Famous Scientists of Astronomy
Nicolaus Copernicus
• 1473-1543
• Developed the
Copernican
theory which
states that the sun
is at rest at the
center of the
universe.
Galileo Galilei
• 1564-1642
• Conducted
experiments on free
fall & telescope
• Condemned to
house arrest for
teaching the
Copernican theory.
Johannes Kepler
• 1571-1630
• Showed that a
planet moves
around the Sun
in an elliptical
orbit
Sir Isaac Newton
• 1643-1727
• Experiments
with gravity
• Three laws of
motion
John Glenn
• 1921-present
• First to reach supersonic
speeds from LA to NY
(1957)
• First American to orbit
the earth (1962)
• Senator for Ohio
• Returned to space in
1998 aboard the
Discovery
Edwin Hubble
• 1889-1953
• Showed that galaxies
are moving away from
us with a speed
proportional to their
distance.
• Used the redshift of
light to determine the
speed of movement.
Albert Einstein
• 1879-1955
• Developed the
theory of
relativity
(E=mc2)
• Urged all nations
to give up
nuclear weapons.
Stephen Hawking
• 1942-present
• Uses wheelchair
due to Lou
Gehrig’s disease.
• Discovered that
black holes emit
radiation.
Black Hole
Work Cited
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
http://www-groups.dcs.st-and.ac.uk/~history/Mathematicians/Galileo.html
http://www-groups.dcs.st-and.ac.uk/~history/Mathematicians/Copernicus.html
http://www-groups.dcs.st-and.ac.uk/~history/Mathematicians/Hawking.html
http://www-groups.dcs.st-and.ac.uk/~history/Mathematicians/Kepler.html
http://www-groups.dcs.st-and.ac.uk/~history/Mathematicians/Einstein.html
http://www-groups.dcs.st-and.ac.uk/~history/Mathematicians/Hubble.html
http://www.jsc.nasa.gov/Bios/htmlbios/glenn-j.html
http://www-groups.dcs.st-and.ac.uk/~history/Mathematicians/Newton.html
Linda Webb