A Beginner's View of Our Electric Universe - New
A Beginner's View of Our Electric Universe - New
A Beginner's View of Our Electric Universe - New
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2 | The thinking that got us here<br />
I read years ago <strong>of</strong> how the 15 th -16 th century Polish astronomer and mathematician Nicolaus Copernicus came<br />
up with the idea that the Earth was not at the centre <strong>of</strong> the observed universe as people had previously been told<br />
it was by religious teachings.<br />
Nicolaus Copernicus<br />
1473 - 1543<br />
24 | The thinking that got us here<br />
The unfortunate implication <strong>of</strong> this was that, if we humans were not at the centre<br />
<strong>of</strong> things, then we would be nothing special. Copernicus saw this as quite a<br />
radical thing to suggest, especially as it went against the teachings <strong>of</strong> the Catholic<br />
Church, the organisation that had promoted the human race to a central role<br />
through its particular view <strong>of</strong> the universe. Therefore, being in fear <strong>of</strong> ridicule<br />
and the power <strong>of</strong> the church, he did not let this idea go public at the time he came<br />
up with it. The Catholic Church certainly did wield an awful lot <strong>of</strong> power and<br />
influence in those days and it would only be the plain stupid or the insanely<br />
dedicated that would actually make known any religiously contentious beliefs<br />
they had. If there was even a hint <strong>of</strong> opposition to the church’s doctrine through<br />
what people said, bad things could happen to them, so it was only at the time <strong>of</strong><br />
Copernicus’ death that his work was actually published.<br />
The Copernican Solar System © author<br />
The Copernican model <strong>of</strong> the universe was that the Earth and<br />
the other planets known at the time, all revolved around the<br />
Sun in concentric circular (assumed) orbits. This model <strong>of</strong> our<br />
Solar System is the one we are all familiar with today. However,<br />
Copernicus got one element <strong>of</strong> his model wrong; he said the Sun<br />
was at the centre <strong>of</strong> the universe! This may have been because,<br />
already having determined the Earth’s relationship to the Sun,<br />
he could see for himself in the night sky that there appeared to<br />
be a globe <strong>of</strong> stars <strong>of</strong> relative equal density surrounding us, no<br />
matter in which direction he looked. Considering the importance<br />
<strong>of</strong> those events, we could easily view them as the beginnings<br />
<strong>of</strong> sensible astronomy. What Copernicus had deduced about our<br />
solar system had at least been based on practical observations,<br />
basic science, and some common sense.<br />
Sun<br />
Distant Stars