Aristarchus Mr. Hibbetts

Aristarchus’ Background Greek Mathematician, Philosopher, and Astronomer Lived approximately from 310 to 230 B.C. Competitor of Aristotle and Archimedes

Aristarchus Accomplishments Most of Aristarchus’ contemporaries (such as Aristotle) believed in a geocentric universe (Earth centered)

Aristarchus Accomplishments Aristarchus is the first known person the suggest the Heliocentric model of the solar system (sun centered).

Aristarchus Accomplishments He helped make the months of the calendar more accurate through mathematical calculation

Aristarchus Accomplishments He helped measure the distance to Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, and Saturn, and put them in the proper order.

Legacy of Aristarchus Aristarchus’ beliefs where unpopular in ancient Greece, the geocentric model remained predominant until Copernicus in the late 1400s.

Legacy of Aristarchus Most of what we know about his theories come from his critics like Archimedes The Aristarchus Crater on the moon is named for him.

Resources Chaisson, Eric and Steve McMillan. Astronomy: A Beginner’s Guide to the Universe. New Jersey: Prentice Hall, 2001. O’Conner, John and Edmund Robinson. “Aristarchus of Samos” . The MacTutor History of Mathematics archive. 2008. University of Saint Anderews Scotland. August 2008. http://www-groups.dcs.st-and.ac.uk/~history/Mathematicians/Aristarchus.html