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Page 5 of 7
After many years of study, he came to the conclusion that the Earth rotated on its axis once daily and travelled around the sun once yearly. This at once made it much easier to explain the apparent movements of the planets across the sky, while other astronomers needed very complicated calculations.
 This drawing of a heliocentric Universe: the Sun (Sol.) in the centre and the planets revolving around it is from Copernicus' book |
Copernicus did not live long enough to enjoy the immense succes of his revolutionary findings. “De Revolutionibus” made an enormous stir in Renaissance Europe. It did not take other scientists long to accept his ideas. The Copernican Revolution was the start of modern science.
It took some time, but sixty years after publication, the Church fully rejected “De Revolutionibus” and banned the book. The great reformer Martin Luther said about Copernicus: “This fool wants to turn the entire science of astronomy upside down! But, as the Bible tells us, Joshua told the Sun, not the Earth, to stop in its path!”
Was he a fool? Read more
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Last Updated ( Sunday, 25 February 2007 )
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