Storiascopio · Era 9 of 12 · lower secondary year 2
Copernicus puts the Sun at the centre
1543 · Frombork, Poland
In short
For centuries almost everyone had thought the Earth stood still at the centre of the universe. The Polish astronomer Nicolaus Copernicus, who had also studied in Bologna and Padua, put forward another idea: the Sun is at the centre, and the Earth goes round it together with the other planets, while also spinning on its own axis. His book, On the Revolutions of the Heavenly Spheres, came out in 1543, the year he died. It took more than a century for his idea to be accepted by everyone.
Why it matters It changed humanity's place in the universe and opened the way to modern astronomy.
Source: Treccani, entry “Copernico, Niccolò”
Where we are in the era “Early modern age”
- 1
- 2
- 3
- 4
- 5
- 6
- 7
- 8
- 9
- 10
- 11
- 12
- 13
- 14
- 15
- 16
- 17
- 18
- 19
- 20
- 21
- 22
- 23
- 24
- 25
about 1420Event 14 of 251687
Your turn
Name ______________________ Class ______ Date __________
When did it happen? Find the date at the top and write it here:
Tell it in your own words: what happened?
Draw the scene below.
storiascopio.com/en/event/copernicus-puts-the-sun-at-the-centre/ · free worksheet, you may photocopy it for your class