Worldview

At the end of Middle Ages, the European ideas about the universe were based on Aristotle. During the Middle Ages, Aristotle’s ideas were fitted into the Christian doctrines of the Church and resulted in the idea that the earth was the fixed centre of the universe, surrounded by a number of spheres. In the spheres the sun, moon, planets and stars were situated and these spheres moved in circles around the earth.

In the course of the 16th century, this geocentric worldview began to change. In 1543 Nicolaus Copernicus published his book, On the Revolution of the Heavenly Spheres. In this book he described a model of the universe that was entirely new and controversial. In this model the earth was no longer the centre of the universe. The sun was the centre of the universe and the earth was just one of the other planets that revolved around the sun. Only some time later, in 1616, the Church put a ban on Copernicus’ book.