Aristarchus of Samos

Now, Copernicus was not actually the first to recognize that the earth orbits the sun.

That honor belongs to Aristarchus, who was a Greek astronomer who lived before the time of Christ's earthly ministry.

Aristarchus used geometry to calculate the approximate size of the moon and of the sun, and he realized the sun was much bigger than the earth.

And so he figured it would be more logical for the small earth to orbit the big sun than vice versa, and of course he was right.

But unfortunately, most people did not believe him at the time.

Looking at the lovely garden landscape around her, Celeste Wolver felt that in a moment the shrubby hills would begin to roll like waves, the charmingly aimless paths twist like snakes and sink in the green sea, the sparsely placed skyscrapers dissolve into the misty clouds they pierced.

People must have felt like this, she thought, when Aristarchus first hinted and Copernicus told them that the solid earth under their feet was falling dizzily through space.

Only it's worse for us, because they couldn't see that anything had changed.

We can.

Looking at the lovely garden landscape around her, Celeste Wolver felt that in a moment the shrubby hills would begin to roll like waves, the charmingly aimless paths twist like snakes and sink in the green sea, the sparsely placed skyscrapers dissolve into the misty clouds they pierced.

People must have felt like this, she thought, when Aristarchus first hinted and Copernicus told them that the solid earth under their feet was falling dizzily through space, only it's worse for us, because they couldn't see that anything had changed.

We can.

You need something to cling to, she heard Madge say.

Looking at the lovely garden landscape around her, Celeste Wolver felt that in a moment the shrubby hills would begin to roll like waves, the charmingly aimless paths twist like snakes and sink in the green sea, the sparsely placed skyscrapers dissolve into the misty clouds they pierced.

People must have felt like this, she thought, when Aristarchus first hinted and Copernicus told them that the solid Earth under their feet was falling dizzily through space.

Only it's worse for us, because they couldn't see that anything had changed.

We can.

Looking at the lovely garden landscape around her, Celeste Wolver felt that in a moment the shrubby hills would begin to roll like waves, the charmingly aimless paths twist like snakes and sink in the green sea, the sparsely placed skyscrapers dissolve into the misty clouds they pierced.

People must have felt like this, she thought, when Aristarchus first hinted and Copernicus told them that the solid earth under their feet was falling dizzily through space, only it's worse for us, because they couldn't see that anything had changed.

We can.

You need something to cling to, she heard Madge say.

Looking at the lovely garden landscape around her, Celeste Wolver felt that in a moment the shrubby hills would begin to roll like waves, the charmingly aimless paths twist like snakes and sink in the green sea, the sparsely placed skyscrapers dissolve into the misty clouds they pierced.

"People must have felt like this," she thought, "when Aristarchus first hinted and Copernicus told them that the solid Earth under their feet was falling dizzily through space.

Only it's worse for us, because they couldn't see that anything had changed.

We can." "You need something to cling to," she heard Madge say.

Looking at the lovely garden landscape around her, Celeste Wolver felt that in a moment the shrubby hills would begin to roll like waves, the charmingly aimless paths twist like snakes and sink in the green sea, the sparsely placed skyscrapers dissolve into the misty clouds they pierced.

People must have felt like this, she thought, when Aristarchus first hinted and Copernicus told them that the solid earth under their feet was falling dizzily through space, only it's worse for us, because they couldn't see that anything had changed.

We can.

You need something to cling to, she heard Madge say.

its circumference.

Where a thousand years ahead of his time, Aristarchus suggested that the Earth moved around the Sun, and where the greatest minds and most extraordinary thinkers began to map their way through the stars.

Now, I've got to confess that Alexandria has got a particular allure for me for one reason.

It's a rather wonderful and mysterious woman called Hypatia.