KERALA PSC / ASTRONOMY / PIONEERS OF ASTRONOMY / NOTES

 

KERALA PSC / ASTRONOMY / PIONEERS OF ASTRONOMY / NOTES

KERALA PSC / ASTRONOMY / PIONEERS OF ASTRONOMY / NOTES

 

Nicolaus Copernicus (1473-1543)

He was a Polish physician and lawyer by trade, but is now regarded as the father of the current heliocentric model of the solar system

 

Johannes Kepler (1571-1630)

Kepler discovered laws of planetary motion

 

Galileo Galilei (1564-1642)

He was the first scientist to make systematic use of the telescope in looking at the heavens. He was also the first to see four of Jupiter’s moons, and the phrases of Venus. Ultimately it was his observations of the Milky Way, specifically the detection of countless stars, that shook the scientific community.

 

Issac Newton (1642-1727)

Newton not only deduced the law of gravity, but realized the need for a new type of mathematics (calculus) to describe it. His discoveries and theories dictated the direction of science for more than 200 years, and truly ushered in the era of modern astronomy.

 

Albert Einstein (1879-1955)

His relation of energy to mass (E=mc²) is important to astronomy, as it is the basis for which we understand how the Sun, and other stars, fuse hydrogen into Helium for energy

 

Edwin Hubble (1889-1953)

Determined that so called spiral nebulae were, in fact, other galaxies, proving that the Universe extends well beyond our own galaxy milky way. Hubble then followed up, that discovery by showing that these other galaxies were receding at speeds proportional to their distances away from us.

 

Stephen Hawking

His work has significantly increased our knowledge of black holes and other exotic celestial objects. Also, and perhaps more importantly, Hawking has made significant strides in advancing our understanding of the Universe and its creation. A Brief History of Time, A Briefer History of Time, Universe in a Nutshell are his books

 

Konstantin Tsiolkovsky (1857-1935)

He solved many of the problems that were going to come up for rocket powered flight and drew up several rocket designs. He determined that liquid fuel rockets would be needed to get to space, and that the rockets would need to be built in stages. He concluded that oxygen and hydrogen would be the most powerful fuels to use.

 

Robert Goddard (1882-1945)

Goddard was the man who designed, built, and flew the rockets. He was a professor at Clarke University who also developed the theory of rocketry and although he didn’t know about Tsiolkovsky’s work, reached the same conclusions as Tsiolkovsky did. In 1926 he launched the world’s first liquid fueled rocket.

 

Aryabhata (476-550 CE)

Aryabhata was the author of the Aryabhatiya and the Aryabhatasiddhanta. Aryabhata explicitly mentioned that the earth rotates about its axis, thereby causing what appears to be an apparent westward motion of the stars. Aryabhata also mentioned that reflected sunlight is the cause behind the shining of the moon.

 

Varahamihira (505 CE)

Varahamihira was an astronomer and mathematician who studied Indian astronomy as well as the many principles of Greek, Egyptian, and Roman astronomical sciences. His Pancasiddhantika is a treatise and compendium drawing from several knowledge systems

 

KERALA PSC / ASTRONOMY / PIONEERS OF ASTRONOMY / NOTES