Nicolaus Copernicus Research Paper

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

In 1633 the Vatican put a famous astronomer under house arrest. His name was Galileo Galeli, and he was one of the most talented scientists to ever walk the face of the earth. Galileo was an early pioneer in the field of physics and astronomy, and played an important role in the scientific revolution of the 17th century.

Galileo Galilei was a very influential and controversial astronomer, scientist, mathematician, teacher, and physicist. His life began in the sixteenth century and ended in the seventeenth, in which he penned several books that supported the Copernican theory of a heliocentric solar system. In the words of Drake S. (1957) “... the works of Galileo are well written, and throw light upon the origins of modern science…”(Pg. 2) Although Galileo was soon deemed a heretic by the Roman Catholic church, he continued diligently challenging Aristotelian thought and doctrine and expressing his support of the Copernican theory. As he continued to make discoveries that supported this theory, the church continued to label him as a heretic, and eventually

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

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.

So when Copernicus brought up the idea of the heliocentric earth it came in conflict with the Church. In Document C it sates "Ptolemy... developed a theory of the universe that was adopted by most scholars during the

In document 2, “The Church taught that Earth was placed by God in the middle of the universe… Copernicus reasoned that indeed, stars, the earth, and other planets revolved around the sun” clearly states the difference between the Church’s teachings and Copernicus’ new theory. This was the issue. This new theory confused people because it was so different than the information they were previously taught by the Church. Scientists, like Galileo or Kepler, started to research and continue supporting Copernicus and his ideas. Many discoveries due to this idea proved that the Church was wrong- which caused disagreements between the scientists and the Church.

In science, theories of some scientists like Galileo and Copernicus were refused and punished because they were opposite the belief of the Catholic

During the time of Galileo, the church was very strict with physicists who believed in the Copernican model. This is exactly the position that Galileo found himself in. In 1600 Galileo began making his own telescope. He became the first person to point one at the night sky. What staggered him the most by doing this was the sheer volume of stars that were not visible with the naked eye. Galileo used his telescope to make many discoveries; one of these is the discovery of Jupiter’s four moons. He even plotted and tracked there rotations around Jupiter. The main thing however, was that Jupiter even had moons, this was proof that the geocentric model was incorrect and that this discovery was in favour of the Copernican model.

These intellectuals significantly influenced the world leaders and institutions of the time, although the Catholic Church refused to accept most of the newly discovered scientific laws/theories as legitimate, as they opposed the fundamental doctrines of the Catholic faith. An example of the bigotry of the Catholic Church in this time, is the persecution of Galileo Galilei, which occurred due to his discoveries regarding a heliocentric solar system conflicting with the geocentric views of the Church. This conflict of beliefs led to the Church convicting Galileo of heresy, sentencing him to banishment, despite ample amounts of evidence and the approval of a variety of intellectuals supporting his

Over two centuries ago the Catholic Church tried Galileo, because he published his book in 1632 that supported the heliocentric ideas that originated from Copernicus. The church claimed that the heliocentric theory went against scripture. During this time the Catholic Church believed in the idea that the Earth was at the center of the universe. This was called the geocentric theory, which had been around for nearly 1500 years. Galileo was tried less than a year later in 1633. The trial was private, because the church feared the community would support him, because he was one of the most achieved astronomers of their time. The church’s committee unanimously voted that his book, the Two Chief World Systems violated his

Like many inventors throughout history, Equality 7-2521 was ridiculed by his society after presenting them with an invention that would change the world. One of these inventors was Nicolaus Copernicus, the inventor who formulated the model of the universe in which the sun was placed at the center, instead of the earth. After publishing his first book that explained his theory, Copernicus faced ridicule from the church, and a lot of his book was either changed or just removed all together. Equality had some experiences much similar to this after he revealed his light to the Council. They told him that the light would be destroyed, and that he had betrayed the brotherhood for thinking freely. Despite the fact that the light Equality had created

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.

Nicolaus Copernicus was born in Poland on February 19th, 1473. His father was names Niklas and his mother was Barbara. He completed high school in his hometown, which is Thorn, at

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.