun.
Ptolemy, (200 A.D.)

He drew a map showing the

Universe with the Earth at the
centre and the Moon and Sun
orbiting it. This model was known
as the geocentric model (“geo”
means Earth). This was accepted
for over a thousand years.
Geocentrism (Geo = Earth, kentron = Centre)
Copernicus, (1473-1543 A.D.)
Copernicus said the Sun was at
the centre of the Universe, with
the planets going around it. His
model was called the heliocentric
model (“helio” means Sun).
Copernicus knew that the church
authorities would be strongly
against his ideas, and did not
publish them during his lifetime.
Heliocentrism (Helios = Sun and kentron = Centre )
Galileo, (1564 – 1642 A.D.) With the aid of telescope of his design
was the first to report astronomical
observations. His observations confirmed
that Copernicus was right and that
Ptolemy’s model of the planetary motions
was wrong.
He detected four moons orbiting Jupiter,
which showed that not everything orbits
Earth. One argument against the idea
that Earth orbits the Sun was that the
Moon would be left behind. Galileo’s
observations clearly disproved that
argument. After all, Jupiter’s moons were
able to keep up with Jupiter.
His attempts to publicise the Copernican
system caused him to be tried by the
Church for heresy and he was
condemned to house arrest in 1623.
Kepler, (1571-1630 A.D.)

Kepler used many of people’s

observations and measurements
to devise laws of motion for the
planets. He showed that they
moved not in circles but in
elliptical (oval) orbits.
A model of Kepler’s elliptical orbits:
Sir Isaac Newton (1642-1727 A.D.)
Newton explained about the elliptical
orbits based on Kepler’s work. The
planets are held in elliptical orbits by
the gravitational attraction of the Sun.