MADRID, 19 (EUROPA PRESS) –
This February 19 marks the 548th anniversary of the birth, in 1473, of the Polish astronomer Nicolás Copernicus, who formulated the heliocentric theory: it is the Earth that circles the Sun, not the other way around.
Copernicus spent about twenty-five years working on the development of his model of the universe. At that time it was difficult for scientists to accept it, since it was a real revolution. His view of the world can be summarized in the following chosen quotes:
– “First of all, we must know that the universe is spherical”.
– “As sitting on a royal throne, the Sun governs the family of planets that revolve around it.”
– “Know that we know what we know and know that we do not know what we do not know; that is true knowledge.”
– “The Universe has been forged for us by a supremely good and ordered Creator.”
– “The sky of the fixed stars is the highest of all that is visible.”
– “I’m not so in love with my own opinions to ignore what others might think of them.”
– “It is possible that the things that I am saying now are dark, but they will be clarified in the place that corresponds to them.
– “The movement of the Earth alone is enough to explain so many apparent inequalities in the heavens”.