what is the geocentric era in astronomy all about?

Answer 1

Play TOE-'s answer is essentially the best one and I would be hard pressed to put it more plainly, however I take exception to his final statement that the geocentric era of astronomy is over.

We still use the geocentric model quite often in the form of planetariums.

And although the Church did make some serious goofs leading into the dark ages, they have come around. (give credit where credit is due)

But with respect to your question, "geocentric" means earth-centered. And as previously mentioned, many of those who came before the Renaissance believed that the earth was at the center of the universe and that the sun, moon and planets all revolved around the earth.

Answer 2

In about 400 BC Socrates applied logical thinking to the problem of earths creation and the reality of god. It became very obvious that the Greek gods failed to exist as envisioned. He was forced to drink hemlock for proving this.
Plato his student was prevented from teaching or studying in Athens until he could find a way to undo the harm of his teacher, and set off to learn from all the great teachers of the ancients. With Archimedes mathematics and Egyptian history and Mesopotamian astronomy he found an answer. The world was not flat, it was a sphere, a perfect sphere.

The world was a sphere at the center of the universe, but the Planets and Stars moved around it in perfect circles. The true perfection of the circular paths made it obvious it was created with design and thought .. therefore is a proof of God, the one true god. Plato was welcomed back to Athens and got to open the great Academy, the longest lasting university ever.

Plato's rather simple planetary system model was amended by Aristotle and then Ptolemy to create the Ptolemaic model of the heavens and earth.
Egyptian Eratosthenes who lived in Alexandria,calculated that the Earth's radius is approximately 6,300 kilometers in the 3rd century BC using the geometry taught by Plato's Academy. This figure is surprisingly accurate and really quite simple to calculate. All seemed to point to the conclusion of a perfect sphere geometry of heaven ...

The Christian church took over in 300 AD and began their faith based on the Plato proof but soon science caught the error when more accurate observations showed an elliptical not circular path for planets. The Church shut down the libraries and universities and closed the Academy. Europe entered the dark ages.

Trade with the mid east and China brought new knowledge to Europe. Soon the invention of the telescope made with Chinese Glass was letting observers realize that the Ptolemaic model needed revised and Nicolaus Copernicus presented a sun centered model that made more sense. With the fall of the old model OOOPS the proof of God also disappeared, and this caused the church to brand Galileo Galilei a heretic for proving and teaching the new model. He recanted and got house arrest for the balance of his life (rather than death by torture).

It was too late for the church and knowledge is hard to stop. The the geocentric era in astronomy was over.

Answer 3

In the time of galileo Galilei and Johannes Kepler, people believved the earth was the center of the Universe.
Galileo Galilei was the first to doubt that theory, and therefor was considered blasphemous and almost put to death bu the church.
This era (around 1600 AD) is referred to as the geocentric era.

Answer 4

A very long time ago it was believed that Earth was the center of the universe.