Nicolaus Copernicus Google Doodle Celebrates Heliocentrism

I was in for a surprise when I opened the Google Search home page! Another colourful doodle this morning and its not a static one like yesterday's but an animated doodle with the solar system and the planets floating around.

Today is the 540th birthday of Nicholas Copernicus and Google decided to honor him with an animated doodle. Nicolas Copernicus is credited with forming the comprehensive mathematical heliocentric model and his book De revolutionibus orbium coelestium (On the Revolutions of the Celestial Spheres) is considered one of the most important works in the history of science. After the publication of Celestial Spheres, the so-called Copernican Revolution began, ushering the world into the Scientific Revolution. Copernicus, a true Renaissance Man, served as a mathematician, astronomer, Catholic cleric, artist, physician and economist.

People who thought that the Sun revolved around the earth and other planets will understand the principle of Heliocentrism and that fact that it is the Earth and other planets that revolve around the sun. 

1 comment:

  1. There are exactly 8 bodies in today's doodle. This is because these were the only planetary bodies discovered at the time of Copernicus. They are the 'eight sphers' mentioned in the article: Sun, Mercury, Venus, Earth, Moon, Mars, Jupiter and Saturn.