TEST
in the discipline "Concepts of modern natural science"
Heliocentric model of the world by N. Copernicus
Introduction
Chapter 1. Heliocentrism in Ancient Greece
Chapter 2
Chapter 3. Heavenly spheres in the manuscript of Nicolaus Copernicus
Chapter 4
Conclusion
Bibliography
Introduction
Science is an endless wandering in search of the unknown, an incessant penetration into the unknown, an indomitable desire to know the world in which we live. Science has brought people to distant lands, to the wildest corners of the Earth and even to the Moon. With the help of a telescope, a microscope and other scientific instruments, science has allowed us to look into the depths of outer space and the world of galaxies, into the hot bowels of the Earth, lying many kilometers deep under our feet, and the eternal movement of molecules, atoms, atomic nuclei and electrons, into a model of perfection - crystals and thickness of ice, older than dinosaurs, to the world of the simplest living beings and the secrets of the origin of life on Earth, to the wonderful world of a living cell with its self-regulation and internal relationships.
The most important discovery made by man is the realization that nature can be studied scientifically.
It is generally accepted that science originated in ancient Greece, although the Chinese even earlier and independently of the Greeks made a number of important discoveries, especially in astronomy. Under the Romans, science in Europe declined, but the Arabs in North Africa retained the knowledge accumulated by their predecessors. And only in the Renaissance in Europe the spirit of discovery peculiar to man revived again, and man turned to the treasury of ancient Greek and Latin texts. But to a much greater extent than all other events, the emergence of a new science was facilitated by the publication of the book of Nicolaus Copernicus "On the Revolutions of the Celestial Spheres" (1534). Copernicus laid the foundations of a new scientific method, demonstrating the rigor and simplicity of explanations, showing the relativity of the positions and speed of bodies and the non-isolation of the abode of mankind - the Earth in the Universe. These principles still underlie the scientific knowledge of the world.
Chapter 1. Heliocentrism in Ancient Greece
Already in antiquity, it was noticed that the Moon, like the sun, moves rather quickly in relation to the stars, which means that it has its own movement. Sometimes amazing phenomena occurred: either the Sun “disappeared” during solar eclipses, or the Moon became very dark during periods of full moon. They didn’t know then that a solar eclipse happens when the Moon passes between the Sun and the Earth, casting a shadow on the Earth, and a lunar eclipse happens when the Sun, Earth and Moon are on the same straight line and the Moon enters the earth’s shadow.
The ancient Greeks knew that the five bright planets - Mercury, Venus, Marx, Jupiter and Saturn move relative to the stars and are fundamentally different from them. Since the relative position of the stars remained unchanged for a long period, the stars were thought to be attached to a crystal sphere that revolved around the earth.
Eudoxus of Cnidus (born about 480 BC) laid the scientific foundations for astronomy. He tried to explain the motion of the Sun and the planets by assuming that they circulate uniformly along ideal circles whose centers are located near the center of the earth, but do not coincide with it, i.e. move around the Earth between its surface and the sphere, the so-called fixed stars.
Aristotle (4th century BC) and Ptolemy (2nd century AD) believed that the Earth is at the center of the world. This ancient system of ideas was perfected by Ptolemy (c. 90-160).
His system assumed that all celestial orbits were in the form of a perfect circle, but since the observed movements of the planets did not correspond to the idea of \u200b\u200bmoving in a circle at a constant speed, this system had to be complicated. So epicycles were introduced - small circles along which the planets moved; the centers of these circles, in turn, revolved around the earth along the main circles (deferents).
To create a complete picture of the world fell to the lot of Claudius Ptolemy in the famous work “Thirteen Books of Mathematical Construction”, famous for centuries, which has come down to us under the title “Great Construction” or in the Arabic version of the title “Almagest” (“The Greatest ...”). The main part of this book is devoted to the presentation of the geocentric system of the world, in which the spherical Earth occupies a central position.
In the Ptolemaic system (Fig. 1) the Earth (1) rests in the center of the world. The Moon (2), Mercury (3), Venus (4), the Sun (5), Marx (6), Jupiter (7) and Saturn (8) move around it; each body moves along a small epicycle.
And this theory was followed by astronomers for 14 centuries.
Some ancient Greek philosophers, most notably Aristarchus of Samos (320-250 BC), assumed that the Earth moves around the Sun. Aristarchus was the forerunner of the heliocentric theory of the world. His idea of the dual motion of the Earth (around the axis and around the sun) was not hushed up by scientists. Ptolemy discusses this idea in the Almagest and disagrees with it.
However, the heliocentric theory, according to which the Sun is in the center, was generally rejected until the 16th century, when the Polish canon Nicolaus Copernicus made his remarkable discovery.
Chapter 2
When Copernicus - almost 500 years ago - expressed his firm conviction that the earth moves around the sun, Luther exclaimed: “This madman wants to turn the whole of astronomical science upside down. But as recorded in the Holy Scriptures, it was the Sun, and not the Earth, that Joshua ordered to stop.” In 1508, Copernicus wrote: “What seems to us to be the movement of the Sun, in fact, is not due to the fact that it is moving, but because the Earth is moving.”
Reflecting on the Ptolemaic system of the world, Copernicus was amazed at its complexity and artificiality, and, studying the writings of ancient philosophers, especially Nikita of Syracuse and Philolaus, he came to the conclusion that not the Earth, but the Sun should be the motionless center of the Universe, but at the same time he retained the ideal circular orbits and even considered it necessary to preserve the epicycles and deferents of the ancients in order to explain the uneven movements.
Copernicus briefly formulated his idea of the heliocentric system in the Small Commentary.
In it, Copernicus introduces seven axioms that will make it possible to explain and describe the motion of the planets much easier than in the Ptolemaic theory:
Orbits and celestial spheres do not have a common center;
The center of the earth is not the center of the universe, but only the center of mass and orbit of the moon;
All the planets move in orbits centered on the Sun, and therefore the Sun is the center of the world;
The distance between the Earth and the Sun is very small compared to the distance between the Earth and the fixed stars;
The daily movement of the Sun is imaginary, and is caused by the effect of the rotation of the Earth, which rotates once every 24 hours around its axis, which always remains parallel to itself;
The Earth (together with the Moon, like other planets) revolves around the Sun, and therefore the movements that the Sun seems to make (the daily movement, as well as the annual movement when the Sun moves around the Zodiac) are nothing more than the effect of the Earth's movement ;
This movement of the Earth and other planets explains their location and the specific characteristics of the movement of the planets.
These statements completely contradicted the geocentric system that prevailed at that time. Although, from a modern point of view, the Copernican model is not radical enough. All the orbits in it are circular, the movement along them is uniform, so the epicycles had to be preserved - however, there were fewer of them than those of Ptolemy.
In this work, Copernicus omits the mathematical proofs of his theory, "because they are intended for a more extensive work." This work was his immortal work "On the rotations of the celestial spheres."
How did Copernicus imagine the solar system after assuming the daily rotation of the Earth? The fixed firmament, the Sun, which can be either fixed or moving along the ecliptic - a curve fixedly connected with the firmament. With regard to the rotation of the Earth, there could be two possibilities: the axis of rotation is stationary (the Earth remains in the same place) or is moving.
If we consider the axis of rotation of the Earth to be fixed, then the plane drawn through the center of the Earth perpendicular to the axis of rotation will be constant. But this plane also crosses the firmament along a fixed curve (the celestial equator). Thus, the point of the vernal equinox, located at the intersection of two fixed curves, must remain constant and, therefore, precession is impossible. But it exists. Since the ecliptic is stationary, the celestial equator must move. In other words, the existence of precession can only be explained by the mobility of the Earth. Thus, the mobility of the Earth is not the result of a purely mathematical construction, but a very real fact, proved by the existence of precession.
Copernicus faced the task of determining the nature of the motion of the Earth as a solid body. Of all the motions of a rigid body, only rotational ones were known to Nicolaus Copernicus; he also knew the rules for their additions, and therefore the model of the motion of the Earth he created was called the theory of triple motion.
The first rotation of the Earth is annual: the center of the Earth in the plane of the ecliptic describes a circle around the Sun.
Copernicus called the second rotation of the Earth declinatory and believed that the change of seasons depends on it.
The third rotation of Copernicus represents the well-known diurnal rotation around the Earth's axis.
The rest of the "Small Commentary" is devoted to the movements of the Moon and planets. At the same time, he proceeded from the principle, which is now called the Copernican principle: the relative motion of two bodies will not change if the same motion is added to both bodies.
The mechanism of rotation of the planets is also left the same - the rotation of the spheres to which the planets are attached. But then the Earth's axis during the annual rotation should rotate, describing a cone; to explain the change of seasons, Copernicus had to introduce the third (reverse) rotation of the Earth around an axis perpendicular to the ecliptic, which he also used to explain the cause of the prelude of the equinoxes. On the border of the world, Copernicus placed the sphere of fixed stars. Strictly speaking, Copernicus' model was not even heliocentric, since he did not place the Sun at the center of the planetary spheres.
The real motion of the planets, especially Mars, is neither circular nor uniform, and contrived epicycles are incapable of long-term agreement between the model and observations. Because of this, the tables of Copernicus, initially more accurate than the Ptolemaic ones, soon diverged significantly from observations, which puzzled and cooled the enthusiastic supporters of the new system. Accurate heliocentric (Rudolf) tables were published later by Johannes Kepler, who discovered the true shape of the orbits of the planets (ellipse), and also recognized and mathematically expressed the unevenness of their movement.
Yet the Copernican model of the world was a colossal step forward and a crushing blow to archaic authorities. The reduction of the Earth to the level of an ordinary planet definitely prepared (contrary to Aristotle) the Newtonian combination of earthly and heavenly natural laws.
He confidently predicted that Venus and Mercury had phases similar to those of the Moon. After the invention of the telescope, Galileo confirmed this prediction.
Informing the Earth and the planet under consideration of movements equal to the movement of the Earth, but only directed in the opposite direction, we, as it were, stop the Earth. Then the planet, in addition to the already existing movement around the Sun, will also have a circular movement, which we will see in the form of movement along the epicycle. The magnitude of this epicycle, which is a circle visible from the Earth, described by it around the Sun, will depend on the distance of the planet from the Earth: the farther the planet, the smaller the epicycle will be. Thus, Copernicus was able to arrange all the planets around the Sun, depending on their distance from it. As a result, "... the sequence and magnitude of the luminaries, all spheres and even the sky itself will be so connected that nothing can be rearranged in any part without causing confusion in other parts and in the entire Universe."
Chapter 3
The main and almost the only work of Copernicus, the fruit of more than 40 years of his work - De revolutionibus orbium coelestium ("On the Revolution of the Celestial Spheres") was published in Nuremberg in 1543; it is divided into 6 parts (books) and was printed under the supervision of the best student of Copernicus, Rheticus.
In the preface to the book, Copernicus writes:
“Considering how absurd this teaching must seem, for a long time I did not dare to publish my book and thought whether it would not be better to follow the example of the Pythagoreans and others, who transmitted their teaching only to friends, spreading it only through tradition.”
In terms of structure, the main work of Copernicus almost repeats the Almagest in a somewhat abridged form (6 books instead of 13). The first part speaks of the sphericity of the world and the Earth, and instead of the position of the immobility of the Earth, another axiom is placed - the Earth and other planets rotate around the axis and around the Sun. This concept is argued in detail, and the "opinion of the ancients" is convincingly refuted. From heliocentric positions, he easily explains the return motion of the planets.
The first book can be divided in content into two parts. Chapters one through eleven inclusive are devoted to a qualitative (descriptive) presentation of the heliocentric system of the world, accompanied by a convincing critique of the main provisions of geocentrism.
Chapters 12 to 14 contain the basic theorems from planimetry and trigonometry necessary for the author to construct a mathematical theory of planetary motion based on the heliocentric system.
In the second chapter of Book One, Copernicus proves that the earth is spherical, citing both the arguments of the ancient scientists and his own.
The fourth chapter ends with the phrase: “Therefore, I first of all consider it necessary to carefully examine in what relation the Earth is to heaven, so that, exploring the highest, we do not forget what is closer and, in such a delusion, do not attribute to the heavenly that which is characteristic of the Earth.”
This phrase best characterizes the research credo of the great naturalist, which was expressed in the fact that every phenomenon requires detailed analysis and study, and nothing visible can be taken on faith as real. Here one can clearly see the fundamental difference between the approach of Copernicus and Ptolemy to the geometric picture of the universe.
The whole work of Nicolaus Copernicus is based on a single principle, free from the prejudices of geocentrism. This is the principle of relativity of mechanical motions, according to which all motion is relative. The concept of motion does not make sense if the frame of reference in which it is considered is not chosen. It is clearly stated in the fifth chapter. It follows from this principle that, since the observer is on the Earth, he cannot directly see the motion of the Earth itself, but it can be indirectly detected in the motion of the starry sky.
In the seventh and eighth chapters a convincing critique of the geocentrism of the ancient astrologers is given. If the Earth had rotation around its axis, then due to the centrifugal effect, which was already well known in antiquity, the Earth would fall apart. Since it is not there, it follows, - Ptolemy reasoned, - that the Earth is motionless, and everything heavenly moves around it. But in this case, notes Copernicus, the sky would have disintegrated even faster, since the celestial sphere with numerous stars is much larger than the Earth, and, consequently, the centrifugal effect for it is even greater. Doesn't this really mean, - says Copernicus, - that the vault of heaven is motionless, and the Earth, as a small particle in the universe, has a daily rotation? These arguments of Copernicus for his time were defiant, revolutionary, since he rejected the point of view of the ancient pillars of science, brought down the sky from its pedestal and applied the same laws to both earthly phenomena and heavenly ones.
The tenth chapter describes the picture of the heliocentric system of the universe and shows the famous drawing (Fig. 2), which indicates the location of the celestial spheres. In the Copernican system, the Sun (1) is located in the center of the solar system, Mercury (2), Venus (3), Earth (4), Mars (5), Jupiter (6), Saturn (7) revolve around it.
To explain the kinematics of the celestial sphere, Copernicus introduced three movements that the Earth has. They are described in Chapter Eleven of Book One.
Thus, Book One gives us a complete description of the essence of the revolutionary doctrine of Copernicus, which freed science from the vicious positions of geocentrism. The scientific provisions of Copernicus struck with their novelty and clarity the entire scientific world of that time. But it was necessary not only to put forward these brilliant ideas. It was also necessary to give as rigorous a justification as possible for all the propositions put forward in Book One.
The Second Book gives information on spherical trigonometry and the rules for calculating the apparent positions of stars, planets and the Sun in the firmament and ends with a star catalog containing the coordinates of 1025 stars and repeating the Almagest catalog in a slightly modified form.
The Third Book speaks of the annual motion of the Earth and precession (precession of the equinoxes), and Copernicus correctly explains it by the displacement of the earth's axis, which is why the line of intersection of the equator with the ecliptic moves.
In the Fourth - about the Moon, in the fifth - he gives a complete development of the heliocentric theory of planetary motions with all mathematical and numerical proofs, and in the sixth - the theory of the apparent motion of the planets in latitude, i.e. their movement across the ecliptic. The book also contains an estimate of the size of the Sun and Moon, the distances to them and to the planets (close to true), the theory of eclipses.
Thus, we see that the essay “On the rotations of the celestial spheres” is essentially a more detailed and detailed study, with mathematical proofs of the provisions indicated in the “Small Commentary”.
In his calculations, Copernicus based himself on the observations of the Hellenistic era, the Arabs and modern observations, including his own. But for the immediate successors of Copernicus - no matter how they relate to the principles of his teachings - the final books of "De revolutionibus" served as the basis for the construction of new planetary ephemerides.
Chapter 4
The main merit of Copernicus was the substantiation of the position that the apparent movement of the Sun and stars is explained not by their circulation around the Earth, but by the daily rotation of the Earth itself around its own axis and its annual revolution around the Sun. This very idea of heliocentrism, expressed in antiquity by Aristarchus of Samos, was given a scientific form and the geocentric teaching of Claudius Ptolemy, which had previously prevailed and was officially supported by the church fathers, was rejected.
The theory developed by Copernicus allowed him, for the first time in the history of the science of the sky, to draw reasonable conclusions about the actual location of the planets in the solar system and to determine their relative distances from the Sun with very high accuracy.
Any of the provisions of the teachings of Copernicus was a great discovery, important not only for astronomy, but also for natural science in general. However, even more important was the significance of the theory of Copernicus for the revolution in the worldview of mankind, which was directly or indirectly caused by it.
Indeed, why did the church support the geocentric model of the world, according to Ptolemy, and the teachings of Aristotle, according to which, again, the Earth, together with the “sublunar world” directly surrounding it, is located in the center of everything, because it consists of the heaviest elements, none of which can to be eternal; Does the “supralunar” world have the properties of “purity” and “incorruptibility” that sharply distinguish it from the earthly ones? Yes, because these provisions did not really affect the dogmas of the Holy Scripture that God created man “in his own image and likeness” and everything in nature is adapted to his existence: the Earth resting in the center of the world is for his habitation, moving around her Sun - to provide a person with light and heat, rain - to moisten his arable land, etc., but earthquakes, floods, storms are sent by God as a punishment for sins.
And over such familiar, time-honored, tradition and church ideas about such an expedient arrangement of the world, a threat looms: if the Earth does not occupy a central, dominant position in the world, but is one of many planets revolving around the Sun, then can the world be considered as something , created exclusively for the sake of the main inhabitant of the Earth - man? And the teachings of Copernicus could not but raise doubts about the truth and steadfastness of biblical dogmas. This was the blow dealt by the new doctrine to the most sensitive place in theology. And this blow had far-reaching consequences, important not only for the further development of astronomy, natural science, science in general, but also for a radical change in the way of thinking, in the approach to studying the laws of the world around us, without which that rapid process of scientific development would be unthinkable. natural science, which began shortly after the publication of the brilliant work of Copernicus, the process of the natural scientific revolution of modern times, rightfully called Copernican.
An excellent illustration of the combination of scientific knowledge and religious teachings is the formation of a scientific picture of the world within the framework of the heliocentric model. So, in order to substantiate his concept, N. Copernicus turned to the idea of the ancients, according to which the Earth and all the planets move around a certain “central fire”. His pen belongs to astrological research on the influence of planets on the fate of people.
Conclusion
The heliocentric system of Copernicus, outlined in 1543 in his famous work “On the Revolutions of the Celestial Spheres”, was an important stage in the development of human thought. With the publication of this work, a new era in astronomy began.
Creating his doctrine of the motion of the Earth, Copernicus explained its apparent immobility by the relativity of motion and rest: “Thus, when a ship moves in calm weather, everything outside appears to the sailors as moving, as if reflecting the movement of the ship, and the observers themselves, on the contrary, consider themselves at rest with everything with them being. The same, no doubt, can occur with the movement of the Earth, so that we think that the whole Universe revolves around it.
The Copernican theory is perhaps the most important scientific theory in the history of mankind because it fundamentally changed man's idea of his place in the world. Before Copernicus, man considered the Earth and himself the center of the universe. It was toppled by the Earth from her dominant position, her immobile position at the center of the solar system. After the publication of the work of Copernicus, a person realized that he was only a tiny particle, lost in the vast expanses of the Universe.
At present, the Copernican doctrine of the motion of the Earth is not of purely academic interest. When launching space rockets, carrying out flights of astronauts, one has to take into account the own rotation of our planet and its orbital movement around the Sun.
Bibliography
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According to the geocentric (Greek ge-Earth) system of the world, the Earth is motionless and is the center of the universe; the sun, moon, planets and stars revolve around it. This system, based on religious beliefs, as well as Op. Plato and Aristotle, was completed by ancient Greek. scientist Ptolemy (2nd century). According to the heliocentric (Greek helios - Sun) system of the world. The Earth, rotating on its axis, is one of the planets that revolve around the Sun. Separate statements in favor of this system were made by Aristarchus of Samos, Nicholas of Cusa, and others, but the true creator of this theory is Copernicus, who comprehensively developed it and substantiated it mathematically. Subsequently, the Copernican system was refined: the Sun is not at the center of the entire universe, but only the solar system. A huge role in substantiating this system was played by Galileo, Kepler, Newton. The struggle of advanced science for the victory of the heliocentric system undermined the teaching of the church about the Earth as the center of the world.
Great Definition
Incomplete definition ↓
HELIOCENTRIC AND GEOCENTRIC SYSTEMS OF THE WORLD
two opposite doctrines about the structure of the solar system and the movement of its bodies. According to heliocentric system of the world (from the Greek. ????? -Sun), the Earth revolving around its own. axis, is one of the planets and together with them revolves around the Sun. In contrast, geocentric the system of the world (from the Greek. ?? - Earth) is based on the statement about the immobility of the Earth, resting in the center of the Universe; The sun, planets and all heavenly bodies revolve around the Earth. The struggle between these two concepts, which led to the triumph of heliocentrism, fills the history of astronomy and has the character of a collision of two opposite philosophies. directions. Some ideas close to heliocentrism developed already in the Pythagorean school. So, even Philolaus (5th century BC) taught about the movement of the planets, the Earth and the Sun around the central fire. Among the brilliant natural philosophers. conjectures included the teaching of Aristarchus of Samos (late 4th - early 3rd centuries BC) about the rotation of the Earth around the Sun and around its own. axes. This teaching was so contrary to the whole system of antiquity. thinking, antique picture of the world, which was not understood by contemporaries and was criticized even by such a scientist as Archimedes. Aristarchus of Samos was declared an apostate, and his theory was for a long time overshadowed by a very skillful, but also very art. construction of Aristotle. Aristotle and Ptolemy are the creators of the classic. geocentrism in its most consistent and complete form. If Ptolemy created the end. kinematic scheme, then Aristotle laid the physical. foundations of geocentrism. The synthesis of Aristotle's physics and Ptolemy's astronomy gives what is usually called the Ptolemaic-Aristotelian system of the world. The conclusions of Aristotle and Ptolemy were based on the analysis of the visible movements of celestial bodies. This analysis immediately revealed the so-called. "inequalities" in the motion of the planets, which were singled out in ancient times from the general picture of the starry sky. The first inequality is that the speed of the apparent motion of the planets does not remain constant, but changes periodically. The second inequality is the complexity, the looping of the lines described by the planets in the sky. These inequalities were in sharp contradiction with the ideas that had been established since the time of Pythagoras about the harmony of the world, about the uniformly circular motion of celestial bodies. In this regard, Plato clearly formulated the task of astronomy - to explain the apparent movement of the planets using a system of uniformly circular motions. The solution of this problem using the concentric system. spheres was engaged in others. -Greek astronomer Eudoxus of Cnidus (c. 408 - c. 355 BC), and then Aristotle. Aristotle's system of the world is based on the idea of an impassable abyss between the earthly elements (earth, water, air, fire) and the heavenly element (quinta essentia). The imperfection of everything earthly is opposed to the perfection of heaven. One of the expressions of this perfection is the uniformly circular motion of the concentric. spheres, to which the planets and other celestial bodies are attached. The universe is limited. The earth rests in its center. Center. the position and immobility of the Earth were explained by Aristotle's peculiar "theory of gravitation". The disadvantage of Aristotle's concept (from the point of view of geocentrism) was the lack of quantities. approach, limiting the study of purely qualities. description. Meanwhile, the needs of practice (and partly the demands of astrology) required the ability to calculate for any moment the position of the planets in the celestial sphere. This problem was solved by Ptolemy (2nd century). Having adopted the physics of Aristotle, Ptolemy rejected his doctrine of concentricity. spheres. In the main work of Ptolemy "Almagest" a harmonious and well-thought-out geocentric is given. world system. All planets move uniformly in circular orbits - epicycles. In turn, the centers of the epicycles evenly slide along the circumference of the deferents - large circles, almost in the center of which is the Earth. By placing the Earth not in the center of the deferents, Ptolemy recognized the eccentricity of the latter. Such a complex system was needed in order to explain the apparent uneven and non-circular motion of the planets by adding uniformly circular motions. For almost one and a half thousand years, the Ptolemaic system served as a theoretical. basis for calculating celestial movements. Rotate. and act. the movement of the Earth was rejected on the grounds that at a high speed of such movement, all bodies on the surface of the Earth would break away from it and fly away. Center. the position of the earth was explained by nature. aspiration of all earthly elements to the center. Only correct ideas about inertia and gravitation could finally break the chain of Ptolemy's proofs. Thus, as a result of the weak development of natures. sciences struggle of heliocentrism and geocentrism in antich. science ended with the victory of geocentrism. Attempts scientists to question the truth of geocentrism met with hostility and were discredited by Aristotle, Ptolemy. Means. geocentrism owes part of its victories to religion. It is wrong to consider geocentrism only as kinematic. scheme of the world; in the classic form it was a natural consequence, astronomical. form of anthropocentrism and teleology. From the idea that man is the crown of creation, the doctrine of the center inevitably followed. the position of the Earth, its exclusivity, the service role of all celestial bodies in relation to the Earth. Geocentrism was a kind of "scientific" justification for religion, and therefore the church zealously fought against heliocentrism. True, geocentrism in materialistic systems of Democritus and his successors was free from religious-idealistic. concepts of anthropocentrism and teleology. The earth was recognized as the center of the world, but only "our" world. The universe is infinite. The number of worlds in it is also infinite. Naturally, such a materialistic interpretation reduced geocentrism to the level of private astronomical. theories. The dividing line between geocentrism and heliocentrism did not always coincide with the boundary separating idealism from materialism. The development of technology required ever greater accuracy of astronomical. computing. This caused the complication of the Ptolemaic system: epicycles were piled on top of epicycles, causing a feeling of bewilderment and anxiety even among orthodox geocentrists. A new era in astronomy was opened by Copernicus. His book On the Revolution of the Heavenly Spheres (1543) was the beginning of the revolution. revolution in natural science. Copernicus put forward the position that most of the visible celestial movements are only a consequence of the movement of the Earth both around its axis and around the Sun. This destroyed the dogma about the immobility and exclusivity of the Earth. However, Copernicus could not finally break with the physics of Aristotle. Hence the errors in his system. First, by swapping the Earth and the Sun, Copernicus began to consider the Sun as abs. center of the universe. Secondly, Copernicus retained the illusion of uniformly circular motions of the planets, which required the introduction of epicycles to explain the first inequality. Thirdly, to explain the change of seasons, Copernicus introduced the third movement of the Earth - "declination movement". However, these shortcomings of the system do not diminish the merits of Copernicus. The teachings of Copernicus were initially accepted without much enthusiasm. It was rejected by F. Bacon, Tycho Brahe and cursed by M. Luther. J. Bruno (1548-1600) overcame the inconsistency of Copernicus. He showed that the Universe is infinite and has no center, and the Sun is an ordinary star in an infinite number of stars and worlds. Having done a gigantic work of generalization, they will observe. material collected by Tycho Brahe, Kepler (1571-1630) discovered the laws of planetary motion. This broke the Aristotelian idea of their uniformly circular motion; elliptical the shape of the orbits finally explained the first inequality in the motion of the planets. The works of Galileo (1564–1642) destroyed the basis of the Ptolemaic system. The law of inertia made it possible to discard the "movement in declination" and to prove the inconsistency of the arguments of the opponents of heliocentrism. "Dialogue on the two main systems of the world - Ptolemaic and Copernican" (1632) brought the ideas of Copernicus to the relatively broad masses, and put Galileo before the court of the Inquisition. Catholic The leaders at first greeted the book of Copernicus without much anxiety and even with interest. This was facilitated as a purely mathematical. the exposition, and the preface of Osiander, in which he argued that the whole construction of Copernicus does not at all pretend to be an image. world, essentially unknowable, that in the book of Copernicus the motion of the Earth serves only as a hypothesis, only as a formal basis for mathematics. calculations. This version was accepted with approval by Rome. J. Bruno exposed Osiander's falsification. The scientific and propaganda activities of Bruno and Galileo dramatically changed the attitude of the Catholics. churches to the teachings of Copernicus. In 1616 it was condemned, and the book of Copernicus was banned "until correction" (the ban was lifted only in 1822). In the works of Bruno, Kepler, Galileo, the Copernican system was freed from the remnants of Aristotelianism. Newton (1643–1727) took a further step forward. His book Mathematical Principles of Natural Philosophy (1687, see Russian translation, 1936) gave a physical. justification for the teachings of Copernicus. This finally eliminated the gap between terrestrial and celestial mechanics and created the first human in history. scientific knowledge. picture of the world. The victory of heliocentrism meant the defeat of religion and the triumph of materialism. a science that seeks to know and explain the world from itself. The dispute between Copernicus and Ptolemy is finally settled in favor of Copernicus. However, with the advent of the general theory of relativity in bourgeois. science has widely spread the opinion (expressed in a general form by E. Mach) that the Copernican system and the Ptolemy system are equal and that the struggle between them was meaningless (see A. Einstein and L. Infeld, Evolution of Physics, M., 1956, p. 205–10, M. Born, Einstein's theory of relativity and its physical foundations, M.–L., 1938, pp. 252–54). The position of physicists on this issue was supported by some idealist philosophers. "The doctrine of relativity does not assert," writes G. Reichenbach, "that Ptolemy's view is correct; rather, it refutes the absolute significance of each of these two views. This new understanding could arise only because historical development passed through both concepts, because The displacement of the Ptolemaic worldview by the Copernican one laid the foundation for a new mechanics, which eventually revealed the one-sidedness of the Copernican worldview itself. The road to truth went here through three dialectical stages, which Hegel considered as necessary stages in any historical development, leading from thesis through antithesis to the highest synthesis "(From Copernicus to Einstein", N. Y., 1942, p. 83). This "highest synthesis" of the ideas of Ptolemy and Copernicus is based on an incorrect interpretation of the general principle of relativity: since acceleration (and not just speed, as in the special theory of relativity) loses its absolute character, since the fields of inertial forces are equivalent to gravity and the general laws of physics are formulated covariantly with respect to any transformations coordinates and time, then all possible frames of reference are equal in rights and the concept of a predominant (privileged) frame of reference loses its meaning. Therefore, a geocentric description of the world has the same right to exist as a heliocentric one. The choice of a frame of reference associated with the Sun is not a question principle, but a matter of convenience.Thus, under the banner of the further development of science, the significance of that revolution in science and worldview, which was produced by the works of Copernicus, is essentially denied. This concept is objected to by many scholars. Moreover, the nature of the objections, the method of argumentation are different, reflecting one or another understanding of the essence of the general theory of relativity. Proceeding from the fact that the general theory of relativity is in essence the theory of gravitation, Acad. V. A. Fok in a number of works ("Some applications of Lobachevsky's ideas of non-Euclidean geometry to physics", in the book: A. P. Kotelnikov and V. A. Fok, Some applications of Lobachevsky's ideas in mechanics and physics, M.–L. , 1950; "The Copernican system and the Ptolemy system in the light of the modern theory of gravitation", in "Nicholas Copernicus", M., 1955) denies the relativity of acceleration as a basic principle. Fock argues that under certain conditions it is possible to single out a privileged coordinate system (the so-called "harmonic coordinates"). The acceleration in such a system is absolute, i.e. it does not depend on the choice of the system, but is due to the physical. reasons. From this follows directly the objective truth of the heliocentric. world systems. But Fock's starting point is by no means universally recognized and is subject to criticism (see, for example, ?. ?. Shirokov, General Theory of Relativity or the Theory of Gravity?, Zh. Issue 1. H. Keres, Some questions of the general theory of relativity, "Proceedings of the Institute of Physics and Astron. Academy of Sciences of Estonian SSR", Tartu, 1957, No 5). In contrast to Fock, ?. ?. Shirokov believes that the recognition of the general principle of relativity is compatible with the recognition of the existence of predominant frames of reference for an isolated accumulation of matter, since the theorem on the center of inertia is valid in any frame of reference with Galilean conditions at infinity (see. ?. ?. Shirokov, On the predominant frames of reference in Newtonian mechanics and the theory of relativity, in: Dialectical materialism and modern natural science, Moscow, 1957). Such a system is characterized by the fact that its center of inertia is at rest or moves uniformly and rectilinearly, and that the laws of conservation of mass, energy, momentum and momentum are satisfied. A non-inertial system cannot be predominant, because it does not meet these conditions. Obviously, for our planetary system, the reference system associated with the Sun as the center of inertia of the considered material formation will be predominant. Thus, in both of these approaches to the general theory of relativity, the recognition of the equivalence of the systems of Copernicus and Ptolemy turns out to be untenable. This conclusion will become even more obvious if we take into account that equality, equivalence of reference systems cannot be reduced to the possibility of transition from one to another. Since we are not talking about formally mathematical. representations, but about material, objective systems, one must take into account the origin of the system, and the role that various material bodies play in it, and a number of other physical. system characteristics. This is the only correct approach. Compar. consideration of the role and place occupied by the Sun and the Earth in the development of the solar system shows with sufficient clarity that it is the Sun that is natural. the predominant reference body for the entire system. Heliocentric the system of the world is an integral part of the modern. scientific pictures of the world. It has become a familiar fact that has entered even into ordinary consciousness. The simplest experiments with the Foucault pendulum and gyroscopic. compasses visually demonstrate the rotation of the Earth around its axis. The aberration of light and the parallax of fixed stars prove the rotation of the earth around the sun. But behind this simplicity, behind this obviousness, lie two millennia of intense and cruel struggle between the forces of progress and reaction. This struggle once again testifies to the complexity and inconsistency of the process of cognition. Lit.:?erel Yu. G., Development of ideas about the Universe, M., 1958. A. Bovin. Moscow.
Nicholas Copernicus- Polish and Prussian astronomer, mathematician, economist, canon of the Renaissance , author of the heliocentric system of the world.
Biography facts
Nicolaus Copernicus was born in Torun into a merchant family in 1473, he lost his parents early. There is no definite opinion about his nationality - some consider him a Pole, others - a German. His hometown became part of Poland a few years before his birth, and before that was part of Prussia. But he was brought up in the German family of his maternal uncle.
He studied at the University of Krakow, where he studied mathematics, medicine and theology, but he was especially attracted to astronomy. Then he left for Italy and entered the University of Bologna, where he prepared mainly for a spiritual career, but also studied astronomy there. He studied medicine at the University of Padua. Upon returning to Krakow, he worked as a doctor, at the same time being a confidant of his uncle, Bishop Lukas.
After the death of his uncle, he lived in the small town of Frombork in Poland, where he served as a canon (priest of the Catholic Church), but did not stop studying astronomy. Here he developed the idea of a new astronomical system. He shared his thoughts with friends, so very soon word spread about the young astronomer and his new system.
Copernicus was one of the first to express the idea of universal gravitation. One of his letters says: “I think that gravity is nothing but a certain desire with which the divine Architect endowed the particles of matter so that they would unite in the form of a ball. The Sun, the Moon, and the planets probably have this property; to him these luminaries owe their spherical shape.
He confidently predicted that Venus and Mercury had phases similar to those of the Moon. After the invention of the telescope, Galileo confirmed this prediction.
It is known that talented people are talented in everything. Copernicus also showed himself to be a comprehensively educated person: according to his project, a new monetary system was introduced in Poland; in the city of Frombork, he built a hydraulic machine that supplied water to all houses. As a doctor, he fought the plague in 1519. During the Polish-Teutonic War (1519-1521), he organized the successful defense of the bishopric from the Teutons, and then took part in peace negotiations that culminated in the creation of the first Protestant state - the Duchy of Prussia.
At the age of 58, Copernicus retired from all affairs and began working on his book. "On the rotation of the heavenly spheres", at the same time treated people free of charge.
Nicolaus Copernicus died in 1543 from a stroke.
Heliocentric system of the world of Copernicus
heliocentric system- the idea that the Sun is the central celestial body around which the Earth and other planets revolve. The Earth, in accordance with this system, revolves around the Sun in one sidereal year, and around its axis - in one sidereal day. This view is the opposite geocentric system of the world(the idea of the structure of the universe, according to which the central position in the Universe is occupied by the motionless Earth, around which the Sun, Moon, planets and stars revolve).
The doctrine of the heliocentric system arose even in antiquity, but became widespread from the end of the Renaissance.
The Pythagoreans, Heraclides of Pontus, had conjectures about the movement of the Earth, but a truly heliocentric system was proposed at the beginning of the 3rd century BC. e. Aristarchus of Samos. It is believed that Aristarchus came to heliocentrism based on the fact he established that the Sun is much larger than the Earth in size (the only work of a scientist that has come down to us). It was natural to assume that the smaller body revolves around the larger one, and not vice versa. The geocentric system of the world that existed before was unable to explain the change in the apparent brightness of the planets and the apparent size of the Moon, which the Greeks correctly associated with a change in the distance to these celestial bodies. It also allowed to establish the order of the luminaries.
But after the 2nd century A.D. e. in the Hellenistic world, geocentrism was firmly established, based on the philosophy of Aristotle and the planetary theory of Ptolemy.
In the Middle Ages the heliocentric system of the world was practically forgotten. The exception is the astronomers of the Samarkand school founded by Ulugbek in the first half of the 15th century. Some of them rejected the philosophy of Aristotle as the physical foundation of astronomy and considered the rotation of the Earth around its axis as physically possible. There are indications that some of the Samarkand astronomers considered the possibility of not just the axial rotation of the Earth, but the movement of its center, and also developed a theory in which the Sun is considered to revolve around the Earth, but all the planets revolve around the Sun (which can be called the geo-heliocentric system of the world) .
In the era Early Renaissance Nicholas of Cusa wrote about the mobility of the Earth, but his judgment was purely philosophical. There were other suggestions about the movement of the Earth, but the system as such did not exist. And only in the 16th century did heliocentrism finally revive, when the Polish astronomer Nicholas Copernicus developed the theory of planetary motion around the Sun based on the Pythagorean principle of uniform circular motions. The result of his labors was the book "On the rotations of the celestial spheres", published in 1543. He considered the disadvantage of all geocentric theories that they do not allow to determine "the shape of the world and the proportionality of its parts", that is, the scale of the planetary system. Perhaps he proceeded from the heliocentrism of Aristarchus, but this has not been conclusively proven; in the final edition of the book, the reference to Aristarchus has disappeared.
Copernicus believed that the Earth makes three movements:
1. Around its axis with a period of one day, resulting in a daily rotation of the celestial sphere.
2. Around the Sun with a period of a year, resulting in backward motions of the planets.
3. The so-called declination movement, also with a period of approximately one year, leads to the fact that the Earth's axis moves approximately parallel to itself.
Copernicus explained the reasons for the backward motions of the planets, calculated the distances of the planets from the Sun and the periods of their revolutions. Zodiacal inequality in the movement of the planets Copernicus explained by the fact that their movement is a combination of movements in large and small circles.
Heliocentric system of Copernicus can be formulated in the following statements:
- orbits and celestial spheres do not have a common center;
- the center of the Earth is not the center of the Universe, but only the center of mass and orbit of the Moon;
- all the planets move in orbits whose center is the Sun, and therefore the Sun is the center of the world;
- the distance between the Earth and the Sun is very small compared to the distance between the Earth and the fixed stars;
- the daily movement of the Sun is imaginary, and is caused by the effect of the rotation of the Earth, which rotates once every 24 hours around its axis, which always remains parallel to itself;
- The Earth (together with the Moon, like other planets), revolves around the Sun, and therefore the movements that the Sun seems to make (the daily movement, as well as the annual movement when the Sun moves around the Zodiac) are nothing more than the effect of the Earth's movement ;
- this motion of the Earth and other planets explains their location and the specific characteristics of the motion of the planets.
These statements completely contradicted the geocentric system that prevailed at that time.
The center of the planetary system for Copernicus was not the Sun, but the center of the earth's orbit;
of all the planets, the Earth was the only one that moved uniformly in its orbit, while the orbital speed of the other planets varied.
Apparently, Copernicus retained a belief in the existence of celestial spheres carrying planets. Thus, the movement of the planets around the Sun was explained by the rotation of these spheres around their axes.
Evaluation of the theory of Copernicus by contemporaries
His closest supporters for the first three decades after the publication of the book « On the rotations of the celestial spheres" was the German astronomer Georg Joachim Retik, who at one time collaborated with Copernicus, who considered himself his student, as well as the astronomer and surveyor Gemma Frisius. A friend of Copernicus, Bishop Tiedemann Giese, was also a supporter of Copernicus. But the majority of contemporaries from the theory of Copernicus “pulled out” only the mathematical apparatus for astronomical calculations and the almost complete disregard for his new, heliocentric cosmology. This may have happened because the preface to his book was written by a Lutheran theologian, and the preface said that the motion of the earth was a clever computational trick, but that Copernicus should not be taken literally. Many in the 16th century believed that this was the opinion of Copernicus himself. And only in the 70s - 90s of the XVI century. astronomers began to show interest in the new system of the world. Copernicus had both supporters (including philosopher Giordano Bruno; theologian Diego de Zuniga, who uses the concept of the Earth's motion to interpret some words of the Bible) and opponents (astronomers Tycho Brahe and Christopher Clavius, philosopher Francis Bacon).
Opponents of the Copernican system argued that if the Earth rotated around its axis, then:
- The earth would experience colossal centrifugal forces that would inevitably tear it apart.
- All light objects on its surface would be scattered in all directions of the Cosmos.
- Any thrown object would deviate towards the west, and the clouds would float, along with the Sun, from east to west.
- Celestial bodies move because they are made of imponderable thin matter, but what force can make the huge heavy Earth move?
Meaning
The heliocentric system of the world, put forward in the III century BC. uh . Aristarchus and revived in the 16th century Copernicus, made it possible to establish the parameters of the planetary system and discover the laws of planetary motions. The justification of heliocentrism required the creation classical mechanics and led to the discovery of the law gravity. This theory paved the way for stellar astronomy, when it was proved that the stars are distant suns) and the cosmology of the infinite Universe. Further, the heliocentric system of the world was more and more asserted - the main content of the scientific revolution of the 17th century consisted in the establishment of heliocentrism.
In fact, Aristarchus of Samos - Samos was an island near Turkey - developed a form of heliocentric world system as early as around 200 BC. Other ancient civilizations, including various Muslim scholars in the 11th century, maintained the same beliefs that built on the work of Aristarchus and European scholars in Medieval Europe.
In the 16th century, astronomer Nicolaus Copernicus invented his version of the heliocentric system of the world. Like others before him, Copernicus drew on the work of Aristarchus, mentioning a Greek astronomer in his notes. The Copernican theory has become so famous that when most people discuss the heliocentric theory these days, they refer to the Copernican model. Copernicus published his theory in his book "On the rotation of the celestial spheres". Copernicus placed the Earth as the third planet from the Sun, and in his model orbits the Earth rather than the Sun. Copernicus also hypothesized that the stars do not orbit the earth; The earth rotates on its axis, which makes the stars look like they are moving across the sky. Through the application of geometry, he was able to transform the heliocentric system of the world from a philosophical hypothesis into a theory that did a very good job of predicting the motion of the planets and other celestial bodies.
The only problem facing the heliocentric system of the world was that the Roman Catholic Church, a very powerful organization in the time of Copernicus, considered it heretical. This may have been one of the reasons why Copernicus did not publish his theory until after he was on his deathbed. After the death of Copernicus, the Roman Catholic Church worked even harder to suppress the heliocentric view. The Church arrested Galileo for supporting the heretical heliocentric model and kept him under house arrest for the last eight years of his life. Around the same time that Galileo created the telescope, astronomer Johannes Kepler was perfecting the heliocentric system of the world and trying to prove it using calculations.
Although its progress was slow, the heliocentric system of the world finally replaced the geocentric system of the world. While new evidence has emerged, some have begun to question whether the sun was actually the center of the universe. The sun was not the geometric center of the orbits of the planets, and the center of gravity was also not quite in the center of the sun. What this means, although children in schools are taught that heliocentrism is the correct model of the universe, astronomers use both types of the universe depending on what they are studying and which theory makes their calculations easier.
The great Polish astronomer Nicolaus Copernicus (1473-1543) outlined his system of the world in the book “On the Rotations of the Celestial Spheres”, published in the year of his death. In this book, he proved that the universe is not arranged in the way that religion has claimed for many centuries.
In all countries, for almost a millennium and a half, the false teaching of Ptolemy, who claimed that the Earth rests motionless in the center of the Universe, dominated the minds of people. The followers of Ptolemy, for the sake of the church, came up with more and more new “explanations” and “proofs” of the movement of the planets around the Earth in order to preserve the “truth” and “holiness” of his false teaching. But from this, the Ptolemaic system became more and more far-fetched and artificial.
Long before Ptolemy, the Greek scientist Aristarchus argued that the Earth moves around the Sun. Later, in the Middle Ages, advanced scientists shared the point of view of Aristarchus on the structure of the world and rejected the false teachings of Ptolemy. Shortly before Copernicus, the great Italian scientists Nicholas of Cusa and Leonardo da Vinci argued that the Earth moves, that it is not at all in the center of the Universe and does not occupy an exceptional position in it.
Why, in spite of this, did the Ptolemaic system continue to dominate?
Because it relied on the all-powerful church authority, which suppressed free thought, hindered the development of science. In addition, scientists who rejected the teachings of Ptolemy and expressed correct views on the structure of the Universe could not yet convincingly substantiate them.
This was done only by Nicolaus Copernicus. After thirty years of hard work, long reflections and complex mathematical calculations, he showed that the Earth is only one of the planets, and all the planets revolve around the Sun.
Copernicus did not live to see the time when his book spread throughout the world, revealing to people the truth about the universe. He was near death when friends brought and put the first copy of the book into his cold hands.
Copernicus was born in 1473 in the Polish city of Torun. He lived in a difficult time, when Poland and its neighbor - the Russian state - continued the centuries-old struggle against the invaders - the Teutonic knights and the Tatar-Mongols, who sought to enslave the Slavic peoples.
Copernicus lost his parents early. He was raised by his maternal uncle Lukasz Watzelrode, an outstanding public and political figure of that time. The thirst for knowledge possessed Copernicus from childhood. At first he studied at home. Then he continued his education at Italian universities. Of course, astronomy was studied there according to Ptolemy, but Copernicus carefully studied all the surviving works of great mathematicians and ancient astronomy. Even then, he had thoughts about the correctness of Aristarchus' guesses, about the falsity of Ptolemy's system. But Copernicus was engaged in more than one astronomy. He studied philosophy, law, medicine and returned to his homeland a comprehensively educated man for his time.
Upon his return from Italy, Copernicus settled in Warmia - first in the city of Litzbark, then in Frombork. His activities were extremely diverse. He took an active part in the management of the region: he was in charge of its financial, economic and other affairs. At the same time, Copernicus tirelessly pondered the true structure of the solar system and gradually came to his great discovery.
What does the book of Copernicus “On the rotation of the celestial spheres” contain and why did it deal such a crushing blow to the Ptolemaic system, which, with all its flaws, had been kept for fourteen centuries under the auspices of the omnipotent church authority in that era? In this book, Nicolaus Copernicus argued that the Earth and other planets are satellites of the sun. He showed that it is the movement of the Earth around the sun and its daily rotation around its axis that explains the apparent movement of the Sun, the strange entanglement in the movement of the planets and the apparent rotation of the firmament.
Brilliantly simple, Copernicus explained that we perceive the movement of distant celestial bodies in the same way as the movement of various objects on Earth when we ourselves are in motion.
We slide in a boat along a calmly flowing river, and it seems to us that the boat and we are motionless in it, and the banks “float” in the opposite direction. In the same way, it only seems to us that the Sun moves around the Earth. But in fact, the Earth with everything that is on it moves around the Sun and during the year makes a complete revolution in its orbit.
And in the same way, when the Earth overtakes another planet in its movement around the Sun, it seems to us that the planet is moving backward, describing a loop in the sky. In reality, the planets move around the Sun in regular, although not perfectly circular orbits, without making any loops. Copernicus, like ancient Greek scientists, argued that the orbits along which the planets move can only be circular, the daily movement of all the stars can be explained by the rotation of the Earth around its axis, and the loop-like movement of the planets can be explained by the fact that all of them, including the Earth, revolve around the Sun .
Three quarters of a century later, the German astronomer Johannes Kepler, the successor of Copernicus, proved that the orbits of all the planets are elongated circles - ellipses.
Copernicus considered the stars to be fixed. Supporters of Ptolemy insisted on the immobility of the Earth, argued that if the Earth moved in space, then when observing the sky at different times, it would seem to us that the stars are shifting, changing their position in the sky. But no astronomer has noticed such displacements of stars for many centuries. It was in this that the supporters of the teachings of Ptolemy wanted to see proof of the immobility of the Earth.
However, Copernicus argued that the stars are at unimaginably great distances. Therefore, their insignificant shifts could not be noticed. Indeed, the distances from us even to the nearest stars turned out to be so large that even three centuries after Copernicus they could be accurately determined. Only in 1837, the Russian astronomer Vasily Yakovlevich Struve laid the foundation for the accurate determination of the distances to the stars.
It is clear what a startling impression a book must have made in which Copernicus explained the world without considering religion and even rejecting any authority of the Church in matters of science. Church leaders did not immediately understand what a blow to religion was caused by the scientific work of Copernicus, in which he brought the Earth down to the position of one of the planets. For some time, the book was freely distributed among scientists. Not many years passed, and the revolutionary significance of the great book was fully manifested. Other prominent scientists came forward - the successors of the Copernican cause. They developed and spread the idea of the infinity of the Universe, in which the Earth is like a grain of sand, and there are countless worlds. Since that time, the church began a fierce persecution of supporters of the teachings of Copernicus.
The new doctrine of the solar system - heliocentric - was affirmed in the most severe struggle with religion. The teachings of Copernicus undermined the very foundations of the religious worldview and opened up a wide path to a materialistic, truly scientific knowledge of natural phenomena.
In the second half of the 16th century, the teachings of Copernicus found their supporters among the leading scientists of different countries. Scientists also came forward who not only propagated the teachings of Copernicus, but deepened and expanded it.
Copernicus believed that the Universe is limited by the sphere of fixed stars, which are located at unimaginably huge, but still finite distances from us and from the Sun. In the teachings of Copernicus, the vastness of the universe and its infinity were affirmed. Copernicus also for the first time in astronomy not only gave the correct scheme of the structure of the solar system (Fig. No. 2) [Electronic resource], but also determined the relative distances of the planets from the sun and calculated the period of their revolution around it. Arguing with the arguments of Aristotle and Ptolemy, Copernicus
notes that "not only the Earth rotates along with the water element connected with it, but also a considerable part of the air and everything that is in any relationship with the Earth." It should not be surprising that the displacement of stars during the movement of the Earth was not noticed. After all, "the dimensions of the world are so great that although the distance from the Earth to the Sun is sufficiently large in comparison with the dimensions of the sphere of any planet, it is, nevertheless, imperceptibly small in comparison with the sphere of the fixed stars." Therefore, "it is easier to accept this assumption than to puzzle over an infinite number of spheres, as those who keep the Earth at the center of the world are forced to do"
