question about the structure of the universe and the place in it of the planet Earth and human civilization interested scientists and philosophers since time immemorial.For a long time the course was so-called system of Ptolemy, later called geocentric.According to her, it is the Earth was the center of creation, and around it made its way the planets, the moon, the sun, the stars and other celestial bodies.However, by the late Middle Ages it had accumulated enough evidence that this understanding of the universe is not true.
the first time the idea that the Sun is the center of our galaxy, expressed famous philosopher of the early Renaissance Nicholas of Cusa, but his work was rather ideological in nature and no astronomical evidence does not substantiate it.
heliocentric system as a holistic scientific outlook, supported by substantial evidence, began its formation in the XVI century, when a scientist from Poland Copernicus published his work on the motion of the planets, including the Earth around the sun.The impetus for the creation of this theory were the long-term observations of the scientist of the sky, as a result of which he concluded that the complex motion of the planets, relying on the geocentric model to explain the impossible.The heliocentric system to explain them by the fact that with increasing distance from the Sun, the planets speed significantly reduced.In this case, if the planet is behind the observation of the Earth, it seems that it begins to move backwards.
In fact, at this moment this is just a celestial body at a maximum distance from the Sun, so its speed is slowed down.At the same time it should be noted that the Copernican heliocentric system of the world has a number of shortcomings still borrowed from the system of Ptolemy.Thus, the Polish scientists believe that, in contrast to the other planets, the Earth moves in its orbit evenly.In addition, he argued that the center of the universe is not so much important heavenly body as the center of the orbit of the Earth, which coincides with the Sun far from complete.
All these discrepancies was able to detect and overcome the German scientist J. Kepler.The heliocentric system seemed to him indisputable truth, in fact, he believed that it was time to calculate the extent of our planetary system.
After long and painstaking research, which took an active part Danish scientist T. Brahe, Kepler concluded that, firstly, that the sun is the geometric center of the planetary system to which our earth.
Second, the Earth, like other planets, moves unevenly.In addition, the trajectory of its motion - not true circle, but an ellipse, one focus of which takes the sun.
Third, the heliocentric system was from Kepler and their mathematical justification: in his third law of German scientists have shown the dependence of the orbital periods of the planets on the length of their orbits.
heliocentric system has created conditions for the further development of physics.It was during this period of Newton, based on Kepler's work, brought two important principles of his mechanics - the inertia and relativity, which became the final chord in the creation of a new system of the universe.
