Model of the

Universe by Eudoxus,
Aristotle,
Aristarchus,
Ptolemy and
Eudoxus of Cnidus

born c. 395 – 390 B.C.

 Eudoxus of Cnidus' Model
Eudoxus of Cnidus, a Greek
astronomer and mathematician, was
the first to propose a model of the
universe based on geometry. His
model composed of 27 concentric
spheres with Earth as the center.
The Sun, the Moon, the planets, and
the fixed stars have spheres. Each
sphere is attached to a larger
 Eudoxus of Cnidus' Model
The rotation of the spheres on
their poles once every 24 hours
accounts for the daily rotation
of the heavens. It is unclear
whether Eudoxus regarded these
spheres as physical entities or
just mathematical constructions.
 Eudoxus' five basic
principles
1. The earth is the center of the
universe.
2. All celestial motion is circular.
3. All celestial motion is regular.
4. The center of the path of any
celestial motion is the same as the
center of its motion.
5. The center of all celestial motion
is the center of the universe.
Aristotle

born c. 384 B.C.

 Aristotle's model
Aristotle, a Greek philosopher and
astronomer, considered the model
proposed by Eudoxus, but he
considered these spheres as
physical entities. He thought that
these spheres were filled with the
divine and eternal “ether” that
caused the spheres to move.
 Aristotle's model
He introduced the Prime Mover, as
the cause of the movement of the
spheres. His model composed of 56
spheres that guided the motion of
the Sun, the Moon, and five known
planets. As the spheres move, they
maintained the same distance from
the Earth. Also, they moved at
Aristarchus

born c. 310 B.C.

 Aristarchus' Model
Aristarchus of Samos, a Greek astronomer and
mathematician, was the first to hypothesize
that the Sun is the center of the universe.
He visualized that the Moon orbits around a
spherical Earth which then revolves around
the Sun. He believed that the stars are very
far away from the Earth as evidenced by the
absence of stellar parallax – that is, the
stars do not change positions relative to
each other as the Earth revolves around the
Sun.
 Aristarchus' Model
Through geometrical models and mathematical
computations, he concluded that the Sun is
20 times farther from the Earth than the
Moon is to the Earth; the Earth is about
three times larger than the Moon; and the
Sun is 20 times larger than the Moon. He
also reasoned out that smaller spheres orbit
around larger ones. Thus, the Moon orbits
around the Earth, and the Earth orbits
around the Sun.
 Ptolemy

born c. 100 A.D.

 Ptolemy's model
The Sun, Moon, stars, and planets were
believed to move in a uniform circular
motion – the “perfect” motion assigned to
celestial bodies by the ancient Greeks.
However, observations showed otherwise. The
paths of the celestial bodies are not
circular, and they vary in distances.
Babylonians even showed that some planets
exhibit a retrograde motion – a motion
opposite to that of other planets.
 Ptolemy's model
To explain “imperfect motions” of heavenly
bodies, Claudius Ptolemy(born c. 90 A.D.), a
Greco-Egyptian astronomer and mathematician,
proposed his own geocentric (Earth-centered)
model of the universe. He accounted for the
apparent motions of the planets around the
Earth by assuming that each planet moved
around a sphere called an epicycle. The
center of the epicycle then moved on a
larger sphere called a deferent.
 The Ptolemaic System
1.A planet moves counter-clockwise
around the epicycle.
2.The epicycle’s center also moves
counter-clockwise around the center of
the deferent (indicated by the + sign
in the image).
3.The center of the epicycle moves
around the equant with a uniform speed.
 The Ptolemaic System
4.The Earth is not exactly at the center of
the deferent, or it is eccentric (off the
center). This explains why, as observed from
the Earth, the Sun or a planet moves slowest
when it is farthest from the Earth and moves
fastest when it is nearest the Earth.
5.The motion of the planet can be described
by points 1-7 in the figure below. At point
4, the planet moves in a retrograde
(clockwise) motion. The planet is brightest
at this point because it is closest to the
 Copernicus

born on February 19, 1473

 Copernicus' Model
In 1543, Nicolaus Copernicus, a
Renaissance mathematician and
astronomer born in Poland, ended the
geocentric astronomy era by publishing
his work On the Revolutions of the
Heavenly Spheres wherein he explained
that the Sun, not the Earth, is the
center of the universe.
 Copernicus' Model
In his work, he reiterated the ancient Greek
concept that the motion of spherical
heavenly bodies is uniform, eternal, and
circular. He then reasoned that because
Earth is spherical, then its motion is
circular. He added that the Earth has three
different motions: daily rotation on its
axis, yearly motion around the Sun, and the
precession, or change in orientation, of its
axis every 26 000 years.
 Copernicus' Model
He also proposed that the fixed
stars are immovable. Their apparent
movement is a consequence of the
Earth’s rotation. These stars are
at immeasurable distances from the
Earth, so there is no observable
parallax.
 Copernicus' Model
By placing the Sun at the center of the
universe and the orbits of Mercury and
Venus in between the Sun and the Earth,
Copernicus’ model was able to account
for the changes in the appearances of
these planets and their retrograde
motions. The need for epicycles in
explaining motions was eliminated.
GEOCENTRIC UNIVERSE
HELIOCENTRIC UNIVERSE
Earth as the Center of the
Universe

EUDOXUS ARISTOTLE PTOLEMY

 Sun as the Center of the
Universe

aristarchus COPERNICUS
THANK YOU!
- GROUP 4