Ancient Astronomers of Greece!

An update to the Celestial Sphere Page

 

In the past, as in today's world, we often look at the sky, the weather, the world around us, and wonder why is this all happening?  Some may explain these to other worldly phenomenon, but chances are there is an easier, albeit more complicated answer; astronomy. The ancient Greeks were the first to believe that the sun, or heliocentric model, was accurate, thousands of years before their early medieval counterparts.  In addition, they also were the reason behind the calendar we know today, based on their astral observations.  Thales discovered the solstice and equinox concepts in 585 BC and made important advances in geometry which would later be essential to astronomy with regard to how angles affected mathematical questions. A century later Pythagoras continued making advances with regard to orbits and movements of celestial bodies.  Perhaps one of the most impressive of all ancient discoveries was that of Eratosthenes, who measured the circumference of the Earth, and quite accurately.  I am including the entire timeline that I found, but my point is this: imagine if we still had the curiosity of the ancient inhabitants of Earth, where could we be today? Are we only limited because we know so much, or does it merely seem that way? 

 

http://ancienthistory.about.com/od/sciencemedicine/tp/042810GreekScientificInventions.01.htm