| View of Earth
rising over Moon's horizon taken from Apollo 11 spacecraft. Description: This view of the Earth rising over the Moon's horizon was taken from the Apollo 11 spacecraft. The lunar terrain pictured is in the area of Smuth's Sea on the nearside. Coordinates of the center of the terrain are 85 degrees east longitude and 3 degrees north latitude. |
Omar Khayyam (May 1048 - Dec 1122) was a Persian poet as well as a mathematician and astronomer. He was an outstanding mathematician and astronomer. His work on algebra was known throughout Europe in the Middle Ages, and he also contributed to calendar reform. Khayyam measured the length of the year as 365.24219858156 days. Two comments on this result. Firstly it shows an incredible confidence to attempt to give the result to this degree of accuracy. We know now that the length of the years is changing in the sixth decimal place over a person's lifetime. Secondly it is outstandingly accurate. For comparison the length of the year at the end of the 19th century was 365.242196 days, while today it is 365.242190 days. |
| Copernicus, Nicolaus (1473-1543),
Polish astronomer, best known for his theory that the sun is at rest near the center
of the universe and that the earth, spinning on its axis once daily, revolves annually
around the sun. See Astronomy; Solar System. |
| Galileo (1564-1642), Italian physicist and astronomer, who, with German astronomer Johannes Kepler, started the scientific revolution that flowered in the work of English physicist Sir Isaac Newton. In the history of culture, Galileo stands as a symbol of the battle against restrictions on freedom of inquiry. |
| Kepler, Johannes (1571-1630), German astronomer, born in Württemberg, who formulated and verified the three laws of planetary motion, now known as Kepler's laws. |
| The Apollo 11 commander, Neil
Armstrong, set foot on the moon on
July 20, 1969, at 10:56 p.m., EDT. Was he the first man on the moon? Was there another human there when he said "one giant step for mankind?"Yes, Neil Armstrong was with the souls & dreams of many past scientists from Omar Khayyam, Galileo Galilei, and ..... The moon has been the object of man's curiosity for perhaps a million years - as long as he has been on earth. |
Created by Cyrus Marvasti 1998 |
