The geocentric system of the world

The geocentric system of the world is such a concept of the device of the universe, according to which our earth is the central body in the entire Universe, and the Sun, the Moon, and also all other stars and planets revolve around it. Earth from the earliest times was considered the center of the universe, which has a central axis and asymmetry "top-bottom". According to these ideas, the Earth is held in space by a special support, which in the early civilizations was represented by giant elephants, whales or turtles.

The geocentric system as a separate concept appeared thanks to the ancient Greek mathematician and philosopher Thales Miletus. He represented the world ocean as a support of the Earth and assumed that the Universe has a centrally symmetric structure and has no distinguished direction. For this reason, the Earth, located in the center of the Cosmos, is at rest without any support. The pupil of Anaximander of Miletus Anaximenes of Miletus somewhat distanced himself from the conclusions of Thales of Miletus, assuming that the Earth is held in the space of the Cosmos by means of compressed air.

The geocentric system for many centuries was the only correct idea of the structure of the world. Anaxogorean, Ptolemy and Parmenides shared the view of Anaximena of Miletus. What exactly the point of view was held by Democritus, history is unknown. Anaximander assured that the shape of the Earth corresponds to a cylinder whose height is three times smaller than the diameter of its base. Anaxogor, Anaximenes and Levkill argued that the Earth is flat. The first to suggest that the Earth has the form of a sphere was the ancient Greek mathematician, mystic and philosopher Pythagoras. Further to his point of view joined the Pythagoreans, Parmenides and Aristotle. Thus, the geocentric system was framed in a different context, its canonical form appeared.

In the future, the canonical form of geocentric representations was actively developed by astronomers of ancient Greece. They believed that the Earth has the form of a sphere and occupies a central position in the universe, which also has the shape of a sphere, and that the Cosmos rotates around the world axis, causing the motion of the heavenly bodies. The geocentric system was constantly improved by new discoveries. So Anaximenes had an assumption that the higher the position of the light, the greater the period of its rotation around the Earth. The order of the luminaries was arranged as follows: the Moon first followed, the Sun followed, followed by Mars, Jupiter and Saturn. With respect to Venus and Mercury there were disagreements based on the contradiction of their location. Aristotle and Plato placed Venus and Mercury behind the Sun, and Ptolemy claimed that they were between the Moon and the Sun.

Geocentric coordinate system It is used in the modern world when studying the motion of the Moon and spacecraft around the Earth, as well as to determine the geocentric positions of the celestial bodies moving around the Sun. An alternative to the geocentric theory is the heliocentric system, according to which the central celestial body is the Sun, and the Earth and other planets revolve around it.