Copernicus publishes his Sun-centered model

Nicolaus Copernicus published On the Revolutions of the Heavenly Spheres in 1543, proposing that the Earth and other planets move around the Sun. The idea took generations to win acceptance.

Context

Copernicus, who lived from 1473 to 1543, was a Polish astronomer. Britannica says he proposed that the planets orbit the Sun, that the Earth orbits the Sun yearly and rotates daily, and that a slow change in the direction of Earth's axis explains the precession of the equinoxes.

The Library of Congress holds the first edition, printed in Nuremberg in 1543, just before his death on 24 May 1543. It describes the work as presenting evidence that the Earth and the other planets orbit the Sun, and as meeting strong opposition because it conflicted with the religious beliefs of the time.

The idea was not entirely new, since the ancient Greek astronomer Aristarchus of Samos had suggested a Sun-centered arrangement. Copernicus still used circular orbits, which meant his model needed extra devices to match observations. Kepler later showed that planetary orbits are ellipses.

The Library of Congress notes that his views laid the groundwork for Kepler, Galileo and Newton. Copernicus died on 24 May 1543, so the book appeared at the very end of his life. Acceptance was slow and uneven, which is why the text says it took generations.