The Birth of Heliocentrism: A Leap of Thought
The story of the heliocentric system begins with a Greek astronomer named Aristarchus of Samos. Between 310 and 230 BC, Aristarchus proposed a revolutionary model of the universe where the Sun, rather than the Earth, occupied the central position. His theory, though noted by contemporary thinkers, was dismissed as implausible, leading to the continued dominance of the geocentric model for the next 1,700 years.
The Ancient Greek's Astronomical Endeavors
The development of astronomy in ancient Greece was largely due to the work of pre-Socratic philosophers. These early thinkers sought a non-theistic view of the universe in their quest to define the "Prime Cause" of existence. Their investigations led them to astronomical speculations in an attempt to determine the nature and location of the Earth. At that time, the Earth was perceived as the center of the universe, with the Sun, Moon, and planets rotating around it.
The Pythagorean Philosopher: Philolaus of Croton
Around 470 – 385 BC, a Pythagorean philosopher named Philolaus of Croton rejected the geocentric model and proposed a paracentric view where the Earth and all other planets revolved around a central fire. Philolaus' ideas were dismissed, particularly by Aristotle, but they might have inspired Aristarchus' heliocentric model.
Aristarchus' Legacy and His Lost Works
Although Aristarchus' works have not been found except for his study on the dimensions and distances of the Sun and the Moon, his heliocentric model was preserved by the later mathematician and engineer Archimedes in his work "The Sand Reckoner". The model was rejected not because it was deemed inadequate to explain observable phenomena related to the stars, the Sun, the Moon, and the planets but mainly because it challenged the then universally accepted view of Earth's unique position at the center.
The Geocentric Model: A Persistent Viewpoint
The geocentric model, which places the Earth at the center of the universe, was also advanced by Hipparchus of Nicaea between 190 and 120 BC. Regarded as the greatest astronomer of his time, his model continued to be universally accepted until it was challenged by Nicolaus Copernicus. However, the heliocentric model was not widely accepted until Sir Isaac Newton mathematically proved its validity, thus also validating the old conclusions of Aristarchus.
Pre-Socratic Philosophers: The Quest for the Prime Cause
The pre-Socratic philosophers, who lived before Socrates of Athens, focused on defining the Prime Cause of existence: the essential substance from which everything else originated, without relying on the supernatural explanation provided by Greek religion. Thales of Miletus, considered the first Greek philosopher, proposed water as the Prime Cause, while Anaximander rejected such a hypothesis, arguing that a Prime Cause could not be defined by an aspect of the observable world.
The Pythagoreans: Mathematics as the Key to Truth
Pythagoras challenged the suggestions of early philosophers as either too simple or, in the case of Anaximander, speculative, as he asserted that Number was the Prime Cause. This brought a dramatic shift, elevating mathematics, already respected as a discipline, to a higher level as a medium through which one could access Truth.
Philolaus and Archytas: The Torchbearers
Pythagoras wrote nothing and communicated his beliefs only to a select group of followers who had vowed to keep their secret. Only the initiated, therefore, knew his teachings until Philolaus, considered by some as his successor, documented them in one or three books. One of Philolaus' students, the astronomer and statesman Archytas of Tarentum, seems to have advanced Philolaus' model.
Eudoxus: The Advocate of Geocentricism
Eudoxus of Cnidus (410 – 347 BC), who also studied under Plato, later maintained the geocentric model of the universe. Eudoxus seems to have rejected Archytas' view, then developing Plato's view where the planets moved as if on tracks with a circular motion around the Earth.
Rejection of the Heliocentric Model
Plutarch (45/50 – 120/125 AD) suggests that Aristarchus might have been aware of Philolaus' work as he refers to the "Hearth," another term used by Philolaus to define the Central Fire. It's also possible that the "Hearth" in Plutarch refers to the Earth, the center of the universe as the hearth was to the house, "disturbed" by Aristarchus' model.
The Revival of Heliocentrism: Copernicus and Beyond
The geocentric model was later defined by astronomer Claudius Ptolemy (100-170 AD) in his Almagest and was accepted as accurate until 1543, when Copernicus published his book "On the Revolutions of the Celestial Spheres" advocating heliocentrism. The Church opposed the heliocentric model as it contradicted the Scriptures that supported Earth as the center of God's creation.
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Conclusion
Astronomer Tycho Brahe tried to merge the Copernican system with the Ptolemaic one, a work that was later continued by Johannes Kepler, establishing the three laws of planetary motion. Finally, a work providing the foundations with mathematical proofs of a heliocentric universe was proposed by Sir Isaac Newton, thus after almost 2,000 years from Aristarchus.
References
- Pierini, S. (2023). The Big Bang: A Journey Through the Most Recent Theories. Amazon. ISBN-13: 979-8856861272
- Amici della Scienza (2023). Geometry, from Descartes to today.
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