Aristarchus of Samos

Aristarchus of Samos

Aristarchus of Samos (; Greek: Ἀρίσταρχος ὁ Σάμιος, Aristarkhos ho Samios; c. 310 – c. 230 BC) was an ancient Greek astronomer and mathematician who presented the first known heliocentric model that placed the Sun at the center of the universe, with the Earth revolving around the Sun once a year and rotating about its axis once a day. He likely moved to Alexandria, and he was a student of Strato of Lampsacus, who later became the third head of the Peripatetic School in Greece. According to Ptolemy, he observed the summer solstice of 280 BC. Along with his contributions to the heliocentric model, as reported by Vitruvius, he created two separate sundials: one that is a flat disc; and one hemispherical. Read more on Wikipedia

Since 2007, the English Wikipedia page of Aristarchus of Samos has received more than 1,410,355 page views. His biography is available in 67 different languages on Wikipedia (up from 64 in 2019). Aristarchus of Samos is the 11th most popular astronomer (down from 9th in 2019), the 46th most popular biography from Greece (down from 41st in 2019) and the most popular Greek Astronomer.

Aristarchus of Samos is most famous for his heliocentric theory, which states that the Earth revolves around the sun.