Aristarchus puts the Sun at the centre
A heliocentric model is proposed in the third century BCE, and rejected on good evidence.
- When
- Known to
- ± 20 years
- Era
- Classical, Holocene
Aristarchus of Samos argues around 270 BCE that the Earth orbits the Sun and rotates daily, and estimates the relative sizes and distances of the Sun and Moon by geometry. His method is sound; his measurements are not accurate enough. The model is rejected largely because no stellar parallax could be detected — a valid objection, since the stars are far more distant than anyone imagined. It waits 1,800 years for Copernicus.