Earth-Centered Universe and Sun-Centered Universe - Essay Example

The geocentric of the earth-centered model of the universe was the initial theory about the universe proposed by Aristotle and Ptolemy. According to this model, the earth was at the center of the universe while the sun, moon, and planets revolved around it in concentric motion. The planets were attached to circles which were in turn fixed to spheres and rotated in a uniform circular fashion at different velocities, and the stars were also fixed to a sphere and this formed the layer beyond the planets.

This model mainly stemmed from the fact that there is no spinning motion inside the earth and thus the earth is the unmovable center of the universe. It was Nicholas Copernicus who first introduced the thought that it was the sun that was in the center of the universe and the earth revolved around the sun like any other planet and the moon orbiting around the earth and not the sun. The stars are distant objects in the universe and they do not revolve around the earth, but it was the earth’s rotations that made them appear to revolve around.

However, he could not provide substantial proof for the planetary motions and the rotation of the earth, which were later provided by scientists such as Brahe, Kepler, and Newton.