Thomas Wright (astronomer)

Thomas Wright ( * 1711 in Byers Green, † 1786) was an English philosopher, astronomer, mathematician, instrument maker, architect and garden designer.

Work

His most important work is An original theory or new hypothesis of the universe (1750 ). In it he expressed the ( previously voiced by Giordano Bruno ) idea that the sun is not the center of the universe as constituted in the Copernican world view, but in reality, a fixed star among many. Wright rejected the assumption of a homogeneous distribution of stars and the Milky Way identified as consisting of individual stars disc in the plane of the Sun is. He also looked at the fog observed by astronomers as other galaxies.

Thomas Wright belongs to the American astronomer Willian H. Wright (1871-1959) and Frederick E. Wright (1878-1953) to the names of donors to the moon crater Wright.

Writings

• An original theory or new hypothesis of the universe. In 1750.