Question

How did the renaissance rediscovery of the work of Egyptian astronomer Ptolemy help start the scientific revolution

Answer 1

When the scientists were observing the systems founded and developed by Ptolemy, they observed that they no longer seemed to work nor applicable. This led to the scientists looking for new theories, consequentially igniting the scientific revolution years after with new discoveries.

Answer 2

The Ptolemaic or geocentric model, which had been studied by the Egyptian astronomer Ptolemy, was overturn during the Reinaissance, when the heliocentric model was promoted and started to be generally accepted.

The geocentric model stated that all astronomical objects: the sun, the moon, the stars, and planets all orbited around the Earth. In opposition, the heliocentric model states that the Earth and other bodies are orbiting around the Sun, which is the center of the Solar System.

After questioning the pre-established and generally accepted theory, the development of a mathematical model of the heliocentric system was done in the 16th century, during the Renaissance, by the mathematican, astronomer and also priest Nicolaus Copernicus. It led to the denominated Copernican revolution, which used the scientific method to overturn a previous wrong conception of the universe.