Category Science

Eratosthenes was an Ancient Greek scientist born in the town of Cyrene, which is no in Libya, in about 276 BC. He was famous as a mathematician and geographer.

         Eratosthenes produced a reliable, logical method to discover prime numbers. It’s known as the sieve of Eratosthenes, and is still important in modern number theory in an updated form.

    Assuming that the earth was a sphere, Eratosthenes calculated its size with good accuracy. He also calculated the tilt of earth’s axis fairly accurately. Eratosthenes produced the first map of the world which used meridian lines and parallel lines. These were similar to our modern lines of latitude and longitude. This great scientist can be said to have invented geography

     In fact, today we still use the word he invented for this new discipline. ‘Geo’ was Greek for ‘Earth’ and ‘graphy’ meant ‘field of study.’

      Eratosthenes also wrote books on philosophy, mathematics, astronomy, history, comedy, and poetry. His all-round knowledge made him the ideal choice for the most prestigious job an academic could enjoy in Ancient Greece. He was the director of the library of Alexandria, the greatest intellectual institution of the ancient world.

Johannes Kepler was a leading astronomer of the scientific revolution. The scientific revolution is the term used to describe the emergence of modern science that took place throughout the 16th and 17th centuries.

        Before the scientific revolution, astronomy was closely tied to astrology, which is the belief that the movement of the stars and planets can be interpreted to predict the future.

      As the scientific revolution progressed, astrology increasingly came to be replaced by astronomy as a modern, legitimate science. Johannes Kepler is best known for his discovery that the orbits in which the earth and the other planets of the solar system travel around the sun are elliptical, or oval, in shape.

     He was also the first to explain correctly hoe human beings see, and demonstrated what happens to light when it enters a telescope.

      In addition, he designed an instrument that serves as the basis of the modern refractive telescope.

      Since he was such a prominent figure in the field of astronomy, a lot of spots on distant planets have been named after him such as ‘Kepler’s Crater on Mars’ and ‘The Kepler Crater,’ on the Moon.

Born in the tenth century AD, Alhazen was an Arab who was known as the first true scientist.

           He developed the scientific method of experimentation, and was the first person to formulate hypothesis and conduct verifiable experiments. A scientist, philosopher, astronomer, and mathematician, Alhazen wrote over a hundred books, more than half of which have been preserved.

        One of his most influential writings was in the field of optics. In this book, Alhazen gave experimental proof of the nature of light, the structure of the eye and the basic principles of reflection via mirror. He stated that contrary to popular belief, the eye does not send out rays to the object it sees. Rather it is the light reflected via the object that the eye beholds.

     This was a completely new and revolutionary concept. The book comprises seven volumes, and was translated into Latin.

Galileo Galilei was a groundbreaking Italian astronomer, physicist, mathematician, philosopher and inventor. He opened the eyes of the world to a new way of thinking about how the solar system works.

       For many years, scientist had believed that the solar system revolved around the earth, and that the earth was the centre of the universe.

         Galileo was the first scientist to prove that this wasn’t correct. He stated that in fact, the solar system revolved around the sun.  he also invented an improved telescope so that he could gaze far into space. He was the first to see Jupiter’s moons, and the first to realize that our moon was covered with craters. Besides inventing the improved telescopes, he also invented the compass and a thermometer. Galileo has played a major role in the scientific revolution of the 17th century.

Euclid, who was born in Alexandria in Egypt, lived more than 300 years before Christ. He is renowned to this day for his book ‘Elements’.

      For centuries, this book was one of the main texts for teaching geometry. ‘Elements’ is divided into thirteen books, which cover plain geometry, arithmetic and number theory, irrational numbers, and solid geometry.

     His books begin with basic definitions, and then go on to prove different mathematical theories. So, it is only natural that Euclid is called the father of geometry. He stressed the importance of logic and reason in teaching and understanding maths. Though some of his books are lost, at least five of them are still in existence, and are proof of his remarkable gift for mathematics.