Name: Elizabeth
Status: other
Grade: other
Location: NV
Country: N/A
Date: N/A
Question:
I am trying to find out who is historically
credited with figuring out that the seasons are the result of
earth's tilt. Was it Kepler? Newton? Galileo? Someone more
recent? Can you provide a reference?
Replies:
Dear Elizabeth,
Good question! The Greek philosopher Oenopides is credited to be
the first to calculate Earth's tilt. He can up with a value of 24
degrees, around 480 BCE. Since the correct value was 23.5 degrees,
he was pretty close. However, exactly what he meant by it may be
uncertain. I think you are correct that the time of Kepler and
Galileo is about the time that scientists understood that the
Earth's tilt caused the seasons. As soon as the Copernican system
was accepted, the Earth's tilt became far more important. I am
sorry not to be able to put a single name on your question, but I
suspect that Galileo had a lot to do with it.
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