WORLD HISTORY

Detailed explanation-1: -The Indian astronomer-mathematician Aryabhata ( 476– 550), in his magnum opus Aryabhatiya, propounded a heliocentric model in which the Earth was taken to be spinning on its axis and the periods of the planets were given with respect to a stationary Sun.

Detailed explanation-2: -Aryabhatta discovered world is round, rotates on axis much before Copernicus: Rajnath. Urging the younger generation to be mindful of the country’s glorious history, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh said on Saturday that Aryabhatta had discovered that the earth is round and rotates on an axis much before Copernicus.

Detailed explanation-3: -This geocentric (Earth-centered) model of the solar system was the most popular theory of the solar system’s organization among the Greek philosophers, although it would be standardized and refined by a later astronomer, Ptolemy.

Detailed explanation-4: -The Indian astronomers made accurate discoveries on earth’s rotation and direction of rotation; centuries before, European astronomers came up with such predictions explaining concepts of Earth’s rotation.

Detailed explanation-5: -Aristotle, who lived from 384 to 322 BC, believed the Earth was round. He thought Earth was the center of the universe and that the Sun, Moon, planets, and all the fixed stars revolved around it. Aristotle’s ideas were widely accepted by the Greeks of his time.

Detailed explanation-6: -Under the Greek astronomical tradition, India contributed to giving the name of the days to the week and the precise calculation of the length of a year. Rigveda, written approximately from 1700 to 1100 BC, has astronomical texts which were of interest to the Greek astronomers.