 Essentials of the Copernican Solar System  The daily motion of the sun and stars is the result of the earth turning on its axis. Copernicus assumed that the air near the surface of the earth shares in its rotation thus preventing any "wind" from arising (this argument had also been made by Nicole Oresme two centuries previously).  The sun lies at the center of the solar system with the earth being the third planet orbiting the sun. The moon orbits the earth. Copernicus reconciled placing the sun at the center of the solar system with his religious beliefs by noting that the sun is the source of light and life, a logical choice for the center of the universe.  All the planets orbit the sun in the same direction with the planets closer to the sun going around faster. A retrograde event then becomes the result of an inner planet overtaking and passing an outer planet.  Copernicus assumed that the shapes of the orbits are circles and that the planets move at constant speed. (same as Ptolemy)

 His Theory was mostly ignored due to the fact it went against popularly held scientific ideas, relegated the earth to a secondary role in the solar system and was not available to the average man as it was written in Latin

 Galileo Video Galileo Video

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 Newton’s 3 Laws Newton’s 3 Laws

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 YouTube - The Hawking Paradox (Part 1) YouTube - The Hawking Paradox (Part 1)