Copernican Heliocentrism Impact to Modern Science

Copernican Heliocentrism impact to Modern Science Michael White WGU February 24, 2011 Thesis Statement: Nicolas Copernicus Heliocentrism helped to revolutionize science and catapult man into space. Introduction: Early science and astronomers believed the earth to be the center of the universe; this was known as the Geocentric Model. Prior to the 17th Century the Catholic Church held onto and defended the Geocentric Model as the divine order of planetary alignment and man’s hierarchy in the universe. Nicolas Copernicus introduced the heliocentric model when most scientific minds believed the earth was the center of the universe. This presentation will articulate two main points: Copernicus’s heliocentric model impact to the†¦show more content†¦The Copernican revolution was arguably completed by Isaac Newton whose Philosophiae Naturalis Principia Mathematica provided a consistent physical explanation which showed that the planets are kept in their orbits by the familiar force of gravity. The geometric calculations and results which Copernicus compiled regarding orbital movements and positioning are now regarded as scientific truths. The heliocentric disco veries have become the cornerstones of breakthroughs in physics, astronomy and geometry. Without Copernicus’s heliocentric model modern man could not have achieved space flight or reached the moon. Copernicus’s theory became a major factor in modern space travel and other scientific innovations. (Asimov, 1964) Scripted Audience Questions Question: Why did the Church fight the heliocentric model so strongly? Answer: Anyone who disagreed with this analogy that the Geocentric Model as the divine order of planetary alignment and man’s hierarchy in the universe was branded a heretic, because it was considered going against Biblical doctrine. Question: In what way did Copernicus impact early science? Answer: Copernicus’s heliocentric model and its mathematics accurately mapped the moons orbit and other celestial bodies positioning. Question: How did Copernicus model help modernShow MoreRelatedGalileo Galilei was one of the most influential scientists of the Renaissance period. He was a1800 Words   |  8 PagesGalileo Galilei was one of the most influential scientists of the Renaissance period. He was a mathematician, physicist, astronomer, a philosopher. He integrated the independent sciences of math and physics, and unified them. The popular view of the world, due to the Church overall power, at the time was Aristotles theory that the the universe was geocentric or that the Earth was at the center of the universe.. Galileo went against that common belief and declared to the world that the Earth is notRead MoreGalileos Mathematical-Experimental Method Essay1857 Words   |  8 Pagescelestial bodies to the motion of minuscule free falling pebbles and water droplets upon a ship show his immense scientific interest and his discoveries cannot be overstated as he has been widely accredited as the founder of a new rational science. The science of antiquity which scholars were taught in Galileo’s time was an amalgamation of religious doctrine and Aristotelian philosophy reinterpreted to match with the teachings of the church. As a result, there was little scientific advancement.Read MoreElectronic Mass Planets Orbiting The Pulsar Psr B125710312 Words   |  42 Pageswe declare to be infinite... In it are an infinity of worlds of the same kind as our own. † —Giordano Bruno (1584)[32] In the sixteenth century the Italian philosopher Giordano Bruno, an early supporter of the Copernican theory that Earth and other planets orbit the Sun (heliocentrism), put forward the view that the fixed stars are similar to the Sun and are likewise accompanied by planets. In the eighteenth century the same possibility was mentioned by Isaac Newton in the General Scholium that