Copernicus Controversy

Astronomy was a highly debated topic between scientists and the Roman Catholic Church. The Roman Catholic Church believed that the Earth was the center of the universe and there was a place for all of the gods/zodiacs in it. An astronomer from the Middle Ages, Ptolemy, created the drawing of the universe which depicted the Earth in the very center of the universe, or geocentric. The geocentric universe, also contained an outer name in latin translating directly to “The Empire of Heaven and the Home of God and the Elect( document C )”. Contrary to the beliefs of the Roman Catholic Church another astronomer from The Renaissance created a sun centered universe or heliocentric. This astronomers name was Copernicus, he created his universe based on observation of the movement of the planets and mathematics. During the Middle Ages it was strongly believed that the universe was geocentric, but now astronomers like Copernicus have disproved these beliefs with concrete

Copernicus release his theory of the heliocentric view while he was on his death bed. Primary reason for this was because of the Catholic’s church control on society at the time and the effects it would have on religious society stating that the earth was not the center of the universe. After Copernicus released

Ptolemy, a Roman astronomer came up with the theory that the universe revolved around Earth and all the creatures inhabiting it (Doc. C). This theory, The Geocentric Universe of Ptolemy, was adjusted by most of the people during The Middle Ages. However, much later on, Nicolaus Copernicus, a Polish astronomer, disagreed with Ptolemy’s theory. With his use of math and reason, he came up with a new theory called The Heliocentric Universe of Copernicus (Doc. C). He said that the universe & Earth itself revolves around the sun. The Church denied this theory because they did not want to be proven wrong. If the Church was wrong about this part of the universe, this would then cause man to wonder what else they could be wrong about, or even lied to them about. This new theory taught men to think for themselves and not to rely on the Church for

Nicolaus Copernicus was an astronomer. He studied the movements of the planets but as he did what Ptolemy had stated made less and less sense to him. Ptolemy had written that the solar system was geocentric, or in other words that the earth was the center of the universe and that the sun and other planets orbited the earth. This theory was accepted for 1,400 years until around this time. Copernicus said that the solar system was heliocentric, and the sun was the center of the solar system.

Before the scientific revolution, most people believed the Earth was the center of the universe. But there was one person who thought otherwise. Nicolas Copernicus believed the sun was

Copernicus’s theory declares “the sun to be situated motionless in the center of the revolution of the celestial orbs while the earth revolves about the sun” (Moss, 1983) which seemed to be in disagreement with religious justifications. The church dreaded the idea of “science” and the repressed truth exposed by scientists

As stated in the book, “His public support of Copernicus disturbed Catholic theologians, who were convinced it undermined correct belief and the authority of the church” (The Human Record, 41). So, therefore these new findings of ideas did not agree with the way the Catholic Church was organized or the power of which the church held. Copernicus created this theory that was supported by Galileo. This theory argued about what was at the center of the universe, which was not the earth, but it was the sun (The Human Record, 41). Finding new discoveries regarding science was the idea Copernicus had in mind.

Written near the time of the letter to Madame Christina, the letter was sent to the Holy Office, who at first did not consider it heresy, but later did. Galileo claimed that his publishings on Copernican theory were merely interpretation of data and not theoretical: “through the Scripture cannot err, nevertheless some of its interpreters and expositors can sometimes err in various ways" Nonetheless, the Church imposed their first condemnation of Galileo at this time (Finocchiaro). This sudden change of heart was due to the fact that certain leaders within the church were offended by his so-called interpretation, claiming that it was in actual fact support of Copernican science. There was no proper investigation done as to whether Galileo’s finding held truth, and the Church accused him of going against Scripture without properly understanding the topic of which Galileo spoke (Langford). The Church had failed to see the difference between Catholic and Aristotelian teachings and saw any attack on Aristotle’s philosophy as an attack on the Church. Therefore, under the rule of the Catholic Church, Galileo was no longer allowed to publish nor teach Copernican

Nicolaus Copernicus, a great mathematician, and Astronomer introduced the idea of a heliocentric universe, which now is one of the important movements of the time. Back when he was alive, he harbored this idea away for the fear of the hatred and death his idea would bring upon him. As the church was the power and anything that went against said power was turned away. Hatred, hostility, resentment would fall upon you and worst of all death. Copernicus being the extraordinary brilliant person he was, waited until he was on his deathbed to present his ideas to the world, being as he was dying already he had nothing to fear. His work has inspired and caused many people to now think for themselves, to use their own minds and go out against those

The geocentric model created by Ptolemy, and the heliocentric model created by Copernicus, had greatly differed in which force of being (the sun or the earth,) was the center of the universe. Ptolemy’s Geocentric

Nicholas Copernicus was the first to question the universal truths and teachings of the church. He devised a theory that the earth along with the other planets revolved around the sun. This theory disagreed with Aristotle and the old teachings that the universe revolved around the earth, and that man was the center of the universe.

Throughout the lifetime of Earth and human life, there has been many ideas and aspects on why things are the way they are. Many individuals challenge their ideas against the public, which gives a broader view. I believe that people change their minds due to new information that is given to them, or the different opinions about things they may hear. Yet, some individuals may disagree on that and say that we change our minds because it’s just what we decide to do, not explanation needed.

Even though Galileos beliefs were held in practicing Catholicsim, his writings were showing evidence for “Copernican heliocentrism.” The Catholic Church, however, disapproved of heliocentricity, feeling that it was contrary to the statements in the Bible: if God created human beings as His supreme creation, He would place man at the center of His cosmos. (At that time the more literal Biblical interpretation was prevalent with the church fathers, especially among the Dominican Order, facilitators of the Inquisition)2 However, real power layed with the Church, and Galileo's arguments were most fiercely fought on the religious level. Cardinal Robert Bellarmine insisted that Galileo furnish more adequate proof of his new theories before he would be allowed to teach them as true or even as probably true.

With the church now being questioned, they started to put up a fight to stop the more open spreading of these new controversial ideas, and recommended a subtler approach to spreading these ideas that would not lead many into doubting the church (Osler and Brush). The more common idea that the church would shut down and tackle in a subtler way was that of the geocentric model and the heliocentric model. Nicholas Copernicus was one of the first people to write down and fully develop a heliocentric model. Copernicus, although he believed in a heliocentric model, did not publish any of his ideas about a heliocentric model until the very end of his life; it was on Copernicus’s death bed that he published his ideas going against the common

The statement acts to justify his finding with the church and connect them to God. Copernicus realized that the church would be quick to judge him, and possibly this is why he didn’t publish his theories until late in his life. His discoveries were not so much as important as were his methods of observation and application of mathematics to explain the world. His methods of discovery helped model the direction of science over the next hundred years.