The Heliocentric Theory vs. The Catholic Church

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The Heliocentric Theory vs. The Catholic Church

We view the world today as the Earth and planets revolving around the Sun.

Naturally, this always wasn't the case. Aristotle created a model in which since God

created the Earth and man, therefore everything should revolve around us, creating a

geocentric model of the known universe. This model was widely accepted by the people,

as well as the Church, since the theory was God-centered. It wasn't until Aristotle's time

when scientists started to challenge this model due to advances in technology and

theories, and the heliocentric model was starting to take form, which went againts what

the Church strongly believed. In this paper I will explain the creation of the heliocentric

model, and the Church's reactions and responses to the new works on a sun-centered

universe.

During the Renaissance, many began to "toss aside medieval preoccupations with

supernatural forces and turned to secular concerns." (Yamasaki, p.50) During this time,

people began to think for themselves and ponder truths through philosophy, science,

astronomy, astrology, etc. Philosophers' minds began to turn, the human mind was finally

awake. At the time, the thought of heavenly bodies being divine, and stars being eternal

objects in unchanging motion were common knowledge.

A philosopher, scientsit, and one of Plato's pupils, Aristotle, was also a very

important figure. Born in Stagira in 384, Aristotle is regarded as the most influential

ancient philosopher of the sciences. Aristotle refined Callippus' geometrical and spherical

concepts, and developed the geocentric theory, which was believed for many years. Being

under Plato's teachings, Aristotle ...

... middle of paper ...

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Society of America, 1970.

Morphet, Clive. Galileo and Copernican Astronomy: A scientific world view defined.

Boston: Buttherworths, 1977.

Silverburg, Robert. Four Men Who Changed the Universe. New York: G.P. Putnam's

Sons, 1968. Information on four figures who changed science: Copernicus, Galileo,

Kepler, and Brahe. Quotes and facts on all four of these men were used in my report.

"Copernican System." Passages from De Revolutionibus.

http://es.rice.edu/ES/humsoc/Galileo/Things/copernican_system.html Website containing

information on Galileo, and other science-related things involving Galileo.

Sis, Peter. Starry Messenger. New York: Frances Foster Books, 1996.

Yamasaki, Mitch. The Scientific Revolution in Pre-Modern Europe. Honolulu, Hawaii:

National History Day, 1998.

"Galileo," Microsoft(R) Encarta(R) 96 Encyclopedia. (c)1993-1995 Microsoft Corp.

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