Philolaus

High school (ages 12+)
History & Culture

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Step 1 · Read the article

Open the article and read it at the level above. Then answer the questions below in your own words.

https://smallwhale.org/articles/philolaus

Write what each word means, using the article.

Do not copy the article. Write two things you learned, the way you would explain them to a friend.

Answers below are taken from the article’s stored facts, so they match what the student read.

1. When was Philolaus born?Circa 470 BC
2. Where was Philolaus born?A Greek colony in Italy (likely Croton)
3. What is the career?Prominent Pythagorean philosopher; potentially the successor to Pythagoras
4. What is the historical context?Pre-Socratic philosopher, a key figure in the Pythagorean school
5. Who was Philolaus?Philolaus was a Greek philosopher from the Pythagorean school, born around 470 BC in a Southern Italian colony. He studied numbers and the nature of the universe.
6. What was Philolaus's idea about the center of the universe?He said the universe had a Central Fire, an invisible bright core. The Earth, Sun, Moon and planets all moved around this fire.

Pythagorean School: An ancient Greek philosophical and religious movement emphasizing mathematics, mysticism, and the transmigration of souls.
Geocentrism: The astronomical model in which the Earth is assumed to be the center of the universe.
Heliocentrism: The astronomical model in which the Earth and planets revolve around the Sun.
Cosmology: The branch of astronomy concerned with the origin, evolution, and fundamental properties of the universe.