The Shift from Geocentrism to Cosmic Reality

The Anthropocentric Perspective and the Geocentric Model

Ideas that placed the human species in the center of the universe are known as the anthropocentric perspective. Overcoming this viewpoint has been a slow and costly process, during which scientists have struggled against prejudices, myths, and superstitions.

Ptolemy and the Geocentric System

Ptolemy created a model of the universe with Earth at the center, around which the Moon, Sun, and other stars revolved. Although subsequently proven incorrect, this geocentric model was accepted for centuries. Over time, the practical observation of the sky became more widespread, increasing the number of astronomers and observatories.

Copernicus and the Heliocentric Revolution

The proposed Ptolemaic system was ultimately unsatisfactory, necessitating a revolution of ideas to sweep away centuries of apathy and stagnation. The architect of this change was Nicolaus Copernicus, who gave new impetus to research and astronomical observation.

Copernicus established the theory that the Earth revolved on its axis once a day and completed a revolution around the Sun once a year. In his theory, the Sun was the center of the universe, hence the name heliocentric system. However, Copernicus retained many ancient principles of cosmology, such as the idea of spheres within which the planets moved, outside the area where the stars were immobile.

Dismantling Anthropocentrism: Shifting the Center of the Universe

The process of repositioning humanity away from the center of the cosmos involved several profound scientific discoveries:

• The Vastness of the Universe

  The structure of the universe has proven much more complex and its dimensions far greater than conceived by Copernicus. The Sun is just one star among all the stars in our galaxy, the Milky Way. Our solar system resides in one of its arms, revolving around the galactic axis at high speeds. It still takes approximately 230 million years to complete one lap, a period known as a Galactic Year.

• The Discovery of Deep Time

  Until relatively recently (just two centuries ago), it was widely believed that the Earth was only about 6,000 years old, created specifically as the abode of humankind, and that its age coincided with the time the human species has existed. It was not easy to accept the reality which states that the Earth is approximately 4.56 billion years old (4,560 million years).

• Biological Evolution

  Charles Darwin showed that species change over time, are related to each other, and that all of them, including our own, share a common origin.

In summary, we do not occupy the center of the universe, nor was the Earth created solely to serve as our home; we are one species among many. However, we know ours is the only species currently able to reflect on the structure of the universe.