The History and Factors Leading to Copernican Revolution

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As humans we will always be challenged in our daily lives. When we have a view on something we may have to fight to prove its validity. Some of us may be able to do it on our own but many of us will need a helping hand. Nicolaus Copernicus was this type of man. He developed a theory of a sun centered or heliocentric solar system that went against the current popular belief of an earth centered or geocentric solar system. It took many centuries for the world to accept his theory. Kepler, Galileo and Newton were strong proponents to the Copernican model and continued to advance his research where they later proved that a heliocentric solar system was a correct model. Although Copernicus’ views suffered great backlash, he became the prime mover in the scientific revolution and the paradigm shift from the model of a geocentric universe to a heliocentric universe.
The work of Aristotle and of Ptolemy set the standard for the model of the geocentric solar system around 150 A.D. Ptolemy’s work was known as the Almagest, which is an Arabic word for great synthesis. His work was given this title because “it is a synthesis of all astronomical and cosmological knowledge (the structure of the universe) accumulated since Aristotle. Ptolemy's work is therefore based on the Aristotelian representation of the universe.” [2]. He developed a geocentric model consisting of concentric spheres with the Earth at the center and each planet, the sun and fixed stars existing on the edge of their own sphere. Everything existing within the outermost sphere was considered to be the domain of the Prime Mover. The Ptolemaic Universe was considered to be the proper model and was used as the prime reference for many centuries of teachings and beliefs.
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2. “The Copernican Revolution: the Geocentric to the Heliocentric”, Philcourse, , 09/23/2003
3. Demarco, Donald, “The Dispute Between Galileo and the Catholic Church”, Catholic Education, , 2002
4. Denning, Steve, “The Copernican Revolution in Management”, , 07/11/2013
5. “Galileo: the Telescope & the Laws of Dynamics”,
6. LaFave, Sandra, “Kant: The ‘Copernican Revolution’ in Philosophy”, West Valley, , 06/19/2006
7. Rabin, Sheila, “Nicolaus Copernicus”, Stanford, , 09/16/2010

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