Ptolemy, a great astronomer in ancient Greece, summed up the observation results of predecessors for 400 years in the second century A.D., wrote a book "Selected Astronomies" (that is, "Great Theory") and put forward the theory that "the earth is the center of the universe". This theory has been accepted by people and circulated for 1400 years.
Ptolemy believed that the earth was motionless at the center of the universe, and all celestial bodies, including the sun, revolved around the earth. However, in the observation, people found that the operation of celestial bodies has a phenomenon of good and bad, fast and slow. In order to explain the round-trip phenomenon, Ptolemy said that it is not the celestial body itself that makes a balanced motion around the earth, but the center of the round wheel where the celestial body runs. He called the round wheel around the earth "even wheel" and the smaller round wheel "present wheel". In order to explain the phenomenon of fast and slow, he added some auxiliary "current wheel" besides the main "current wheel" and adopted the word "virtual wheel" to make the unbalanced movement of the center of "current wheel" seem to be "balanced" from the center of "virtual wheel". Ptolemy thus gave a far-fetched explanation to the ancient observation data.
In the following centuries, a large number of observation data were accumulated. Ptolemy's "current wheel" was not enough to explain the operation of celestial bodies, and more and more "current wheels" were needed. Later scholars devoted themselves to this "mending" work, which made Ptolemy's system more and more complicated. Each planet needs more than one circle, a total of more than 80 circles, and also introduces complex concepts such as "eccentric point" and "eccentric equidistant point". This makes it lack of simplicity, and simplicity is what scientists pursue. Astronomical research has always stayed at this level.
The statement that "the earth is the center of the universe" is the basis of "the sky of theologians". Medieval theologians praised Ptolemy's conclusion, but concealed Ptolemy's methodology: Ptolemy established a set of gifted mathematical theories, trying to discover the causes and laws of celestial bodies by means of observation, calculus and reasoning with human wisdom, which is a crucial part of Ptolemy's theory. Therefore, although Ptolemy's geocentric theory coincides with theologians' worldview, there are essential differences between them: first, the wrong conclusions in science can be corrected; One is a big lie that fools human beings and tries to make feudal rule last forever. Copernicus made a correct evaluation of this. He said, "You should shoot your arrow in the same direction as Ptolemy, but the material of the bow and arrow should be completely different from his."
Copernicus studied Ptolemy's works very diligently. He saw the contradiction between Ptolemy's wrong conclusion and scientific method. It was Copernicus who discovered the root of Ptolemy's mistake and the truth.
Copernicus realized that the development of astronomy should not continue to "repair" Ptolemy's old theory, but should discover a new theory of the structure of the universe. He made an analogy: those scholars who stood in Ptolemy's position made individual and isolated observations and pieced together some overlapping "wheels" to explain the phenomenon of the universe, just like someone looking around for limbs and heads and describing them, and the result was not like a human, but like a monster.
Copernicus began to think about the operation of the earth when he was studying at Krakow University. In the preface to On the Operation of Celestial Bodies, he said that predecessors had the right to fabricate a round wheel to explain the starry sky phenomenon, and he also had the right to try to find a more appropriate way to explain the operation of celestial bodies than a round wheel.
The purpose of Copernicus's observation of celestial bodies is contrary to that of scholars in the past. He didn't force the phenomena of the universe to obey Copernicus's famous saying, "Phenomena guide astronomers." The question he wants to answer is precisely the phenomenon of the universe, and the observed phenomenon confirms a newly founded theory-"the sun center" theory. His targeted observation eventually led to a radical change in astronomy.
Copernicus' observation made a good start at Krakow University. He used the famous astrologer Ma Qing Blitcha (about 1433 ~ 1493) to observe the eclipse and study the boundless starry sky.
Copernicus stopped studying in Cracow University for three years and went to Italy to study "Church Law". It was his uncle Wukash's idea. Because the Knights of the Cross, which was entrenched in northern Poland at that time, often violated the border and did evil, and to confront them, someone must be proficient in the "church law." Copernicus believed that it was an unshirkable responsibility to fight against the Knights Cross. He said: "There is no more solemn obligation than the obligation of the motherland. It is not hesitant to give one's life for the motherland." He agreed to Wukash's suggestion. In order to get the travelling expenses abroad and the living expenses for studying abroad for a long time, he once again accepted the arrangement of his uncle and decided to hold the post of the church for life. /kloc-in the autumn of 0/496, Copernicus put on his robe and set off for Italy.
He studied "canon law" at the University of Bologna in northern Italy, and studied astronomy hard at the same time. Here, he met Dominique Maria, a famous astronomer at that time, and studied the theory of the moon with him. He began to expose the contradiction between Ptolemy's theory and objective phenomena with practical observation. He found that Ptolemy's explanation of the moon's motion, as Reggie Monte pointed out, would surely lead to an absurd conclusion: the volume of the moon sometimes expands and sometimes contracts, the full moon is the result of expansion, and the new moon is the result of contraction.
1497 On March 9th, Copernicus and Maria made a famous observation together. That night, the night was clear, the stars were shining and a crescent moon was floating in space. Standing on the tower of St Joseph's Church, they observed the bright star "Bi Su Wu" of Taurus to understand how it was covered by the waning moon approaching. When "Su Biwu" met the moon, there was still some gap, and "Su Biwu" soon disappeared. They accurately measured the time when Wu disappeared, calculated irrefutable data, and proved that those gaps were all part of the moon's lack of food. "Wu" was covered by the shadow of the moon itself, and the volume of the moon did not shrink. Copernicus opened a gap in Ptolemaic geocentric theory.
/kloc-in 0/500, Copernicus went to Rome as a math teacher due to financial difficulties. The following summer, Copernicus returned to China, and later went to Padua to study medicine because of the funding of the church. 1503, Copernicus received a doctorate in church law from Farallo University.
At this time, Copernicus also made great efforts to study ancient books, with the aim of seeking reference materials for Heliocentrism. He read almost all the literature he could find. Later, he wrote: "The more I seek help in my own work, the more I am with the people who founded this subject. I am willing to combine my findings with their findings. " When he was studying ancient books, he wrote some bold ideas like this:
"The sky, the sun, the moon, the stars and everything in the sky are still. There is nothing moving in the universe except the earth. The earth rotates around its axis at a great speed, creating a feeling that the earth is still and the sky is turning. "
"Most scholars think that the earth is stationary, but Philovos and Pythagoras told it to revolve around the fire."
"In the center of the planet stands a huge and majestic sun, which is not only the master of time, but also the master of the earth, and the master of the stars and the sky."
The outstanding opinions of these ancient scholars were considered "deviant" at that time, but for Copernicus, they were like lighthouses in the night flight, illuminating his direction.
1506, Copernicus ended his ten-year study abroad career in Italy and left for home. During his stay in Italy, Copernicus became familiar with the theory of the Greek philosopher Aristakes (3rd century BC) and was convinced that the earth and other planets revolve around the sun. This Heliocentrism is right. When he was about 40 years old, he began to distribute a short manuscript among his friends, initially expounding his views on Heliocentrism. After two years of observation and calculation, Copernicus finally finished his masterpiece "The Theory of the Operation of Celestial Bodies". The numerical accuracy of his observation and calculation in De Revolution ibus orbium coelestium is amazing. For example, it took him 365 days, 6 hours, 9 minutes and 40 seconds to get the sidereal year. The exact value was about 30 seconds more, and the error was only one in a million. The average distance from the moon to the earth he got was 60.30 times that of radius of the earth, and compared with 60.27 times, the error was only five ten thousandths. 1533, 60-year-old Copernicus made a series of speeches in Rome and put forward the main points of his theory, which was not opposed by the Pope. But he was afraid of church opposition, and even after his book was finished, he still dared not publish it. It was not until he was nearly 70 years old that he finally decided to publish it. 1543 On May 24th, Copernicus, on his deathbed, received a sample book on the operation of celestial bodies from Nuremberg. He only touched the cover of the book and died!
Copernicus's theory is a revolution in human understanding of the universe, which has greatly changed people's whole world outlook. However, when evaluating Copernicus' influence, we should also note that astronomy is not as widely used as physics, chemistry and biology. Theoretically, even if people don't know anything about the knowledge and application of Copernicus, they will make TV sets, cars, modern factories and the like. It is inconceivable not to apply the theories of Faraday, Maxwell, lavoisier and Newton.
Only considering the influence of Copernicus theory on technology will completely ignore its real significance. Copernicus's book is an indispensable prelude to the work of Galileo and Kepler. They became Newton's main predecessors again. It was the discovery of these two things that enabled Newton to determine the laws of motion and gravity.
From a historical point of view, the theory of celestial bodies is the starting point of contemporary astronomy-of course, this is also the starting point of modern science. Before Copernicus' Heliocentrism was published, geocentric theory had been dominant in medieval Europe. Since ancient times, human beings have been thinking about the structure of the universe. As early as in ancient Greece, philosophers put forward the idea that the earth was moving, but there was no basis at that time, so it was not recognized by people. In ancient Europe, Aristotle and Ptolemy advocated "geocentric theory", believing that the earth was stationary and all other stars revolved around the center of the universe. The proposition of this theory coincides with heaven, earth and hell in the Christian Bible, so the dominant Holy See strongly supports geocentric theory and integrates geocentric theory with God's creation of the world. Therefore, the geocentric theory is regarded as a biblical classic by the church and has been in a dominant position for a long time. With the continuous development of things, the accuracy of astronomical observation has gradually improved, and people have gradually discovered the flaw of geocentric theory. In the Renaissance, it was found that the number of equal rounds and present rounds proposed by Ptolemy was as high as 80 or so, which was obviously unreasonable and unscientific. People expect a scientific celestial system to replace the geocentric theory. Under this historical background, Copernicus' Heliocentrism came into being.
About 15 15 years ago, Copernicus wrote a paper entitled "A Brief Talk", which expounded his basic views on celestial motion. He believes that the motion of celestial bodies must meet the following seven points: all celestial orbits or celestial bodies have no common center; The earth is only the center of gravity and orbit of the moon, not the center of the universe; All celestial bodies revolve around the sun, and the center of the universe is near the sun; The ratio of the distance from the earth to the sun to the height of the sky can be ignored; Any movement seen in the sky is caused by the movement of the earth; All the phenomena of the movement of the sun seen in the air are not caused by its own movement, but by the movement of the earth, which is moving several times at the same time; The back-and-forth motion of the planet that people see is caused by the motion of the earth. The movement of the earth is enough to explain all kinds of phenomena people see in the air.
In addition, Copernicus also described the apparent motion of the sun, the moon, three outer planets (Saturn, Jupiter and Mars) and two inner planets (Venus and Mercury). In the book, Copernicus criticized Ptolemy's theory. Scientifically expounded the movement of celestial bodies, overthrew the long-standing dominant geocentric theory, fundamentally denied the Christian fallacy that God created everything, and realized the fundamental change in astronomy. He correctly expounded the fact that the earth revolves around its axis, the moon revolves around the earth, and the earth and all other planets revolve around the sun. Like his predecessors, he seriously underestimated the size of the solar system. He thinks that the orbit of a star is a series of concentric circles, which is of course wrong. The mathematical operations in his theory are both complicated and inaccurate. His book immediately attracted great attention and drove other astronomers to observe the motion of planets more accurately. The most famous is the great Danish astronomer Taishou Brejo. Kepler finally deduced the correct law of star motion according to the observation data accumulated by the satrap.
This is an unheard-of theory that opens a new era, which is undoubtedly a blow to Ptolemy's geocentric theory, which has been regarded as a thousand-year conclusion by academic circles.
Since Copernicus' Heliocentrism cosmos system is the product of the times, it cannot but be limited by the times. Oppose the incompleteness of theology, and at the same time, Copernicus' system is flawed in some viewpoints. The universe referred to by Copernicus was confined to a very small scope. Specifically, his cosmic structure is the solar system we are familiar with today, that is, the celestial system centered on the sun. Since the universe has a center, it must have boundaries. Although Copernicus denied Ptolemy's "cloud nine", he kept a layer of star sky. Although he evaded the question of whether the universe is finite, he actually believed that the celestial sphere was the "shell" of the universe, and he still believed that celestial bodies could only move in the so-called perfect circular orbit. Therefore, Copernicus's cosmic system still contains the motionless central celestial body. As the founder of modern natural science, Copernicus's historical achievements are great. It is confirmed that the earth is not the center of the universe, but one of the planets, thus setting off a fundamental revolution in astronomy, which is a milestone on the road of human exploration of objective truth. Copernicus' great achievements not only paved the way for modern astronomy, but also initiated a new era for the development of the whole natural science. Since the Copernican era, natural science and philosophy that got rid of the shackles of the church began to develop by leaps and bounds.