What did Nicklaus Copernicus contribute to the scientific revolution?

Answer 1

Before Copernicus , everyone thought the Earth was the centre of the universe. This system was known as the Geocentric system (Earth centred).

Copernicus discovered by stellar observation that the Earth was not the centre of the universe. He stated that the Sun was the centre of system of planets, of which the Earth part of that system. At the time of his discovery, the known planets were Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter and Saturn. Uranus, Neptune and Pluto had not been discovered.

The Copernean system is known as the Heliocentric System (Sun Centred).

Answer 2

Copernicus was the first astronomer to look critically at the accepted model of the planets' movements among the stars, and he published an alternative theory in 1543. His model had the Sun at the centre and he thought it looked good because the geometrical complications in the old Ptolemaic model, that had the Earth at the centre, were simplified.

Copernicus's theory was eventually superseded by the later theory of Kepler (1609) which also placed the Sun at the centre. Kepler's model fitted recent measurements of the planets' movements, made by Tycho Brahe, very accurately.

Until the late 1600s there was no way to make a definite choice between these theories. But after the theory of gravity and the laws of motion were discovered, they were used to show that Kepler's model fitted the new theories very closely.

Although Copernicus's theory ended up being rejected it is of historical interest because he encouraged later astronomers to take up the topic and eventually make significant progress.

Answer 3

He proposed a Heliocentric system- that Earth orbits the sun.