Thus, in no ordinary sense of ' simplicity ' is the Ptolemaic theory simpler than the Copernican.

The strongest appeal of the Copernican formulation consisted in just this: ideally, the justification for dealing with special problems in particular ways is completely set out in the basic ' rules ' of the theory.

As early as 1573, Thomas Digges had suggested that this theory should necessitate a parallactic shifting of the stars, and, consequently, if such stellar parallaxes existed, then the Copernican theory would receive additional confirmation.

It is also worth noting that part of the original motivation of the search for stellar parallax was to test the Copernican theory that the Earth revolves around the Sun, but of course the existence of aberration also establishes the truth of that theory.

In the sixteenth century the Italian philosopher Giordano Bruno, an early supporter of the Copernican theory that the Earth and other planets orbit the Sun ( heliocentrism ), put forward the view that the fixed stars are similar to the Sun and are likewise accompanied by planets.

Galileo's Sidereus Nuncius ( Starry Messenger ), which announced celestial observations through his telescope, does not explicitly mention Copernican heliocentrism, a theory that placed the Sun at the center of the universe.

Nevertheless, Galileo accepted the Copernican theory.

" Therefore, although the thesis of the " Mysterium Cosmographicum " was in error, modern astronomy owes much to this work " since it represents the first step in cleansing the Copernican system of the remnants of the Ptolemaic theory still clinging to it.

Through their letters, Tycho and Kepler discussed a broad range of astronomical problems, dwelling on lunar phenomena and Copernican theory ( particularly its theological viability ).

File: Justus Sustermans-Portrait of Galileo Galilei, 1636. jpg | Galileo Galilei ( 1564-1642 ): discovered the uniform acceleration rate of falling bodies, improved on the refracting telescope, discovered the four largest moons of Jupiter, described projectile motion and the concept of weight ; known for championing of the Copernican theory of heliocentricism against Church opposition.

Thus the conquest of actual infinity may be considered an expansion of our scientific horizon no less revolutionary than the Copernican system or than the theory of relativity, or even of quantum and nuclear physics.

For example, the Ptolemaic theory contained numerous ad hoc assumptions ; the Copernican theory is simple and parsimonious, and also more accurate.

In the 16th century the Italian philosopher Giordano Bruno, an early supporter of the Copernican theory that the Earth and other planets orbit the Sun, put forward the view that the fixed stars are similar to the Sun and are likewise accompanied by planets.

" Galileo stated that the Copernican theory was not just a mathematical calculating tool, but a physical reality.

Within the work of Da Vinci fascination can be found within manuscripts describing the Platonic Solids, and also within the work of Kepler who supported the Copernican theory of heliocentrism and attempted a theory of the universe based on musical, geometrical harmony.

Although Riccioli rejected the Copernican theory, he named a prominent lunar crater " Copernicus ", and he named other important craters after other proponents of the Copernican theory such as Kepler, Galileo and Lansbergius.

Because craters that he and Grimaldi named after themselves are in the same general vicinity as these, while craters named for some other Jesuit astronomers are in a different part of the Moon, near the very prominent crater named for Tycho Brahe, Riccioli's lunar nomenclature has at times been considered to be a tacit expression of sympathy for a Copernican theory that, as a Jesuit, he could not publicly support.

This shift from naive self-centeredness in one's own time and spot to a broader view based on objective comparison is somewhat like the change from the original geocentric assumption of astronomy to the Copernican interpretation of the solar system and the subsequent still greater widening to a universe of galaxies.

* 1584 — Giordano Bruno proposes a non-hierarchical cosmology, wherein the Copernican solar system is not the center of the universe, but rather, a relatively insignificant star system, amongst an infinite multitude of others

The Tychonic system ( or Tychonian system ) was a model of the solar system published by Tycho Brahe in the late 16th century which combined what he saw as the mathematical benefits of the Copernican system with the philosophical and " physical " benefits of the Ptolemaic system.

These tables used the Copernican heliocentric model of the solar system.

A clear illustration of the theory in practice is the Copernican revolution where Copernicus ’ idea of a solar system was largely ignored ( not in the rules ) when first introduced, then Galileo was deemed a heretic ( rules called into question ), and after a revolution in cosmology, the solar system is taken as an obvious and foundational part of scientific knowledge ( new rules ).

The Copernican model of the solar system was regarded as a device to explain the observed positions of the planets rather than a physical description.

Although he primarily taught the traditional geocentric Ptolemaic view of the solar system, Maestlin was also one of the first to accept and teach the heliocentric Copernican view.

But none of this has prevented scientists, philosophers, and even historians of science, from speaking of the Ptolemaic system, in contrast to the Copernican.

Despite their embrace of the principle of rectilinear inertia and the recognition of the kinematical relativity of apparent motion ( which underlies whether the Ptolemaic or the Copernican system is correct ), natural philosophers of the seventeenth century continued to consider true motion and rest as physically separate descriptors of an individual body.

Under the instruction of Michael Maestlin, Tübingen's professor of mathematics from 1583 to 1631, he learned both the Ptolemaic system and the Copernican system of planetary motion.

Johannes Kepler's first major astronomical work, Mysterium Cosmographicum ( The Cosmographic Mystery ), was the first published defense of the Copernican system.

Much of Kepler ’ s enthusiasm for the Copernican system stemmed from his theological convictions about the connection between the physical and the spiritual ; the universe itself was an image of God, with the Sun corresponding to the Father, the stellar sphere to the Son, and the intervening space between to the Holy Spirit.

With the support of his mentor Michael Maestlin, Kepler received permission from the Tübingen university senate to publish his manuscript, pending removal of the Bible exegesis and the addition of a simpler, more understandable description of the Copernican system as well as Kepler ’ s new ideas.

According to Harrison, the first to conceive of anything like the paradox was Thomas Digges, who was also the first to expound the Copernican system in English and may have been the first to postulate an infinite universe with infinitely many stars.

As an astronomer, Tycho worked to combine what he saw as the geometrical benefits of the Copernican system with the philosophical benefits of the Ptolemaic system into his own model of the universe, the Tychonic system.

* 1576 — Thomas Digges modifies the Copernican system by removing its outer edge and replacing the edge with a star-filled unbounded space

He concluded that since he could see stellar disks, the stars could not be as distant as was required in the Copernican world system, and he said that the appearance of the stars as seen through a telescope actually argued against Copernicus.

Originally, the presence of a bright ray system surrounding an impact crater was used to define Copernican units, but as mentioned above, this is complicated by the presence of compositional ray systems.

Galileo demonstrated the revolution of the satellites of Jupiter around the planet and gave rough predictions of their configurations, proved the rotation of the Sun on its axis and established the general truth of the Copernican system as compared with that of Ptolemy.

Tycho appreciated the Copernican system, but objected to the idea of a moving Earth on the basis of physics, astronomy, and religion.

So Tycho said that the Copernican system “... expertly and completely circumvents all that is superfluous or discordant in the system of Ptolemy.

Before the 16th century and Copernican heliocentrism, human knowledge of planetary systems was limited to heliocentrism and our own planetary system ( the Solar System ).

1300 – after 1358 ) was a French priest who sowed the seeds of the Copernican revolution in Europe.

# Johannes Kepler – Epitome of Copernican Astronomy ; Concerning the Harmonies of the World

# the Copernican principle – that we are not observing the universe from a preferred locale.

# Johannes Kepler – The Epitome of Copernican Astronomy ; Harmonices Mundi

* Copernican system – obsoleted by Johannes Kepler and Isaac Newton

My hearty congratulations to Professor V. A. Hambardzumyan, the Copernican Revolutionary ...!” ( Problems of Physics and Evolution of the Universe, Publishing House of the Armenian Academy of Sciences, Yerevan, 1978, pp. 243 – 250.

It became a standard technical reference book for astronomers all over Europe, " a text no serious seventeenth century astronomer could do without "; John Flamsteed ( 1646 – 1719 ), the first English astronomer royal, a Copernican and a Protestant, used it for his Gresham lectures ; Jérôme Lalande ( 1732 – 1807 ) of the Paris Observatory cited it extensively even though it was an old book at that point ; the 1912 Catholic Encyclopedia calls it the most important literary work of the Jesuits during the seventeenth century.

The problem was acknowledged by Copernicans such as Martin van den Hove ( 1605 – 1639 ), who also measured the disks of stars and acknowledged that the issue of vast star sizes might lead people to reject the Copernican theory.

** Epitome of Copernican Astronomy ( Books IV – V )