Aristotle

Aristotle lived in Greece more than three hundred years before the Common Era (or Before Christ). In Aristotle's time, most people believed that many gods ruled the universe. A happy god might allow an abundant harvest, while an angry god would show his fury with storms or earthquakes. Aristotle decided he could understand the world by observing it and using logic and reason. This is why Aristotle is remembered as the Father of Natural Science.

Most people in Aristotle's time believed the earth was flat, but Aristotle concluded that the earth was round. He realized that a lunar eclipse occurred when the earth came between the sun and the moon. The Greek thinker observed that the shape of the earth's shadow was round. If the earth was flat its shadow would have a much different shape. Next, Aristotle considered the position of the North Star. The further north you journeyed, the closer the North Star seemed to move to the middle of the sky. If you traveled south of what we now call the equator, you could not see the star at all. Finally, Aristotle watched ships sailing into port. He noticed that at a distance, he could see the tops of their sails before he saw the rest of the ship. Aristotle deduced that this was because of the curvature of the earth. We know today that Aristotle's conclusions were correct because humans have traveled around the globe and we have seen pictures of it from space.

Resources:

Download this lesson as a Microsoft Word file or as an Adobe Acrobat file.

Download a lesson plan that includes the Florida Next Generation Sunshine State Standards (2011) as a Microsoft Word file or as an Adobe Acrobat file.

Listen to Mr. Dowling read this lesson. (mp3)