Tom Dowdle
The heliocentric theory
The heliocentric theory was first introduced to the world by a Polish astronomer
named Nicolaus Copernicus. Copernicus published his views on the heliocentric theory
in his book Commentariolus, in 1514, which sparked the time period now known as the
Copernican Revolution. Heliocentrism was proven true by the discoveries of Galileo,
Kepler, and Newton; through their efforts to prove the validity of the heliocentric theory
people began to find truth in science through experimentation rather than religion with
no proof. Many scientists went through great ordeals for their scientific beliefs, thus
making the heliocentric theory the most electrifying idea in human history. Ancient
people's believed in Gods and deities for causes to nature and the unexplained.
Once the fourth century BC rolled around, people began to see astronomical
phenomena; as natural compound products of simple operations repeated in perpetuity
rather than the actions of Gods. Greeks did not revere celestial bodies very strongly in
their religion, despite having deities for the Sun and Moon. Different people’s beliefs
varied greatly in ancient times. Different countries progressed in thought at different
speeds. During the Renaissance, many began to toss aside medieval preoccupations
with supernatural forces and turned to secular concerns; like fame. With the Age of
Discovery, people began to think for themselves and ponder truths through philosophy,
science, astronomy, astrology, etc. Philosophers' minds began to turn; the human mind
was finally awake. Plato, a famous Greek philosopher, believed stars were Gods that
the creator gave life to. This view was very influential and proved to be sort of a religion
for intellectual idealists, no longer for the populace.
At the time, the thought of heavenly bodies being divine, and stars being eternal
objects in unchanging motion were common knowledge. Thinking otherwise was
considered Atheistic. Fellow famous Renaissance man, and Plato's pupil, Aristotle, was
also a very important figure. Born in Stagira in 384, Aristotle is regarded as the most
influential ancient philosopher of the sciences. Aristotle refined Callippus' geometrical
and spherical concepts, and developed the geocentric theory, which was believed for
two thousand years. Aristotle believed that the sphere is the most perfect figure
because when rotated to any diameter it occupies the same space; and that circular
motions area sign of perfection, which is why Heaven is considered divine. The
spherical nature of the Earth and Universe according to Aristotle is the natural
movement of Earthly matter from all places downwards, to a center, around which a
sphere of matter will build up. Only circular motion is capable of endless repetition
without a reversal of direction, and rotary motion is prior to linear because what is
external, or at least could have always existed, is prior, or at least potentially prior, to
what is not.; In Aristotle's book De Caelo, he speaks of the celestial sphere, the Earth's
center being the same shape, and dismissing the idea of the Earth rotating at the center
of the universe. He also dismisses the idea of an orbital motion of the Earth.
Contradicting Aristotle, Heracleides, an astronomer, believed in the rotation of
the Earth on its axis and is known to be the earliest astronomer to stand by it. He was
thought to have taken the first step in "Copernicanism." It is believed in the years to
follow that Copernicus was said to have mentioned Heracleides' name in this
connection. Aristarchus of Samos was the first astronomer to clearly put forth a true
sun-centered theory, learned from Archimedes. Aristarchus' hypotheses are that the
fixed stars and the Sun are stationary, that the Earth is carried in a circular orbit around
the Sun, which lies in the middle of its orbit, and that the spheres of fixed stars, having
the same center as the Sun, is so great in extent that the circle on which the Earth is
supposedly carried is in the same ratio to the distance of the sphere has to its surface. If
Aristarchus did believe in heliocentrism, he still could not prove the differences in the
Earth's motion and seasons, which explains its failure to be accepted. Although
scientists such as Eudoxus, Callippus, and Aristotle all came up with Earth-centered
systems based by providing a center for all motions, Ptolemy was triumphant for he was
able to explain sphere sizes and achieved a single system, which was not done by the
others. When Ptolemy achieved a single system, the sizes of the shells accommodating
maximum and minimum planetary distances were settled on the principle that there
must be no void, no wasted space, between them. His misconception was he believed
that if the Earth was not fixed entirely, it would shatter, even though Copernicus reveals
that planets' distances from Earth and motions vary, and that the Earth endlessly
repeats in motion. Despite the Catholic Church adopting Ptolemy's and Aristotle's
beliefs of geocentrism, those theories did not correspond to the astronomical
observations of the time.
The Copernican Revolution began during the European Renaissance and was
named after Nicolaus Copernicus. This period saw elements of a modern scientific
outlook extend its boundaries into areas of enquiry where observation and
measurement had hitherto been less important than philosophical speculation and a
priori reasoning. Although the Copernican heliocentric theory dealt directly with the
structure of the solar system, its indirect consequences embraced the whole fabric of
thought, inaugurating a breakthrough in people's outlook on the world. Copernicus
liberated the human mind, which had been fettered up to his day by traditional
conventions, and he opposed the basing of science solely on sensory experiences.
Taking a stand against the entire world of that time and against the supreme authority
that he recognized the church and the Holy Scripture, against the views consolidated
and sanctified by the knowledge of scholars of many previous centuries he instilled into
the minds of men boldness in thinking, but he also taught them humility in the quest for
truth. Copernicus' science of the stars is also a science of man and his place on an
Earth which is spinning through the universe.
Copernicus published the first outline on heliocentrism in his book Commentary
on the Hypothesis of the Movement of Celestial Orbs, in 1514. It was the first of its kind,
without all of the mathematics. The Copernican theory explained the Earth-Sun line and
gave a more plausible reason as to why the Sun's role is important in the motions of the
Moon and planets in the solar system when compared to Ptolemy's. By introducing the
Sun into the theory of motion of every planet, Copernicus made it possible to represent
all in a single system. The heliocentric system presented the planets positions more
logically, going around or below the Sun. It also explained the relative sizes of the
planet's retrograde arcs and why outer-stellar planets are brightest in opposition.
Society's reaction to the heliocentric system was not a favorable one. Many people
thought "Who would dare to place Copernicus' authority higher than the Holy Scripture?
Believing that the Earth rotates on its axis, planets revolve around the Sun, and
planetary orbits were elliptical due to the force of gravity was then thought of as
inconceivable. Copernicus was passionately criticized by colleagues and peers for his
enthusiasm of the ancient philosophers, who were viewed as incorrect. The only point
that Copernicus was trying to makes was that "...there does not exist any common
center for all the celestial orbs or spheres; the center of the Earth is not the center of the
universe; but only the center of gravity and the center of the Moon's path ;all the planets
revolve around the Sun, which is the center."