Claiming that the sun was at the centre of the universe, Copernicus directly challenged the Church's sacred worldview, which was based on the Aristotelian model. He was the first to challenge, but what he started was unstoppable, and many followed.
Johannes Kepler (1571-1630), a German astronomer, developed the Copernican model into his three major laws of planetary motion, which are still in use nowadays. These mathematical laws could accurately account for all planetary observations. However, by suggesting that the planets were moving in elliptical orbits around the sun, and not in the heavenly perfect circular motion, Kepler deviated even further from the Aristotelian model that was the base for the worldview of the Church. He was excommunicated from the Lutheran Church in 1612
2008-02-24 @ 18:20