During the Scientific Revolution, major breakthroughs in astronomy and physics changed our view of the universe. For centuries, people accepted the geocentric theory, which proposed that Earth sat unmoving at the center of the universe. This idea, supported by the Greek philosopher Aristotle and later by Ptolemy, aligned with church teachings and remained largely unquestioned until the early 1500s. However, curiosity and careful observation began to challenge this ancient view.

Nicolaus Copernicus, a Polish astronomer, introduced the heliocentric theory, suggesting that the sun, not Earth, was at the center of the universe. Copernicus spent 25 years studying planetary movements and concluded that Earth and other planets revolved around the sun. In 1543, he published On the Revolutions of the Heavenly Bodies, which outlined his theory. While Copernicus’s ideas went largely unnoticed at first, his heliocentric theory laid a foundation for future astronomers.

In Denmark, the astronomer Tycho Brahe built on Copernicus’s work. He meticulously recorded the positions of the planets over many years to create precise data that paved the way for the next advance. Brahe’s assistant, the German mathematician Johannes Kepler, analyzed this data and formulated three laws of planetary motion. Kepler showed that planets orbit the sun in elliptical paths, not perfect circles as previously thought. His laws provided mathematical proof that Copernicus’s heliocentric theory was correct.