Pablo Riofrio

11th Grade
AP World History
December 2012
DBQ: Earth and Space

Question: Examine the following documents and contrast, compare and analyze the different
ideas about the earth's position in relation to the sun. How could different religious and cultural
aspects affected these theories? What additional sources could be used to support your thesis?

Historical background: Throughout history, there has been a debate concerning the position and
role of the Earth in the solar system. The two main theories are heliocentrism and geocentrism.
Heliocentrism is the theory that the Earth is not at the centre of the solar system, and that it
continuously revolves around the sun whilst spinning on its own axis. Geocentrism, on the other
hand, is the theory that the Earth is at the centre of the solar system, and that the other planets
and the sun revolve around the Earth. In antiquity, this was the theory that was most commonly
accepted, and the most known model of this system is the Ptolemaic model. Heliocentrism does
not gain much acceptance up until later in history, although there were ideas of this system
developed in Ancient Greece. The theory's most famous model is the one proposed by Galileo
Galilei.

Document 1

You King Gelon are aware the 'universe' is the name given by most astronomers to the sphere the center of which is the
center of the Earth, while its radius is equal to the straight line between the center of the Sun and the center of the
Earth. This is the common account as you have heard from astronomers. But Aristarchus has brought out a book
consisting of certain hypotheses, wherein it appears, as a consequence of the assumptions made, that the universe is
many times greater than the 'universe' just mentioned. His hypotheses are that the xed stars and the Sun remain
unmoved, that the Earth revolves about the Sun on the circumference of a circle, the Sun lying in the middle of the orbit,
and that the sphere of xed stars, situated about the same center as the Sun, is so great that the circle in which he
supposes the Earth to revolve bears such a proportion to the distance of the xed stars as the center of the sphere bears
to its surface.

Aristarchus's theory in The Sand Reckoner by Archimedes, III Century BCE.


Document 2
Figure of the heavenly bodies illustration of the Ptolemaic Model, by Portuguese cartographer Bartolomeu
Velho, XVI Century ACE.


Document 3
Even though the Earth is described as a bed in this verse, in the other verse it is portrayed as a sphere. Spherical earth is
revolving around the Sun. If questioned "How people and objects can stand on the Earth if the Earth, as a sphere,
revolving around the Sun?", my answer will be that the Earth is such a huge sphere where at surfaces appear."
Excerpt of Tafsir al-Kabir by Fakhr al-Din al-Razi, XII Century CE.


Document 4

Say among the nations, "The Lord reigns! Yea, the world is established, it shall never be moved; he will judge the peoples
with equity."
Psalms 96:10


Document 5


Illustration of the Copernican system, by Andreas Cellarius,





Document 6
In my studies of astronomy and philosophy I hold this opinion about the universe, that the Sun remains xed in the
centre of the circle of heavenly bodies, without changing its place; and the Earth, turning upon itself, moves round the
Sun.
Letter to Cristina di Lorena, Grand Duchess of Tuscany, Galileo Galilei, 1615



Document 7



Le livre du Ciel et du Monde, By Nicole Oresme, 1377 CE





Document 8

Orbits of the Inner solar system, Image by NASA, 2000

















Additional Documents
The Divine Comedy
The Dresden Codex
revolutionibus orbium coelestium Copernicus.


References
Archimedes. (n.d.). The Sand Reckoner. russellcottrell.com. Retrieved December 17, 2012, from
http://www.russellcottrell.com/greek/sandreckoner.htm
Cellarius, A. (n.d.). Illustration of the Copernican System. Markenagentur, Marken-Agentur,
Markenkreation, Markenentwicklung, Copernicus Consulting: Marken, Trademarks, Brands,
Markenrecht, Naming, Branding, trademark-attorney. Retrieved December 18, 2012, from http://
www.solectra.com/copernicus2.htm
al-Din al-Razi. (n.d.). Tafsir al-Kabir (Excerpt). Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. Retrieved
December 17, 2012, from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/
Heliocentrism#Medieval_Iranian_and_Islamic_world
Galilei, G. (n.d.). Letter to Cristina di Lorena, Grand Duchess of Tuscany. heliocentric model
quotes. Retrieved December 17, 2012, from http://todayinsci.com/QuotationsCategories/H_Cat/
HeliocentricModel-Quotations.htm
NASA. (n.d.). The Solar Sytem. NASA Science. Retrieved December 18, 2012, from http://
science.nasa.gov/science-news/science-at-nasa/2000/ast28jul_1m/
Oresme, N. (n.d.). Livre du ciel et du monde. Luminarium: Anthology of English Literature.
Retrieved December 18, 2012, from http://www.luminarium.org/encyclopedia/oresme.htm
Psalm 96:10 . (n.d.). Bible Study Tools Online # Verses, Commentaries, Concordances,
Verses, Parallel Versions. Retrieved December 17, 2012, from http://www.biblestudytools.com/
psalms/96-10-compare.html
Velho, B. (n.d.). Figure of the heavenly bodies. Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. Retrieved
December 17, 2012, from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Bartolomeu_Velho_1568.jpg
geocentric versus heliocentric. (n.d.). Libra Rising. Retrieved December 18, 2012, from http://
www.librarising.com/astrology/fwa/geohelio.html














Question: Examine the following documents and contrast, compare and analyze the different
ideas about the earth's position in relation to the sun. How could different religious and cultural
aspects affected these theories? What additional sources could be used to support your thesis?
Essay:

Based on the documents read, there have been several theories that have attempted to
describe the Sun's and Earth's position. Heliocentrism is one of these theories and is evidenced
by documents 1, 3, 5, 6 and 8. The opposing theory, geocentrism is supported by documents 2, 4,
7. These hypotheses about the sun's and earth's position seem to be inuenced by religious and
social aspects of the time period such as the inuence of Christianity on the fourth document.
Although the heliocentric model's widespread acceptance only came a few centuries ago,
this theory was proposed in Ancient Greece, by Aristarchus. We can see his hypothesis in
document one, when Archimedes writes: " His hypotheses are that the xed stars and the Sun remain unmoved,
that the Earth revolves about the Sun on the circumference of a circle, the Sun lying in the middle of the orbit". This is
clearly a heliocentric hypothesis. Also, the author's condent point of view shows that
Archimedes believes in this hypothesis. Additionally Archimedes point of view shows an
absence of religious inuence there is no mention of any deity, it is a completely secular
hypothesis. Another heliocentric model was proposed by Fakhr al-Din al-Razi in his work named
Tafsir al-Kabir (document 3). He writes "How people and objects can stand on the Earth if the Earth, as a sphere,
revolving around the Sun?". An additional source that also proposes a heliocentric theory is the Dresden
Codex, a Mayan collection of calculations. Some of the various calculations, hypothesize the fact
that the earth orbited the sun.
The geocentric model was the most common hypothesis in Europe, especially during the
Middle Ages. The work of art done by Nicole Orseme (document 7) is a depiction of a geocentric
model. The authors point of view is clearly a religious one, as evidenced by the image of god at
the top of the orbits. This presumably represents heaven. Another document that supports the
geocentric theory is the image of the heavenly bodies by Bartolomeu Velho (document 2). The
artist's point of view is also a religious one, god is also present in the painting, and the most
emphasis is on the earth and on heaven. This is a way to show the importance of god. A psalm
(document 4) from the bible also proposes a geocentric model. An additional source that also
proposes the theory of geocentrism is Dantes Divine Comedy. In the last division of the poem,
Paradiso Dante describes the earth as being surrounded by 8 celestial spheres (planets) and the
last sphere which is heaven. Dantes point of view is like in the previous mentioned documents
religious, God and heaven are prominent in the writing. All three documents and the additional
source are religious, or have religious elements in them. This shows how religion, specically
the Christian religion inuences the ideas of the earth and sun's position. A geocentric model is
"perfect" for Christianity. It emphasizes that god is the most important. This same idea cannot be
applied to heliocentrism because in the model, earth is just a planet, not the center of the solar
system.
The next documents that support the heliocentric model all share the characteristic that
they are during or after the Copernican Revolution. Galileos letter to the Duchess of Tuscany
(document 6) supports this theory. Galileos point of view is similar to the other older versions of
the heliocentric model, in that the views seem religion free. Galileo also seems adamant about
his theory. The next document (5) that supports the heliocentric hypothesis, is Cellariuss
illustration of the Copernican system. An additional document that also supports the heliocentric
model is Copernicus's own book, the Revolutionibus Orbium Coelestium. This writing describes
Copernicuss revolutionary, and rather heretic idea for the time period. He writes that the sun is
situated at the center of the universe, and spheres (planets) rotate around the sun. Document 8,
Nasas depiction of the solar system clearly supports the theory of heliocentrism, and also
provides scientic evidence to practically prove this model.
Several theories about the suns and Earths position have been proposed. The two
theories that are mentioned in this set of documents are the geocentric model, supported by
documents 2, 4, 7 and Dantes divine comedy, and the heliocentric model, supported by
documents 1, 3, 5, 6, 8, the Dresden Codex and Revolutionibus Orbium Coelestium. It is
important to point out that the religions and customs of each time period affected these theories,
especially those concerning geocentrism. To conclude, the documents show that the theory of
geocentrism is more compatible with a religion such as Christianity. This is because In these
models the importance of god and heaven are much more accentuated than in the Heliocentric
Model, which supports that Earth is at the center of the universe. The heliocentric model, on the
other hand depicts the Earth as any other planet.