1. Ancient Astronomy
Chapter 3

2. Mesopotamian Astronomy
Lots of data on planetary cycles, regularities and periodicities observed in the sky.
Babylonians ---Astrology. Predictions based on the influence of the Sun, Moon, and planets to natural events, i.e., floods, earthquakes, etc.
Egyptian astronomy
Greek Astronomy
Miletus-Thales (600 BC), Anaximander, Anaximenes.
Pythagoreans. New model of Solar system.
Aristotle ( BC)
Aristarchus(300 BC),
Eratosthenes ( ) Radius of the Earth
Hipparchus (134 BC) Catalog of brightest stars; Precession, his estimate 28,000 years.
Ptolemy (127 AD). Accurate geocentric model, epicycles.

3. Planetary configurations in Babylonian astronomy.

4. Timetable of World Events and Famous People (Left) and
Fig. 3.3
Timetable of World Events and
Famous People (Left) and
Notable Greek Astronomers (right)

5. Fig. 3.5
Pythagorean Model

6. Aristotle’s argument that the earth must be a sphere
Fig. 3.7
Aristotle’s argument that the earth must be a sphere

7. Another Aristotle’s argument that the Earth is sphere
Fig. 3.8
Another Aristotle’s argument that the Earth is sphere

8. Aristarchus’s (310-230 B.C) Calculation
Fig. 3.9
Aristarchus’s ( B.C) Calculation
of Moon’s diameter and distance from Earth

9. Fig. 3.10
Small angle formula

10. Fig. 3.11

11. Fig. 3.12

12. Fig. 3.13

13. Fig. 3.14
Eratosthenes’s ( B.C)
calculation
of the earth’s radius

14. Precession of the earth’s axis (Hipparchus (134 B.C)
Fig. 3.15
Precession of the earth’s axis (Hipparchus (134 B.C)

15. Precession of the celestial equator
Fig. 3.16
Precession of the celestial equator

16. Fig. 3.17
Ptolemy’s model

17. Fig. 3.18
The Geocentric Model

18. Fig. 3.19