ASTRONOMER

Life
Heraclides was born in Heraclea on the Black Sea. He was a disciple of Plato and Aristotle, and was familiar with the work of the Pythagoreans, especially Hecphantus and Icetas. After many years spent in Athens he returned to Heraclea to found his own school. He is cited by Diogenes Laertius.


Work
Heraclides posited a mixed geo-heliocentric system, according to which the Sun, the Moon and some of the planets revolved around the Earth, while the planets Mercury and Venus revolved around the sun. He also taught that the earth revolves about its own axis once every 24 hours. He wrote a great many books, only fragments of which survive. These include:

"On nature"

"On Heaven and Hades"

"On the Pythagoreans"

"On discoveries"

"On physical repulsion"

"Zoroaster"

Tycho Brahe, the famous Danish astronomer (1564-1601), based his work on Heraclides' geo-heliocentric system.