Elementary astronomy; a beginner's text-book (1899)
Holden, Edward Singleton, 1846-1914 · New York, H. Holt and company · leaf 211
ll the explana-tions of the ancient philosophers started with the assump- 190 ASTRONOMY. tion that the Earth was the centre of the Universe andthat the Sun and all the planets revolved around it. Noone thought of questioning this proposition. It was every-where believed. Ptolemy of Alexandria in… … Fig. 124.—The System of the World according to Ptolemy. Each planet was supposed to move round the circumfer-ence of a small circle called its epicycle (see the cut), whilethe centre of the epicycle moved around a larger circlecalled the deferent. By taking the epicycles and thedeferents of…
Astronomy
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