why was nicholas copernicus the most influencial person from the renaissance?

Answer 1

Coming up with the heliocentric theory was pretty important. He challenged Galileo Galilei's ideas and just by looking at the sky (without anything but his own eyes) he found out that everything else surrounded the sun. Not the earth. If it wasn't for him, our advances in astronomy today wouldn't be soo....successful! =) Think about it, someone discovered something that seems so basic now...but back then it was like ...weird. I don't know if he should be ranked THE most influential person from the Renaissance, but he sure was pretty important.

Answer 2

Copernicus was influention because of his book, De Revolutionibus Orbium Coelestium ( On the Revolutions of the Celestial Spheres). This book has been considered the starting point of modern astronomy, as well as a central and defining epiphany in the history of all science.

The concept of the sun being the center of our solar system wasn't a new concept then (Aristarchus postulated the theory nearly a thousand years earlier) but Copernicus was able to expand on those earlier theories in greater detail.

At the time, Copernicus delayed publishing his work until just before his death. The Roman Catholic Church held to the Ptolemaic system (that earth was the center of the cosmos) and works that challenged this view were considered heresy, which was punishable by torture and even death.

Answer 3

Copernicus was the one who came up with the heliocentric theory (the idea that the earth revolves around the sun). This theory was the beginning of modern astronomy, and to some extent, the beginning of all modern science.

Answer 4

~He wasn't