Eclipses
Anaxagoras
Anaxagoras was a pre-Socratic Greek philosopher. Most of his theories involved the creation of the cosmos and the make-up of celestial bodies. His most accurate, and probably most important theory involved the explanation of how eclipses occur.
How do eclipses occur?
Total Lunar Eclipse
Eclipses occur based on Earth's position around the sun and the position of the moon around the Earth. There are two types of eclipses: lunar and solar. A lunar eclipse occurs when the moon, sun and earth are aligned, with the Earth between the sun and moon. This is always during a full moon. The earth refracts the light from the sun, causing only some of it to reach the moon. This eclipse lasts for several hours, and can be seen by all people on the night side of the Earth. A solar eclipse occurs when the moon, sun, and earth are aligned, with the moon between the sun and the Earth. The moon blocks the light from the sun from reaching Earth. This looks like a black circle surrounded by a ring of light. Although this is what most people think of when they hear the word "eclipse", they are more rare than lunar eclipses, and last for only minutes. They can only be seen by a very small part of the world.
Modern Comparison- Avatar: The Last Airbender
Avatar: The Last Airbender is a TV show about a world where certain people can control one of the four elements (known as bending). Most benders can only bend one element: Water, Earth, Fire, or Air. However, one person alive, known as the Avatar, can bend all four elements. The Avatar is reincarnated from generation to generation. The Avatar in the series, Aang, is a young 12-year-old boy who is trying to defeat the Fire Nation, a nation of fire-benders that has almost completed a conquest of all four nations. With the help of his friends, Sokka and Katara, he finds a way to attack the Fire Nation when their bending powers are compromised: during a solar eclipse. Fire-benders draw their power from the sun, and when the sun is blocked out, their bending powers fade. However, the three friends realize that they will have a small window of oppurtunity, because of how short the solar eclipse really is. Without Anaxagoras' theory on eclipses, this idea wouldn't have been incorporated into the storyline of this TV show. Anaxagoras was the first to discover that the moon blocked the light from the sun during a solar eclipse. He also discovered that these eclipses last for a short amount of time. The entire concept for this story arc was drawn from Anaxagoras's discovery on the occurence of solar eclipses. Had eclipses not been correctly explained by Anaxagoras, Aang would not have been able to target the Fire Nation on their day of weakness, because that day would not have existed! Show creators Bryan Konietzko and Michael Dimartino used this theory, dating all the way back to the Classical period, as an important factor in their story.