Nicolaus Copernicus Impact On Science

The Scientific Revolution brought a new way of thinking about the universe, and brought an end to Europe’s medieval past. Many scientists have devoted their lives to creating new ideas about the physical universe. These scientists created the assumption that the universe and nature are governed by mathematical laws. Each of the three scientists, Nicolaus Copernicus, Johannes Kepler, and Isaac Newton contributed to the breakdown of the medieval world view. Nicolaus Copernicus thought past the idea of a geocentric universe, and established the idea of a heliocentric theory, or a sun-centered universe. Johannes Kepler presented the idea of an ellipse, otherwise known as the planets following an oval shaped orbit, and not a perfect circle. Finally,

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

In concordance with Christian doctrines, this system implies that heaven and the throne of God lie beyond the tenth sphere. On the other hand, during the first half of the 16th century, Polish cleric Copernicus developed an astronomical model which positions the motionless Sun at the center of the universe, with the Earth, the moon, and six other planets revolving at a constant speed around it. He argues that all stars were at rest and that their nightly movements are simply indications of the earth’s rotation. However, members of the Church, especially Protestants, who interpreted the Bible literally, refused to grant Copernicus credit for his theory. Nevertheless, once released among the population, the Copernican theory raised support from various scholars, a few of whom, such as Brahe, Kepler, and Galileo, went on to dedicate their career to solidify its legitimacy. With their use of mathematical reasoning, instead of antic philosophy, the Copernican theory finally became justified among the population. Pertaining to its influence among laypeople, the Copernican theory raised various questions against the

During most of the 16th and 17th centuries, it was not easy for scientists to make new discoveries and present them to the world. The Catholic Church, a dominating force during that period, persecuted anyone who would spread ideas and opinions that contradicted what the Bible stated. Both Copernicus and Galileo believed in the heliocentric theory, also called Copernicus theory, which stated that the sun was at the centre of the universe and the earth revolves around it. However, the Catholic Church did not agree with this idea because the Bible stated that the earth was at the centre of the universe and the sun revolved around it, which is the complete opposite. Due to this disagreement, Copernicus and Galileo were threaded by the Catholic Church and

Among these people were Copernicus who believed the sun was at the center of the world and the earth, stars and planets revolved around it. Danish astronomer Brahe helped contribute to this idea by contributing a large mass of data about the universe that he was able to discover. His student Kepler kept his ideas going, as he formulated many laws of planetary motion. He said the orbits around the sun were elliptical, planets don’t move in a uniform speed and the time a planet completes its orbit is related to its distance from the sun. Meanwhile, Florentine Galileo decided to use experiments to find out what happened and not what should happen, and discovered that a uniform force makes a uniform acceleration as well as inertia laws, that an object will be in motion forever unless stopped by another force.

the heliocentric solar system. Johannes Kepler further modified the heliocentric system, by mathematically showing that the planets’ orbits are elliptical. With his invention of the telescope, Galileo made new observations about the solar system and found mathematical laws that described the movement of the planets. Later, Isaac Newton established a universal law of gravity. With the new scientific discoveries, the gap between religion and science increased. Science revolutionized the human though and its understanding of the universe.

Copernicus published "On the Revolutions of the Celestial Spheres" in 1543 , sparking off the scientific revolution and a new era of astronomical thought. This theory explains that the sun, not the Earth, is the center of the solar system and planets move in a circular motion around it. This had many social, intellectual and religious made of huis idea. For instance, this theory brought into question the strict reading of the Bible and philosophies of the Catholic Church.

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

Copernicus began to question Ptolemy at a very young age. Copernicus didn’t believe Ptolemy’s view of the universe and that it was geocentric. Copernicus found mathematical errors to help him prove that Earth was not the center of the universe. After some research Copernicus realized that the universe was

The Scientific Revolution is the qualitative jump in sciences in the 17th century. New discoveries in natural science, engineering, geography rejected many traditional ideas and a common picture of the world. Aristotle, Claudius Ptolemy, and Christian Theology represented the universe as geocentric conception where the earth was motionless and in the center of concentric spheres. (479) Such representation was supported till Nicolaus Copernicus (1473-1543) argued Ptolemy's conception and suggested heliocentric understanding. His conception opened the Earth as a planet where the moon took place as Earth's satellite and the sun was the center of planets. Also as Copernicus, Tycho Brahe and Johannes Kepler disagreed with Ptolemy's geocentric system. Based on the Brahe's work, Kepler came to conclusions that each planet moves in an ellipse and were able to calculate relations between planets' size and

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.

Thought history scientists’ finding have been ignored, only to be discovered that their information was beneficial. In the 1600s and 1700s, many astronomers and mechanics were focused on finding a way to find the longitude of a ship’s position at sea. John Harrison, a self-taught carpenter and clockmaker was able to create a solution, but no one with enough power to enforce his studies would listen to his ideas. Similar to this, when Nicolaus Copernicus discovered that the earth revolved around the sun, no one believed him because the belief at the time was that the earth was the center of the universe. Despite no one appreciating what the two had discovered, several years after they had died, their theories surfaced again and people began

Nicolaus Copernicus was an astronomer who arose the Heliocentric Theory which caused the scientific revolution. Copernicus discoveries were very important, and impacted science to this day. Copernicus constructed his data from his astronomical observations of sun-centered cosmology. The Heliocentric theory is the belief that the sun is in the center of the universe and all the planets revolve around it. The Heliocentric Theory contradicts The Geocentric. “Copernicus's heliocentric solar system named the sun, rather than the earth, as the center of the solar system”. (http://www.biography.com/).

Galileo made a revolutionary discovery. He utilized a telescope to gaze into the night sky, and found that the sun was located at the center of the solar system. Furthermore, he found that the planets revolved around the sun. These findings were against popular belief and that of the Church. Galileo promoted his theory of heliocentrism through various writings and conversations with individuals, but in 1633,

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