Computer Science

Running head : THE NATURE OF THE UNIVERSE

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Brief History of Astronomy

Every culture has observations and interpretations about the sky and the stars that shaped their beliefs about heavenly bodies . For instance ancient Chinese believed that the heaven or sky has mythological significance (Cheng , Chau , and Lee , 2007 . On the other hand , as early as 600 B .C . Thales , an ancient Greek philosopher conceived that the universe was a systematic creation , thus , its nature can be predicted by logical means (Cheng

, Chau , and Lee , 2007 . Similarly , Plato postulated that heaven has a perfect circular shape and , with the Earth as its center , was in uniform circular motion (Cheng , Chau , and Lee , 2007 This notion marked the conception of the geocentric model of the solar system . However , the geocentric model failed to provide explanation on the planets ' retrograde motion

The geocentric model was revised by Ptolemy during 140 A .D (Cheng , Chau and Lee , 2007 . In his refined geocentric model , with the stars fixed at the outermost part , Ptolemy presented the planets moving in epicycle or a circular path as they revolved around the Earth (Cheng , Chau , and Lee 2007 . Also , the epicycle centers of Venus and Mercury reclined at the Earth-Sun distance (Cheng , Chau , and Lee , 2007 . The Ptolemaic model was accepted during the 1500s in the western world . Meanwhile , Nicolaus Copernicus developed the heliocentric model for a better prediction of the retrograde motion of the planets (Cheng , Chau , and Lee , 2007 . In the...