Astronomy During the Renaissance
How the Solar System was Viewed During the Renaissance
Aristotle and His Beliefs
Aristotle was a big influence during the 300's time period. When Greece was taken over, all of their documents of the solar system were lost, other than Aristotle's beliefs that Earth was the center of the solar system. This led people to believe this once these documents were found.
Copernicus's Beginning
Nicolaus Copernicus was born on February 19, 1473. He grew up to be an astronomer, mathematician, church jurist, physician, translator, an artist, Catholic cleric, a governor, a diplomat, and an economist. But he was mostly interested in the sky. More specifically, our solar system.
Copernicus made a makeshift telescope, though no one knew what that was during the 1400's. It was made of wood like yard sticks put together, with a metal tube to look through. He used it to measure the angular altitude of stars, planets, and other objects in the sky.
Copernicus' Telescope
This was Copernicus's telescope that he used to measure the altitude of the space objects that he could see.
Nicolaus Copernicus
Did you know that Nicolaus' birth name was Mikolaj Kopernik? When he went to the University of Padua, he started calling himself the Latin form of his name.
Nicolaus' Thoughts
This is what Nicolaus believed to be the real solar system. He believed that the sun was the center, and everything else orbited around it.
Copernicus's Book
All throughout school at Padua University, all the studying the sky, and calculating the orbit of the Earth and other planets, Copernicus finally came to a conclusion of how our solar system worked. He found out that the Sun was the center of our solar system due to the way everything was orbiting around it. He later gathered all of his documents and created a book. He sent it in to be published when he was 70 years old. It finally came when he was on his deathbed. He died with it in his arms.
Conflict with the City
Copernicus believed that he shouldn't cause conflict. Though, he finally wanted people to know something about the mystery of space. He went all over, and people shot his ideas down and laughed at him. People did not start to believe him until he was dead and his book was published.
Copernicus - 100 Greatest Discoveries
Here is a short video explaining Copernicus' book a little more closely.
Influence on the World
Nicolaus Copernicus was a great influence to our world. He may not have been acknowledged during his time period, but we know it was him that led us to knowing what we know now. This was the astronomy during the Renaissance.