The origins of today's cosmology began with the observation in the early 1500s by Nicolaus Copernicus that the Earth revolves around the Sun.
The next step was the discovery in the late 1600s by Isaac Newton that objects in space behaved according to the same laws of physics as objects on Earth..
Hawking was the first to set out a theory of cosmology explained by a union of the general theory of relativity and quantum mechanics.
He was a vigorous supporter of the many-worlds interpretation of quantum mechanics.
Also read: The concept of Hawking radiation from black holes..
Persian astronomer Abd al-Rahman al-Sufi (903–986), known as Azophi to Westerners, made the first known observation of a group of stars outside of the Milky Way, the Andromeda galaxy.
Dutch scientist Christiaan Huygens (1629–1695) proposed the earliest theory about the nature of light, a phenomenon that puzzled scientists for hundreds of years.
His improvements on the telescope allowed him to make the first observations of Saturn's rings and to discover its largest moon, Titan.
Developing improved telescopes, Huygens was able to.
In ancient Greece, astronomer and mathematician Claudius Ptolemy (A.D. 90–168) set up a model of the solar systemin which the sun, stars, and other planets revolved around Earth.
Known as the Ptolemaic system, it remained in place for hundreds of years, though it turned out to be flat wrong.
According to NASA, "Ptolemy represents the epitome of kno.
When most people believed the world was flat, the notable Greek mathematician, astronomer and geographer Eratosthenes (276–195 B.C.) used the sun to measure the size of the round Earth, according to NASA.
His measurement of 24,660 miles (39,690 kilometers) was only 211 miles (340 km) off the true measurement.
Born in Italy, Galileo Galilei(1564–1642) is often credited with the creation of the optical telescope, though in truth he improved on existing models.
According to the Rice University's Galileo Project, "Galileo made his first telescope in 1609, modeled after telescopes produced in other parts of Europe that could magnify objects three times.
He c.
Italian astronomer Giovanni Cassini(1625–1712) measured how long it took the planets Jupiter and Mars to rotate.
He also discovered four moons of Saturn and the gap in the planet's rings.
When NASA launched a satellite to orbit Saturn and its moons in 1997, it was fittingly dubbed Cassini.
These famous astronomers bettered our understanding of the universe.
Throughout human history, astronomers have helped people understand what they see in the night sky.
These famous astronomers — many of them great scientists who mastered many fields — explained space phenomena with varying degrees of accuracy.
English astronomer Sir Isaac Newton (1643–1727) is most famous for his work on forces, specifically gravity.
Building on the work of those who had gone before him — he is quoted as saying, "If I have seen further, it is by standing upon the shoulders of giants" — he calculated three laws describing the motion of forces between objects, known today .
Using detailed measurements of the path of planets kept by Danish astronomer Tycho Brahe, Johannes Kepler (1571–1630) determined that planets traveled around the sun not in circles, as Copernicus had thought, but in ellipses.
In so doing, he calculated three lawsinvolving the motions of planets that astronomers still use in calculations today.
Howe.
In 16th century Poland, astronomer Nicolaus Copernicus (1473–1543) proposed a model of the solar system that involved the Earth revolving around the sun, according to NASA.
The model wasn't completely correct, as astronomers of the time struggled with the backwards path Marssometimes took, but it eventually changed the way many scientists viewed th.
Lived 1942 – 2018.
Stephen Hawking was a theoretical physicist and cosmologist, widely considered to be one of the greatest scientists of his time.
He was the first scientist to devise a cosmology that married the general theory of relativity and quantum mechanics, and he made huge contributions to our understanding of black holes.
By far, the top cosmological discovery of the 21st century.
So far, at least.
Besides confirming that gravity waves really do exist (thereby further validating general relativity), this discovery provides as sure a sign as you can get that inflation instantly after the Big Bang set the stage for the future evolution of the cosmos.
This is a list of people who have made noteworthy contributions to cosmology (the study of the history and large-scale structure of the universe) and their cosmological achievements Hannes Alfvén (1908–1995) theorized that galactic magnetic fields could be generated by plasma currents .
