Invention & SelectionWhat makes the heliocentric theory special
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How did the Heliocentric Theory Survive?
By Anna Clausen
Who, What, When, Where and Why?-In the Fourth century BC, Aristotle, a Greek philosopher, came up with the idea that all the planets revolved around the earth. This idea became known as the geocentric theory. This theory was heavily used by the Roman Catholic Church. Then in the early 1500's a new idea had formed. A Polish cleric and astronomer named Nicolaus Copernicus discovered ancient Greek theories that the sun was in the center of our universe. After studying more on this subject he concluded that all of the planets revolve around the sun and wrote a book including all of his findings (on the Revolutions of the Heavenly Bodies) in 1543, which was also the year he passed away.
Throughout the next few years many scientist would build on this idea. A Danish astronomer named Tycho Brahe wrote about planetary motion. Once he passed away in 1601 he left his work for Johannes Kepler a brilliant mathematician. Kepler figured out that there were many mathematical laws that agreed with the motion of the planets. The laws showed how the planets must revolve around the sun in elliptical (ovular) orbits not circles. Copernicus ended up being the first astronomer to say the Earth rotates on an axis around the sun.
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What's so Special?-The idea of the heliocentric theory only started getting big when Nicolaus Copernicus wrote his book in 1543. Due to the fact that the printing press had been created and books could have been massed produced, it was easier to spread the word. Soon after he passed away, his work was taken on by many other astronomers. Many of those astronomers were then threatened by the church. For example Galileo was told if he supported Copernicus's findings he would live under house arrest his whole life, and he did. Most of the properties of Copernicus's theory were stopped because of the Church's need to be right. Which is why there are also no other ideas heard from before Copernicus.
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