Copernicus

An astronomer bom in Polish Prussia credited with developing the theory (sixteenth century) that Earth is a moving planet that revolves around the Sun, a contradiction to Ptolemy’s theory (second century) that Earth is the center of the universe and fixed in space. In his book, Concerning the Revolutions of the Celestial Sphere (1543), Copernicus discussed apparent motions of heavenly bodies as observed from Earth in relation to actual celestial motions.