4 Greek
Astronomers/Scientists Some of the top scholars in Greek history
were Thales, Hipparchus, Aristarchus, and Ptolemy. These
astronomers, scientists, mathematicians, and more went beyond their
time to figure out problems and the worlds science, as we know it
today. All four of these men have discovered, invented, or figured
out a way to increase our knowledge of space and how it works.
Looking back on what they have accomplished, they must have been
true masters of their art to have figured out how things work with
such limited resources.
Thales was a Greek philosopher, mathematician, politician and
businessman. He was believed to have lived between the years 620
B.C. and 540 B.C. He was born in a place called Miletus, which
would be
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In astronomy,
he is credited with being the first person to use the little
dipper, or Ursa Minor, as a navigational aid. This was very helpful
because the little dipper contains the star Polaris, which moves
very little during the night sky. It is also claimed that he
predicted an eclipse, but this is anecdotal and cannot be
confirmed. He also made discoveries in geometry such as his
intercept theorem that deals with intersecting lines. He also came
up with the theorem that was named after him, the Thales theorem
that deals with triangles. In the study of
Philosophy,
Thales is most known for his position about the nature of matter.
Thales believed that all things came from a single substance, and
he believed that the substance was water. Thales believed that
everything was just a different form of water, and that everything
would eventually revert back to water. This was an important
philosophical idea because it questioned the nature of all
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Hipparchus
recorded that every year the Sun traces out a circular path known
as an ecliptic and that it passes through the Earths center. The
two points at which the ecliptic and the equatorial plane intersect
where known as the vernal (spring) and Autumnal equinoxes and the
two points of the ecliptic farthest north and south from the
equatorial where the summer and winter solstices. However,
Hipparchus found that the Suns passage is not symmetrical giving
us seasons that are not symmetrical. Hipparchus came up with a
mathematical model that could calculate not only the Suns orbital
location on any date but its position from Earth. Hipparchus would
also try to measure the length of the tropical year, the period for
the Sun to complete one passage through the ecliptic. By comparing
his own observations of the solstices with other observations from
the 5th and 3rd centuries BC estimated the tropical year and was
only six minutes too
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