Names to Know

Lesson One Personalities:

Aristarchus  -  310 B.C. to ca. 230 B.C.  Aristarchus is mentioned here for his pioneering attempts to measure the sizes and distances of the sun and the moon.  Additionally, he was the first to propose a heliocentric (sun-centered) universe. 

Eratosthenes - 276 B.C. to 194 B.C.  Eratosthenes is famous for measuring the diameter of the earth.

Gabriel Mouton, a French Vicar, is given credit for originating the Metric System around 1670.

Thomas Jefferson, the third president of the United States, proposed a decimal-based measurement system in 1790.