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Models of The Universe

The document discusses various historical models of the universe from ancient civilizations like Egypt, England, and Mexico to early Greek philosophers and astronomers. It then covers the progression of models from the geocentric view of Aristotle and Ptolemy to the heliocentric model of Copernicus. Key models included using star and planetary alignments to develop calendars, Eudoxus' concentric spheres model, and Aristarchus being the first to propose a heliocentric view of the solar system.

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Tan Roncal
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766 views42 pages

Models of The Universe

The document discusses various historical models of the universe from ancient civilizations like Egypt, England, and Mexico to early Greek philosophers and astronomers. It then covers the progression of models from the geocentric view of Aristotle and Ptolemy to the heliocentric model of Copernicus. Key models included using star and planetary alignments to develop calendars, Eudoxus' concentric spheres model, and Aristarchus being the first to propose a heliocentric view of the solar system.

Uploaded by

Tan Roncal
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as PPTX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Models of the

Universe
EGYPT

 Established a Calendar (365 days)
- based on Star SIRIUS; reconciled the annual
flooding of Nile River
 PYRAMID OF GIZA
-astronomical alignment (10%)
-3 pyramids represent the belt stars of
constellation ORION


ENGLAND

 STONEHEDGE
- predict Solar and Lunar eclipses
- constructed so that the summer
solstice, the sun will rise above one
of the main stones
Winter Solstice

Summer Solstice

MEXICO

 PYRAMID OF PALENQUE
- during equinoxes the illumination of
the sun on the stairs and the base of the
stepped pyramid creates the illusion of
crawling serpent- symbolizes a god
closely related to the planet Venus

EARLY UNIVERSE

 THALES OF MILETUS
- proposed that the Earth is a disk floating
on water
ANAXIMANDER OF MILETUS
- Earth is cylinder and the surface is
curved


GEOCENTRIC MODEL

1. PYTHAGOREAN MODEL
Pythagoras
Earth is round and heavenly bodies move
around it in circles
MUSIC OF THE SPHERES- Motions of
planets were mathematically related to
musical sounds and numbers

 ANAXAGORAS- determine the related positions of the
sun, moon and Earth during solar and lunar eclipse
 PLATO’S “SAVING THE APPEARANCES”
-All motions in the universe are perfectly circular
and that all heavenly bodies are perfect
 RETROGRADE MOTION
- West to East motion of planets, but occasionally
they backtrack for a while
Retrograde motion of Mars


GEOCENTRIC MODEL

2. EUDOXUS’ MODEL
-uses series of 27 concentric spheres on which
sun, moon, and planets moved in a perfect
circular motion
-one sphere for fixed stars, 3 spheres for the
sun, 3 spheres for the moon, and 4 spheres
for each of the 5 known planets- M, V, M, S, J
picture

GEOCENTRIC MODEL
3. 
ARISTOTLE’S MODEL
- Added 27 buffering spheres between the
celestial spheres of Eudoxus and an outermost
sphere that was the domain of PRIME MOVER
-Prime Mover rotated the outermost sphere
with constant angular speed causing other
spheres to rotate as well

Order of the
heavenly
 bodies
1. Earth 1. Mars
2. Moon 2. Jupiter
3. Mercury 3. Saturn
4. Venus 4. Fixed stars
5. Sun 5. Firmament of
the Prime
Two Realms
of the Universe

1.TERRESTRIAL REALM
 below the moon’s orbit
 Composed of 4 primordial elements:
earth, water, air, fire
 ephemeral and it undergo decay
Two Realms
of the Universe

2. CELESTIAL REALM
 above the moon’s orbit
 Composed of the fifth element: Aether/
ether
 Unchanging and perpetual

The Earth is Sphere
ARISTOTLE’S VIEW

 only at the surface of a SPHERE that all
objects fall straight down
 Constellations changes as one travels from
north to south
 Shadow of the Earth during Lunar Eclipse
is round
Three types of
Terrestrial
 motion
1.Natural
2.Violent
3.Alteration
Natural Motion

 Tendency of an object to seek its
natural place in the universe
 Heavy elements- move toward the
Earth
 Lighter elements- move away from
the Earth
Violent Motion

 unusual move by applying force
 Vertical motion: natural
 Horizontal motion: Violent
 ALTERATION- ability of objects to
change
 GENERATION- “coming to be”
Violent Motion
CORRUPTION- “passing away”
Generation of one object results to
corruption of another or vice versa
Book: On Corruption and Generation
Coming to be and passing away take
place when a thing changes, from this to
that, as a whole
GEOCENTRIC MODEL

4. PTOLEMY’S MODEL
-APOLLONIUS- “The Great Geometer”
- introduce the idea of Epicycle to explain
planetary motion
- EPICYCLE (smaller) & DEFERENT (larger);
EQUANT (point other side of deferent
-ECCENTRIC (off- center Earth)


 -ERASTOTHENES-

measure the
circumference of the Earth using
Trigonometry and the knowledge
of elevation of the sun at noon in
Alexandria

HELIOCENTRIC MODEL
1. PHILOLAUS 
- PYROCENTRIC MODEL- neither Earth nor sun
is the center but heavenly bodies move around a
“fire” located at the center of the center of the
universe
2. ARISTARCHUS
-first Heliocentric model; “central fire”

PYROCENTRIC
MODEL

ARISTARCHUS

3. COPERNICUS
- Earth rotates and revolves around the
sun just like other planets, only the
moon orbits around the Earth
-maintained uniform circular motion and
Ptolemy’s epicycle


-He give reasonable explanations for
the variation of brightness of planets
and their retrograde motion
-2 MAJOR FLAWS
(1) absence of STELLAR PARALLAX
(2) lack of perceive motion of the Earth

 STELLAR PARALLAX- apparent
displacement of a star because of a
change in the observer’s point of view
 REVOLUTIONIBUS ORBIUM
COELESTIUM (On the Revolution of
Celestial Orbs)

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