the scene dissolves to ancient alexandria, egypt. we see the great library and the pharos lighthouse. in a courtyard, next to a pool surrounded by torches, we see the 2nd century astronomer claudius ptolemy adjusting an armillary sphere to chart star positions. behind ptolemy is a small table on which rests a scroll. we approach the scroll and see that it depicts a geocentric model of the universe. paintings on the scroll morph into 3d representations of the sun, earth, and planets, which hover above the scroll and rotate within a complex system of crystalline spheres, illustrating the earth-centered model of the universe that persisted until the renaissance.