1543Reputable sourceWell documented
Copernicus and the Heliocentric Universe
On the timeline · around 1543 ·
What happened
In 1543 the Polish astronomer Nicolaus Copernicus published On the Revolutions of the Heavenly Spheres, arguing that the Earth and the planets orbit the Sun rather than the Sun and stars circling a stationary Earth. It overturned the Earth-centred cosmos that had reigned since Ptolemy, 1,400 years earlier.
Why it matters
The Copernican revolution displaced the Earth — and humanity — from the centre of the universe. Explaining how a moving Earth could work would drive the physics of Kepler, Galileo, and Newton, and launch the scientific revolution.
Sources
Related timelines
- The Universe → — The Sun-centred cosmos