What contributions did Aristotle and Newton make to the geocentric/heliocentric model of the solar system?

Answer 1

Hey there,

Aristotle wrote that "At the center, they [the Pythagoreans] say, is fire, and the earth is one of the stars, creating night and day by its circular motion about the centre.

Sir Isaac Newton used calculus (a new form of mathematics) to prove this theory as true.

Answer 2

Newton did much for the heliocentric theory by inventing calculus to describe accurately the motion of the planets and the three basic laws of motion.

Aristotle probably did more damage to real science than good. He put reason above experiment and just figured the earth had to be the center of the universe. He also ignored the theory of atoms and declared earth, wind , water, fire and aether (this made up all the heavenly bodies to him) were the basic elements. He may have been great at politics and ethics but he ignored most of the science of his own time and really sucked in this discipline.