Greek Astronomy It was the ancient Greek civilisation which paved the way for the development of Western science and astronomy. Greek astronomers were really just philosophers, and they pioneered the use of reason, mathematics and abstract thought to reach conclusions about the universe -which they thought was a similarly ordered and rational place. You'll have heard of most of the famous thinkers…Socrates, Plato, Pythagoras, Aristotle and Ptolemy. Click on the links to find out more about how they developed ancient Greek astronomy.