History+of+Astronomy

It’s man’s innate nature to look for the unknown. We as humans always want to try something different and a different trend started in the early 480 A.D when people started wondering about the infinity which resulted in their interest in the study of the unknown universe. Greeks were the trend-setters and everyone contributed in times to follow. This study was thus called astronomy. Greeks and Italians progressed in the field of Astronomy coming forth with theories stating the position of the Earth. Amateur astronomers started coming up with ideas of the position of the Earth. Some came up with theories stating that the Earth was at rest and the Sun revolved around the Earth, this theory was supported by the church as the bible states “ Man is the Centre of All Things”. Man living on Earth only meant that the Earth can be centre. The first person to come-up with this theory was Aristotle the great philosopher. This theory was also known as the Geocentric theory. And then there were others who believed that the Sun was the Centre and these few brilliant people were shunned by the society and the church. One of the first people to come-up with a Sun Centered Theory or a Heliocentric view was Aristarcus.

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 * THE ARABS**: Humans have been watching the night sky for thousands of years. The ancient Babylonians developed astrology and identified the 12 signs of the Zodiac. The Greeks inherited this knowledge and developed it further, and the Arabs built upon the Greek system and added what they learned from the Indians. Astrology is the belief that the planets and stars affect the lives of people here on earth. Most ancient cultures believed in this, and so they watched the stars very carefully in order to try and predict the future. From this belief in astrology arose the science of astronomy.Muslims built first observatory as scientific institution in 13th century at Maraghah in Iran. Back then there were no telescopes and star observations were made with the human eye alone. Precise measurement of the stars could be used for navigation on land and sea. The Arabs not only developed the observatories, but also the instruments to observe and measure the stars and planets. One of the most important inventions was the astrolabe: it was first developed by the Greeks, but the Arabs perfected it. By calculating the positions of the stars, the astrolabe could tell you what direction you were going, what direction to pray in toward Mecca etc. The astrolabe was used for some 1000 years in Europe and the Arab world for navigation at sea and on land.=====

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 * Ptolemy** - famous Greek astronomer and mathemetician, who lived in Alexandria, Egypt, in the 2nd century A.D. He developed what became known as the Ptolemaic System of astronomy, in which the stars and planets revolve around the earth. He catalogued over 1000 stars and their measurements.=====

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 * Bayt al-ikmah** - "The House of Wisdom." Institution founded by the Khalifah (Caliph) al-Ma'muun in the year 830 to translate scientific texts from Greek, Syriac, Persian and other languages into Arabic.=====

**Some famous Arab and Iranian astronomers, scientists and mathematicians:**
There are many others, but here are a few of the most famous. Some are known in the West by their Latinized names, because their works were translated into Latin. The translation of Arabic scientific texts, and the introduction of Arabic numerals into Europe, are some of the most important factors which sparked the European Renaissance.

made important developments in geometry and corrected the calendar which was being used at that time.
 * Al-Khwarizmi**, A.D. 849 Invented Algebra as we know it, based on mathematical works of the Greeks and Indians. "Algorithm" and "Algorism" are two English math words that come from his name.
 * Al-Farghani** (Alfraganus), A.D.850, wrote the __Elements__, a summary of Ptolemaic astronomy studied in Europe until 1600.
 * Al-Battani** (Albategnius), A.D. 929 Arab astronomer and mathematician, well known throughout Europe. He corrected some of Ptolemy's observations. His most famous work is "On Stellar Motion."
 * Ibn al-Haytham** (Alhazen), A.D. 1038 Astronomer and physicist. He wrote the Optical Thesaurus, the first important work on dioptrics (the optics of the eyes), which influenced the work of Roger Bacon, the 13th century English scholar.
 * cUmar Khayyam**, A.D. 1123 Known mostly as a Persian poet, he became famous in the West when his book of poems __The Rubaiyat__ were translated into English. However, he was also a famous philosopher, mathematician and astronomer. He


 * Ibn Sina** (Avicenna), A.D.1037 Probably the most famous Arab scientist of them all. He wrote on astronomy, physics, and medicine, which he also practiced, and his great medical textbook was taught in Europe for 700 years.
 * Al-Biruni**, A.D.1048, one of the greatest Arab encyclopedists of science. He wrote books on mathematics, astronomy and astrology, geography, and history, and even botany.

of years. Among other things, he wrote important commentaries on Aristotle which were studied in Europe.
 * Ibn Rushd** (Averroes) A.D. 1198, Famous Arab scientist and philosopher, whose writings were very influential for hundreds

Many names of stars that we know are from Arabic--some of the biggest stars in the sky. Some of them, having to do with the constellations, the Arabs translated from the Greek names. But Europe got the names from the Arabs. Aldebaran - the follower Algol - the ghoul Altair - the flyer Betelgeuse - in Orion - the house of Gemini Deneb - tail (of the swan Cygnus) Fomalhaut - mouth of the fish - Pisces Hamal - lamb Rigel - in Orion--the foot Vega - The falling (eagle)
 * STAR NAMES FROM ARABIC:**

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 * THE GREEKS**: Today the study of astronomy requires a deep understanding of mathematics and physics. It is important to realise that Greek astronomy (we are interested in the topic during the 1000 years between 700 BC and 300 AD) did not involve physics. Indeed, a Greek astronomer aimed only to describe the heavens while a Greek physicist sought out physical truth. Mathematics provided the means of description, so astronomy during the 1000 years was one of the branches of mathematics. The Greeks began to think of philosophy from the time of Thales in about 600 BC. Thales himself, although famed for his prediction of an eclipse, probably had little knowledge of astronomy, yet he brought back from Egypt knowledge of mathematics into the Greek world and possibly also some knowledge of Babylonian astronomy. It is reasonable to begin by looking at what 'astronomy' was in Greece around this time. However we begin by looking further back than this to around 700 BC. Basically at this time astronomy was all to do with time keeping. It is natural that astronomical events such as the day would make a natural period of time and likewise the periodic phases of the moon make the next natural time span. Indeed these provided the basic methods of time keeping around the period of 700 BC yet, another important period of time, the year, was not easy to determine in terms of months. Yet a knowledge of the approximate length of the year was vital for food production and so schemes had to be devised. Farmers at this time would base their planting strategies on the rising and setting of the constellations, that is the times when certain constellations would first become visible before sunrise or were last visible after sunset. ... when the Pleiades rise it is time to use the sickle, but the plough when they are setting; 40 days they stay away from heaven; when Arcturus ascends from the sea and, rising in the evening, remain visible for the entire night, the grapes must be pruned; but when Orion and Sirius come in the middle of heaven and the rosy fingered Eos sees Arcturus, the grapes must be picked; when the Pleiades, the Hyades, and Orion are setting, then mind the plough; when the Pleiades, fleeing Orion, plunge into the dark sea, storms may be expected; 50 days after the sun's turning is the right time for man to navigate; when Orion appears, Demeter's gift has to be brought to the well-smoothed threshing floor. For many hundreds of years astronomers would write works on such rising and setting of constellations indicating that the type of advice given by Hesiad continued to be used.

LINKS:

http://mec.sas.upenn.edu/marhaba/astronomy.htm

http://www-history.mcs.st-andrews.ac.uk/HistTopics/Greek_astronomy.html

http://astro.wsu.edu/worthey/astro/html/lec-greeks.html

http://www.daviddarling.info/encyclopedia/G/Greek_astronomy.html

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