What people believed
before 16th century.
Long time before 16th century, most of people in
the world thought
earth was the center
of the universe. Other planets, such as sun
and other stars, orbit around the Earth. This is
called Geocentric Model, developed by a Greek
philosopher, Claudius Ptolem.
Geocentric Model
Supported by:
At that time, the Geocentric Model was
supported by two common notions. First,
people saw the saw the Sun rising from the east of earth
and went down from the west of earth. So did the moon.
People simply thought the Sun and the Moon orbited
around the Earth. Second, people standing on the earth
thought the earth was stable and not moving at all.
According to these two common ideas, people believed in
and supported the Geocentric Model.
Opposed by:
At the same time, the Geocentric Model and
Ptolemaic system were opposed by some
scientists. They thought the Earth was not the
center of the Universe, but the Sun. In fact,
Earth is moving every second. Their
thoughts ware supported by
Copernicus’s heliocentric model.
Proof of Sun-centered
system
Copernicus states that the sun is the
center of the solar system. He demonstrated
that it is almost impossible to explain the paths of the
planets across the sky with the earth-centered solar
system. Planets often changed their directions or
disappeared. However if the sun is placed in the
center of the solar system, which the earth and all
other planets moving around the sun at different
distances from the sun, the observed paths can be
explained with simple mathematics.
Heliocentric Model
The order of solar system
Copernicus also announced the order of the
planets around the sun is Mercury, Venus, Earth
and Moon, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, and the fixed
stars.
Why people won’t fall off
from Earth!!!
Another important explanation or proof of suncentered solar system is that even though the
Earth is moving around the sun, we do not fall
off from the earth since human beings also
rotate with the same speed of the Earth’s
natural rotation around the sun.
Development
After Nicolaus Copernicus, heliocentrism has
been further developed by Johannes Kepler,
Galileo Galilei, and Sir Isaac Newton, eventually
resulted in the suspension of the Catholic
Church's bans on works that support the
heliocentric model in 1757.
Impact
Copernicus's heliocentrism has a remarkable impact on
the Catholic Church, where used to be the grave for
innovations of science. As the heliocentric model
was proven right and gradually accepted by
the public, the church lost its control over
much of the community, specially the
scientific field. In other words, he showed people the
possibilities that religion could be wrong about certain
truths of our world and encouraged them to rediscover it
in new ways.
Contribution
It is so hard to ignore the importance of
Copernicus’s work. By placing the Sun at the center
of the Solar System instead of the Earth, he
challenged people's common perception, resisted
the Church doctrine, and motivated a science
revolution, providing the world filled with God,
nature and superstition with a sobering view
of the real relationship between the universe
and human beings.
In All,
Copernicus's heliocentric theory not only
contributes to the science world but also has a
significant influence on society and human
development.
Citation:
http://www.universetoday.com/32607/geocentric-model/
http://csep10.phys.utk.edu/astr161/lect/retrograde/aristotle.html
http://www.astronomyfactbook.com/timelines/heliocentrism.htm
http://www.brighthub.com/science/space/articles/38147.aspx
http://abyss.uoregon.edu/~js/ast123/lectures/lec02.html
http://physics.ucr.edu/~wudka/Physics7/Notes_www/node41.html
http://www.bluffton.edu/~bergerd/NSC_111/science3.html
http://physics.ucr.edu/~wudka/Physics7/Notes_www/node41.html
Thank you!!!