<P> In 499 CE , the Indian astronomer Aryabhata wrote that the spherical earth rotates about its axis daily , and that the apparent movement of the stars is a relative motion caused by the rotation of the Earth . He provided the following analogy : `` Just as a man in a boat going in one direction sees the stationary things on the bank as moving in the opposite direction , in the same way to a man at Lanka the fixed stars appear to be going westward . '' </P>
<P> In 499 CE , the Indian astronomer Aryabhata wrote that the spherical earth rotates about its axis daily , and that the apparent movement of the stars is a relative motion caused by the rotation of the Earth . He provided the following analogy : `` Just as a man in a boat going in one direction sees the stationary things on the bank as moving in the opposite direction , in the same way to a man at Lanka the fixed stars appear to be going westward . '' </P>
who discovered that the earth rotates on an axis
who discovered that the earth rotates on an axis
Aryabhata
Aryabhata