It is through him that Indian astronomy veered away from the mystical and religious and towards the scientific.Īlthough his works are under the premise that the world is geocentric, many are still of value to modern mathematics and astronomy. There are numerous contributions of Ancient India in the field of Astronomy but the most notable one was by Aryabhatiya. He was the first to suggest that the movement of the planets, sun, moon, and stars could be equated in numbers. He postulated that the earth is spherical in shape as other celestial bodies are. He came up with this idea when he saw ships disappear past the horizon as they sail. Pythagoras is another Greek philosopher who is better known for mathematics but also has contributions in Astronomy. He is also responsible for calculating the tilt of the earth’s axis and the conceptualization of leap day. It is closely accurate considering the lack of apt technology during that time. His computation was off by only a few hundred or a few thousand miles. His most important contribution is the calculation of the earth’s circumference. He is well-known for several astronomical breakthroughs. He has excelled not in the field of astronomy alone but in the field of geography, mathematics, poetry, and music as well. One of the most notable Greek scholars is Eratosthenes. They are popularly known as the fathers of ancient astronomy formulating theories and mathematical equations in an attempt to explain the universe. If we talk about Astronomy, the Greeks definitely first come to mind. It is said that the first appearances of the famous Hailey’s comet were documented by the Babylonians and it is also them who first divided the sky into zones. This information was initially of mystical value used to warn the king about possible catastrophic events. They maintained a very detailed record of these motions including a daily, monthly, and yearly position of the celestial bodies. Here are 7 ancient cultures and their contributions to the field:ĭating back to 1800 B.C., the Babylonians were among the first civilization to document the movements of the sun and the moon. With all these inventions and discoveries, it seems like the world connived to shape the astronomy of today. From initially looking up and gazing at the stars, man has invented tools like the telescope to magnify and clearly see the yet unseen. The fascination was so strong it was enough for humans to not only be contented with what can be seen by the naked eye. Our fascination with the celestial bodies has evolved through the centuries. Our interest in Astronomy can be dated back to ancient times. From the stars, sun, moon, and planets for us to admire, our world has never been short of attraction! ![]() And there is nothing more beautiful than the heavenly bodies set above us to see. We as human beings are greatly attracted to beauty. ![]() ![]() Content in the blog post is copyright of the writer and does not necessarily represent the views of the Office of Astronomy for Development. This blog post was written by Jason Cook, Telescopic Watch.
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