Ptolemy and Copernicus

By madz14
  • 85

    Ptolemy Born in Alexandria, Egypt

  • Period: 85 to 185

    Ptolemy’s Discoveries & Influencers

    Ptolemy solidified the geocentric theory stating that the Earth was the center of the universe. He said that the Earth was the center of several nested, transparent spheres, which were the Sun, Mars, Jupiter, and Saturn, and a final sphere with the stars attached. Ptolemy’s theory began with Aristotle and was furthered by refuting Aristarchus of Samos’ theory.
  • 165

    Ptolemy Dies

  • Period: 1473 to 1543

    Copernicus’ Discoveries and Influencers

    Copernicus debuted the heliocentric theory, stating the Sun was the center of the universe and all the planets orbited that, and not the earth. He said the Earth wasn’t the center of the universe, the sun is fixed and all other planets orbit it elliptically, the Earth rotates on its axis and also orbits the Sun, and the stars are fixed but appear to move because of the Earth’s motion.
    Copernicus was influenced by his professors at Krakow and Ptolemy, whose theory he refuted.
  • Feb 19, 1473

    Copernicus Born

  • 1514

    Copernicus releases Little Commentary, publishing views on heliocentric theory

  • 1532

    Copernicus finishes On the Revolutions of Celestial Spheres, but doesn’t publish it yet

  • May 24, 1543

    Copernicus Dies; On the Revolutions of Celestial Spheres published

  • Isaac Newton born in Lincolnshire, England

  • Newton attends King’s school at Grantham

  • Newton begins studying at Cambridge University

    Newton earns his degree after 4 years of hard work and just before the school closes due to the Black Plague.

  • Newton retreats from Black Plague

    Moves to his grandparents’ house in Lincolnshire and studies white light to prove it is a spectrum and begins to invent calculus. He begins to think about gravity when an apple falls from the tree next to him.

  • Newton returns to Cambridge University

    After the Plague, he goes back to school to complete his masters degree in mathematics, and later becomes a professor at Cambridge.

  • Newton publishes Mathematical Principles of Natural Philosophy

    Newton presents the three Laws of Motion, the Law of Universal Gravitation, and adds to Johannes Kepler’s Laws of Motion. He supports his ideas with calculus, which he created to accurately predict the movement of planets.

  • Newton is knighted by Queen Anne

    Knighted for substantial contributions to science and math.

  • Newton dies in London, England

  • Marie Curie Born

    Born Maria Sklodowska in Warsaw, Poland to two educators.

  • Marie Graduates from the Sorbonne with highest marks

    Marie graduated from the Sorbonne in Paris with a degree in physics and the highest marks in her class, becoming the first woman to earn a physics degree at the Sorbonne.

  • Marie Marries Pierre Curie

  • Marie has Irène, her first child with Pierre

  • The Curies discover Polonium

    Driven by Antoine Henri Becquerel’s research, the Curies begin to study radioactive materials. After studying pitchblende, they found that it contained what they named polonium, an element 400x more radioactive than any other known element.

  • The Curies Announce Radium’s Existence

    Named after the Latin word for ray, radium was 900x more radioactive than polonium.

  • Successfully separate Radium from Pitchblende

  • Shares Nobel Prize in physics with Pierre and Becquerel

  • Earns 2nd Nobel prize, this time in chemistry

  • Marie Curie Dies

    Due to leukemia, Marie passed on July 4th, 1934.