Johannes Kepler-He Followed The Heliocentric Model and Discovered

Focuses:
1. -Astronomy in the past: talk about the fact that heliocentrism

already existed before copernicus, and why it wasnt as popular as
geocentrism (includes number 11)
2. -Aristotle- talk about his reason behind geocentrism (earth wind fire
water)
3. -Ptolemy- focus on ptolemaic model and its math behind the motions
of celestial bodies; also talk a bit about how the church initially
thought that geocentric model was pagan
4. -Flaws in the Ptolemaic model- equants, epicycles, comets, and
others, that didnt follow the model
5. -Copernicus innovation- rennaissance, and why copernicus didntl
like equants and how its not uniform
6. -Nicolaus copernicus- he documeted heliocentrism, but it was still
flawed, but it lead the way to a paradigm shift
7. -Aftermath- about hwo the church viewed heliocentrism
8. -tycho brahe- he used copernicus' work to model his own geocentric
model
-johannes kepler- he followed the heliocentric model and discovered
elipetical orbits, was not prosecuted because he works for the church
9. -Galileo galilei- first to use telescope, and was accused by the
church for spreading heliocentrism
10. -The new universe- talk about isaac newton and how the
copernican revolution came to an end
11. -modern age- back to number one
The Copernican Revolution and Heliocentrism

Astronomy in the Past
Heliocentrism already existed in the time before Copernicus, but it was
overshadowed by the popular Geocentric theory which showed the planets and
the stars as a part of a perfect heaven, fixed in place within a sphere, and follows
a “perfect” pattern, where the Earth alone is imperfect and undergoes change.
The Geocentric model also coincided with the teachings of the church, and for
hundreds of years the Ptolemaic (geocentric) model went unquestioned.
 Aristarchus- The idea of heliocentrism is much older; it can be traced to Aristarchus of

Samos, a Hellenistic author writing in the 3rd century BC, who may in turn have been
drawing on even older concepts in Pythagoreanism.
o Aristarchus’ ideas were overshadowed by the popular planetary model of Ptolemy
and Aristotle
 Aristotle- The Greek philosopher Aristotle (~325 B.C.) was the most famous proponent of
the geocentric theory, which seems reasonable because objects in the sky appear to move
around the Earth. However, Aristotle placed the Earth at the center because of additional beliefs.
In his view, there were only 4 elements: Earth (heaviest), Water, Air, and Fire (lightest). He
believed that heavier objects were drawn to the center because of the "influence of the center."
Therefore, the Earth had to be at the center because it was heavier. This theory was accepted as
logical and promoted by the church for centuries.
 Ptolemy- Up until Copernicus, people believed in the Ptolemaic Model of planetary
motion which promoted a view of the universe in which the earth was at the center.
Ptolemy’s followers believed thoroughly in this theory, as although it has been disproved, he
was able to come up with explanations not only for moving planets, but also for retrograde
motion. Using many complicated concepts involving both mathematics and astronomy,
Ptolemy was also able to accurately calculate the paths of the Moon, Sun, and other planets.
[1]
Ptolemy wrote about his findings in a book knows as The Mathematical Compilation.
Ptolemaic Model-Ptolemy's model:

"Earth-centered," or "geocentric"
Ptolemy thought that all celestial objects — including the planets, Sun, Moon, and stars — orbited Earth.
Earth, in the center of the universe, did not move at all.
NOTE: The outer planets, like Uranus and Neptune, are missing from both charts because they had not
been discovered at the time. The planets are lined up to make the charts easy to read; they never line up
this way in nature.
Initially, the Catholic Church considered the rediscovered antique science

(Ptolemaic Model) pagan, but scholastics as St. Thomas Aquinas (1225-1274)
managed to reconcile the Aristotelian knowledge with Christian doctrine and its
combination became the all-embracing Christian world view.
Flaws in the Ptolemaic Model
Although it has obviously since been disproved, Ptolemy’s theory of the universe being geocentric
was one that was followed for over a thousand years. His writing in The
Mathematical Compilation was translated into a few languages including Arabic, Latin, Greek, and
others.[6] The accessibility of his writing created a large following and the eventual undoubted belief
that the universe was geocentric.
 Equants and Epicycles- Ptolemy’s Almagest was "the ﬁrst systematic mathematical treatise to
give a complete, detailed, and quantitative account of all the celestial motions." Generally, the
planetary motions in the Almagest are composed of epicycles with centers on deferents, but Ptolemy
also introduced equants. An equant is a point with respect to which the rotation of the deferent is
uniform but the equant is shifted off the center of the deferent, so that the rotation of the deferent seen
from its center is non-uniform. Copernicus' dislike of equants and the non-uniform motion introduced
by them was one of his main motivations to search for a better planetary model.
 Comets, and others – could not be explained by the Ptolemaic model where all celestial
objects follow the westward rotation around the Earth, and other contradictions. Other
contradictions include the irregular cycles of the moon, and motions of the planets that do
not follow perfect circular orbits.
Copernicus’ Innovation
In the late period of the middle ages came the renaissance, this intellectual
climate of rediscovery influenced thinkers like Copernicus to rethink the
Ptolemaic Model.
 “Also more intellectual aspects of the Renaissance played a role. Humanism, the

dominant learned movement of the age, was dogmatic anti-Aristotelian, and its criticism
facilitated scientists to break away from Aristotle's roots. In addition,
the Neoplatonic outlook of the Humanists, with its aesthetic taste for pure mathematics,
created the atmosphere that instilled into Copernicus its dislike of the non-uniform
motion of the planets that Ptolemy had introduced by using equants.” – from the article
 Nicolaus Copernicus- Copernicus went on to develop an explicitly heliocentric model of

planetary motion, at first written in his short work Commentariolus some time before
1514, circulated in a limited number of copies among his acquaintances. He continued to
refine his system until publishing his larger work, De revolutionibus orbium coelestium
(1543), which contained detailed diagrams and tables.
o But Copernicus still closely followed the Ptolemaic model such as epicycles, and
perfect circular orbits.
o His ideas were also unpopular, and his publications were halted, but his ideas
still ignited the spark that made society question all pre-established knowledge in
the world. People no longer simply accepted facts, but began to ascertain them
for themselves creating a Paradigm Shift in the world.
o Heliocentric Model
Aftermath
Copernicus’ work would go on to influence other astronomers of his time. “De revolutionibus”
initially met no resistance from the Catholic Church. It was not until 1616 from a wave of
Protestant opposition that the church banned the book. The ban continued until 1835.
religious leaders—as far as they were aware of it—opposed the new model, as they saw it in
flagrant contradiction to Scripture.[5] The Catholic Church only became fully aware of the
Copernicus doctrine after Galileo Galilei started propagating it in Italy after 1610 and in 1616 it
was placed on the Index (list of books forbidden by the Catholic Church).[6] To the public at large
it was self-evident that the earth was not moving, and for nearly a century after Copernicus it
was very hard to convince anyone that the result of the Earth's motion would not be
catastrophic.
 Tycho Brahe- (1546-1601), the greatest naked-eye astronomer in history, did not follow
Copernicus, but developed his own hybrid ("Tychonic") system that had the Earth at rest in the
center of a rotating stellar sphere and the planets orbiting the Sun. The Sun and the Moon orbited
the Earth, as in the Ptolemaic system.
o His views did not oppose the Church
 Johannes Kepler (1571-1630),- Kepler revised the system in a most fundamental way. He
discarded all epicycles and let the Earth and other planets orbit the stationary Sun in elliptic
orbits. His work the Rudolphine Tables (1627), was superior to all astronomical tables in use
before
o His work strived to find patterns in the sky to find divine messages from the Heavens
o He discovered elliptical orbits
 Galileo Galilei- The most famous Copernican in history, no doubt, is Galileo Galilei (1564-
1642). He was the first astronomer to make use of the telescope
o He actively promoted the Heliocentric theory to the public. The Church accused him of
heresy and was about to imprison him, Galileo agreed not to teach the heresy anymore
and spent the rest of his life under house arrest.
The New Universe
I t took more than 300 years for the Church to admit that Galileo was
right and to clear his name of heresy. Before the new world-view could
be widely accepted, questions had to answered as: Why do heavy
bodies fall toward the surface of the spinning Earth? How far away are
the stars? What moves the planets now that Aristotelian spheres are no
longer there to propel them? What keeps the planets in orbit? Many of
these questions find answers in Isaac Newton's Principia (1687) that
describes an infinite cosmos in which planets and stars attract each
other with a strength proportional to their masses.
 Isaac Newton- The laws of Newton are said to be the ending point of the Copernican
Revolution.
 Other people: Descartes, Robert Hooke
Modern Age
Today, we know that our world is only a part of a single solar system in our
galaxy in a vast universe of galaxies.

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Focuses:

1. -Astronomy in the past: talk about the fact that heliocentrism

The Copernican Revolution and Heliocentrism

 Aristarchus- The idea of heliocentrism is much older; it can be traced to Aristarchus of

Ptolemaic Model-Ptolemy's model:

Initially, the Catholic Church considered the rediscovered antique science

 “Also more intellectual aspects of the Renaissance played a role. Humanism, the

 Nicolaus Copernicus- Copernicus went on to develop an explicitly heliocentric model of

The New Universe

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