THE MODELS OF THE

UNIVERSE
(EUDOXUS, ARISTOTLE, ARISTARCHUS, PTOLEMY, AND COPERNICUS)
 EUDOXUS’ MODEL
Eudoxus of Cnidus (born c. 395 – 390 B.C.), a Greek
astronomer and mathematician, was the first to propose
a model of the universe based on geometry. His model
composed of 27 concentric spheres with Earth as the
center. The Sun, the Moon, the planets, and the fixed
stars have spheres. Each sphere is attached to a larger
sphere through a pole. The rotation of the spheres on their
poles once every 24 hours accounts for the daily rotation
of the heavens. It is unclear whether Eudoxus regarded
these spheres as physical entities or just mathematical
constructions.
 ARISTOTLE’S MODEL
Aristotle (born c. 384 B.C.), a Greek philosopher and
astronomer, considered the model proposed by Eudoxus,
but he considered these spheres as physical entities. He
thought that these spheres were filled with the divine and
eternal “ether” that caused the spheres to move. He
introduced the Prime Mover, as the cause of the
movement of the spheres. His model composed of 56
spheres that guided the motion of the Sun, the Moon,
and five known planets. As the spheres move, they
maintained the same distance from the Earth. Also, they
moved at constant speeds.
 ARISTARCHUS’ MODEL
Aristarchus of Samos (born c. 310 B.C.), a Greek
astronomer and mathematician, was the first to
hypothesize that the Sun is the center of the universe.
He visualized that the Moon orbits around a spherical
Earth which then revolves around the Sun. He
believed that the stars are very far away from the
Earth as evidenced by the absence of stellar parallax
– that is, the stars do not change positions relative to
each other as the Earth revolves around the Sun.
Through geometrical models and mathematical
computations, he concluded that the Sun is 20
times farther from the Earth than the Moon is to
the Earth; the Earth is about three times larger
than the Moon; and the Sun is 20 times larger
than the Moon. He also reasoned out that smaller
spheres orbit around larger ones. Thus, the Moon
orbits around the Earth, and the Earth orbits
around the Sun.
 PTOLEMY’S MODEL
The Sun, Moon, stars, and planets were believed to
move in a uniform circular motion – the “perfect”
motion assigned to celestial bodies by the ancient
Greeks. However, observations showed otherwise. The
paths of the celestial bodies are not circular, and they
vary in distances. Babylonians even showed that some
planets exhibit a retrograde motion – a motion
opposite to that of other planets.
To explain “imperfect motions” of heavenly bodies,
Claudius Ptolemy (born c. 90 A.D.), a Greco-Egyptian
astronomer and mathematician, proposed his own
geocentric (Earth-centered) model of the universe. He
accounted for the apparent motions of the planets
around the Earth by assuming that each planet moved
around a sphere called an epicycle. The center of the
epicycle then moved on a larger sphere called a
deferent.
 THE PTOLEMAIC SYSTEM
A planet moves counter-clockwise around the
epicycle.
The epicycle’s center also moves counter-clockwise
around the center of the deferent (indicated by the
+ sign in the image).
The center of the epicycle moves around the
equant with a uniform speed.
The Earth is not exactly at the center of the deferent,
or it is eccentric (off the center). This explains why, as
observed from the Earth, the Sun or a planet moves
slowest when it is farthest from the Earth and moves
fastest when it is nearest the Earth.
The motion of the planet can be described by points
1-7 in the figure below. At point 4, the planet moves in
a retrograde (clockwise) motion. The planet is brightest
at this point because it is closest to the Earth.
 COPERNICUS’ MODEL

In 1543, Nicolaus Copernicus, a Renaissance

mathematician and astronomer born in Poland, ended
the geocentric astronomy era by publishing his work
On the Revolutions of the Heavenly Spheres wherein he
explained that the Sun, not the Earth, is the center of
the universe.
In his work, he reiterated the ancient Greek concept
that the motion of spherical heavenly bodies is uniform,
eternal, and circular. He then reasoned that because
Earth is spherical, then its motion is circular. He added
that the Earth has three different motions: daily rotation
on its axis, yearly motion around the Sun, and the
precession, or change in orientation, of its axis every 26
000 years.
He also proposed that the fixed stars are immovable.
Their apparent movement is a consequence of the
Earth’s rotation. These stars are at immeasurable
distances from the Earth, so there is no observable
parallax.
By placing the Sun at the center of the universe and the
orbits of Mercury and Venus in between the Sun and the
Earth, Copernicus’ model was able to account for the
changes in the appearances of these planets and their
retrograde motions. The need for epicycles in explaining
motions was eliminated.
 KEY POINTS
• Eudoxus’, Aristotle’s, and Ptolemy’s models have the
Earth as the center of the universe while Aristarchus’
and Copernicus’ models have the Sun as the center.
• Eudoxus’ model has 27 concentric spheres for the Sun,
Moon, planets, and the stars whose common center is
the Earth.
• Aristotle’s model of the universe is composed of 56
spheres guiding the motion of Sun, Moon and the five
known planets.
• Aristarchus said that smaller celestial bodies must orbit
the larger ones and since the Sun is much larger than
the Earth, then the Earth must orbit around the Sun.
• Ptolemaic model introduced the concepts of
epicycle, deferent, and equant to explain the
observed “imperfect” motions of the planets.
• Copernicus’ model recognized that the Earth rotates
on its axis, revolves around the Sun, and undergoes
precession.