The Cosmos
How our understanging of the Cosmos has changed
Since the dawn of our existence, humankind has wondered what lay beyond. Whether it be over the hill, across the river, past the mountains, or over the sea. The surface of the Earth has been explored and mapped fully, yet still it is in the human nature to explore. Our sights are now set to outer space, The Final Frontier!
Aristotle lived in Greece over 2,300 years ago. Aristotle, like most ancient philosophers, believed that the Earth was the center of the universe. This made sense at the time as the Sun and Moon appeared to move across the sky. This geocentric model was widely accepted, but was proven false.
While the Mayans did not influence astronomical observations in Renaissance Europe to the extent the Greeks did, their records are precise and highly accurate. They developed overlapping calendars and other tables to predict the appearance of celestial bodies in certain areas of the sky.
Galileo and other astronomers in Renaissance Europe made leaps and bounds in learning more about the solar system. Galileo's discoveries helped to prove a heliocentric model of the solar system. While we take most of this knowledge for granted today, this discovery, along with many others, helped revolutionize the field of astronomy.
Humanity made observations of the Cosmos for millennia, but discoveries in space have increased more in the last century than in the 5000 years before that. In the past 100 years, numerous people have gone to space and made observations previously not thought of.