In 1543, Nicolaus Copernicus revived Aristarchus' Heliocentric System in
an attempt to rid Ptolemy's geocentric system of the un-Aristotelian
idea of the Equant. He desired to create a model of the planets that
would please the mind as well as preserving appearances. Rather than
reinstate the ideal of the Aristotelian World View, he was to set the
stage for its overthrow after nearly 2000 years of supremacy, and within
two centuries give birth to the modern world.
This lecture describes the astronomical world from the end of the classical
age until the birth of Copernicus, and then describes his revolutionary
idea of putting the Sun, and not the Earth, at the center of the Universe.
Recorded 2007 Oct 9 in 1000 McPherson Lab on the Columbus campus of The
Ohio State University. NOTE: Due to a recorder malfunction, only the
first 15 minutes of this lecture was recorded.