From Copernicus to Enlightenment

As soon as humans developed a sense of awareness of their surroundings, they realized that their lives are governed by daily cycles of day and night and annual cycles of seasons. They also made the association that these cycles are related to the Sun. For practical and religious reasons, they became keen observers of the heavens. Our ancestors were in awe not only of the existence of celestial objects – the Sun, the Moon, and the stars – but also of the fact that they all move. Not only do they move, but they also do so in regular patterns. The Sun, the Moon, and the stars rise day after day without fail. After the Sun sets and the Earth is covered in darkness, stars can be seen to rise from the eastern horizon, move across the sky, and set in the opposite horizon. The existence of these repeated patterns was believed to be a sign of divine governance and a source of messages from the gods. Motivated by the desire to decipher the hidden meaning of these patterns, our ancestors observed the movement of celestial objects with great diligence.