Akademik

(1473–1543)

The first developed heliocentric theory of the universe in the modern era was presented in De Revolutionibus Orbium Coelestium, published in the year of Copernicus's death. The system is entirely mathematical, in the sense of predicting the observed position of celestial bodies on the basis of an underlying geometry, without exploring the mechanics of celestial motion. Its mathematical and scientific superiority over the Ptolemaic system was not as direct as popular history suggests: Copernicus's system adhered to circular planetary motion, and let the planets run on 48 epicycles and eccentrics. It was not until the work of Kepler and Galileo that the system became markedly simpler than Ptolemaic astronomy.