What is impact of the heliocentric theory on humanity and society?
The first answer had the first part right, that it’s the theory of the sun being in the center of the universe. But it CONTRADICTED the notion that humans are supreme. Before, people thought the Earth was the center of the universe. Humans were very important and the sun and stars revolved around us. The heavens moved for us! The Heliocentric theory said the sun was at the center and EVERYTHING WE KNEW WAS WRONG. It led to all sorts of new thinking, including how to explain things like “retrograde motion” – if you watch a planet for a year or so, it steadily moves backward across the sky, but then for a little while it moves forward! This is due to Earth and the other planet going around the sun at different speeds. It motivated some interesting mathematical developments and discoveries. So it was a big stimulus to science and math as well as philosophy.
