Copernicus and His Theory
Copernicus was a graduate of the University of Cracow. He was a physician, a lawyer, and a church administrator who spent his spare time studying astronomy. In 1543 he published De Revolutionibus Orbium Coelestium (“On the Revolutions of the Celestial Orbs”) In it, Copernicus stated that the earth orbited around the sun. He also created a simple and elegant solution to the motion of the planets as they appeared from Earth. In the Copernican System, the sun was the center of the solar system and all planets orbited around the sun in perfect circles. The Copernican system wasn't widely considered until Johannes Kepler improved upon Copernicus’s calculations.
Galileo was greatly influenced by Copernicus. Galileo's ideas about astronomy and how the solar system worked were inspired by Copernicus's theories.
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