Monday, September 9, 2019

History of Physics


Aristotle 384-322 BC observed gravity and the direction of fire, but his conclusions were not grounded in measurement and experimentation.  He was correct that continued observations would reveal natural laws. His students proposed that all matter was made from atoms.

Aristarchus 310 – c.230 BCE) believed that the Earth revolves around the Sun.

Archimedes 287-212 BC used mathematics to determine how to make pulleys and levers that were used to build labor-saving devices and established criteria for buoyancy, advanced geometry and trigonometry.

Hipparchus 190-120 BC, focusing on astronomy and mathematics, used sophisticated geometrical techniques to map the motion of the stars and planets, even predicting the times that Solar eclipses would happen. In addition, he added calculations of the distance of the Sun and Moon from the Earth, based upon his improvements to the observational instruments used at that time.

Ptolemy 90-168 AD believed that the Sun revolves around the Earth.


From 168 AD to the 1400s, some work was done to improve ships, buildings and other structures and devices and improve other processes sponsored by monarchies. The invention of the printing press and the discovery of America in the 1400s rekindled opportunity.

Norb Leahy, Dunwoody GA Tea Party Leader

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