Everything about Seleucus Of Seleucia totally explained
Seleucus (or
Seleukos)
of Seleucia (born
c. 190 BC,
fl. 150s BC) was a Hellenistic
Babylonian astronomer from the
Seleucia region of
Anatolia who supported the
heliocentric theory of planetary motion. Seleucus is known from the writings of
Plutarch,
Strabo and
Aetius. He was born in
Seleucia on the Tigris in
Babylonia.
Teaching around
150 BC, he agreed with the
heliocentric theory of
Aristarchus of Samos, which stated that the
Earth rotated around its own axis which in turn revolved around the
Sun. According to
Plutarch, Seleucus was the first to prove the heliocentric system through
reasoning, but it isn't known what arguments he used.
Seleucus
Seleucus was Greek in origin and education, who continued the tradition of hellenistic science that flourished from the time of Alexander the Great in all his empire. He is one of many Seleucian and Babylonian astronomers of Greek origin and culture who practiced astronomy in the states created after the death of Alexander.
Tides
According to
Lucio Russo, Seleucus' arguments for a heliocentric theory were probably related to the phenomenon of
tides. Seleucus correctly theorized that
tides were caused by the
Moon, although he believed that the interaction was mediated by the
pneuma. He noted that the tides varied in time and strength in different parts of the world.
According to
Strabo (1.1.9), Seleucus was the first to state that the
tides are due to the attraction of the Moon, and that the height of the tides depends on the Moon's position relative to the Sun.
Computational model
According to
Bartel Leendert van der Waerden, Seleucus may have proved the heliocentric theory by determining the constants of a
geometric model for the heliocentric theory and by developing methods to compute planetary positions using this model. He may have used
trigonometric methods that were available in his time, as he was a contemporary of
Hipparchus.. Since the time of Heraclides of Pontus or Heraclides Ponticus (387 BC-312 BC) the inner planets Mercury and Venus are named at times solar planets, as they don't leave the Sun for more than a certain angle.
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