Agora Reaction Paper

...

However, Hypatia’s counter-argument againsts heliocentric model was that the size of the sun was not consistent all year round. According to Hypatia, the sun is observed to be larger during winter and if the heliocentric model is correct (where the earth orbits around the sun in circle) the size of the sun should be observed to be the same all year round. It was after a period of thinking and observation, Hypatia had an epiphany and thought of the concept of elliptical orbits. The concepts of elliptical orbits says that the planets does not orbits around the sun in circle but in ellipse. It was shown in the film the conception of this idea when Hypatia asked her slave to assist her by holding on to sticks on sandy ground as she tries to hypothetically test out the elliptical orbit by drawing an ellipse around the stick which her slave was holding. As such, with elliptical orbits, it explains why the sun and the earth are not always at the same distance, resulting in a “larger” sun observed during winter.

It was centuries later, in the 17th century, that Johannes Kepler (a german astronomer) came up with and publicised the laws of planetary motions. It was in Kepler’s first law of planetary motions which states that planets move in elliptical orbits. As most of historical evidence or records from Hypatia are believed to be destroyed during her time, it was unclear if Hypatia can be recognised as the first person to discover the concept of planetary motions. Thus, this creates the question whether the murder of Hypatia and destruction of her works actually slowed down human’s scientific progress especially in terms of astronomical understanding.