Thursday, 29 April 2010
Nicolaus Copernicus and his contributions
Nicolaus Copernicus contributed to the Scientific Revolution. He was the first major person to challenge what everyone believed- the Ptolemaic universe. He wrote a book which challenged this universe. Copernicus thought that the earth might not be the center of the Universe. He believed that the universe might rotate around the sun and that the sun contained god. However, his view of the universe wasn't total correct and he thought that it was small and said that the planets orbited in a circle. But he was the first one to really challenge the Ptolemaic universe and have the idea that the earth was the center, which led to later people using his ideas and going further with them.
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I like how you included that Copernicus was not just basing his belief off of science. He believed that the sun was the center in a spiritual aspect, too like how you mentioned. The sun was the essence of god and the people orbited around it/Him. He may have had to base part of his beliefs off of religion since he lacked the proper technology to see beyond the naked eye. It was a challenge for him, but it's important to know that evenn with his lack of technology, he really got things going about people questioning the Ptolemaic universe.
ReplyDeleteThe idea of Copernicus disagreeing with what was believed for so many years is a challenge. It could be a dangerous challenge at that. The church, as we have been studying, was very strict about those disagreeing with what was taught. The geocentric idea was adopted because it agreed with the bible. But, i like how both ideas are not that far apart from each other. The sun was a symbol for god and the earth and all the other planets rotated around it, yet the heliocentric idea was really just unaccepted. Plus, I also really like that Copernicus thought about the path the planets orbited. Although it was not circular, the thought is what counts.
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